Lecture (LEC)

• COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inq
• IUB GenEd A&H credit

• Online All course: 100% online taught asynchronously. No on-campus class meetings are required.
• IUB GenEd A&H credit
• COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inquiry credit

This course designed to introduce students to the academic study of religion. We will ask big questions like: What is religion? What do religious people think and do? What is a belief system and what power does it have in the world? Through select readings, digital resources, film clips, and online assignments, we will examine the philosophical, the material, and the active elements that interact to form worldviews across a range of religious traditions. The course will be divided into three units: the first will examine the philosophical and thought-based elements that come together to create a worldview. The second unit will look at the material and aesthetic aspects of religion through concrete examples of the physical forms that religions take. The third unit will look at what religious people do by examining practices across varying traditions (i.e., rituals, pilgrimages, festivals, etc.). As we critically examine religious traditions through the lenses of religious thought, materiality, and action, students will get the opportunity to expand their ability to think about the world from a multitude of different perspectives.