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Cultural Influence. We also study religion in order to learn more about how different aspects of human life—politics, science, literature, art, law, economics—have been and continue to be shaped by changing religious notions of, for example, good and evil, images of the deity and the divine, salvation and punishment, etc.
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Majors can customize their focus within Religious Studies by...
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Religious Studies at WashU. As a major source of inspiration...
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Lance Jenott writes book review for literary journal...
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An Ancient Murder Mystery: The Death of Christ from the...
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Professor of Religious Studies (by courtesy) Director of...
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These ideas are developed through an analysis of the Islamic...
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Religious Studies Washington University in St. Louis MSC...
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Emily Greenwood, James M. Rothenberg Professor of the...
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Want to grapple with profound ethical and theological questions? Or learn about the ideas, people, and rituals that shape religion? Begin with our gateway course Religion Around the Globe. Or try Is Stanford a Religion?, which examines how the university's culture resembles a religion through its myths, rituals, and taboos, or The Religious Life of...
Our Exploring series introduces the world's great religious traditions, like Exploring Zen Buddhism, Exploring the New Testament or Exploring Islamic Mysticism. Follow up with courses that examine how religion relates to essential aspects of culture, gender, politics, and identity, such as Buddhist Philosophy, the Language of Islam, or Malcom X and...
From exploring sacred sites around the world to participating in lively events on campus, there are myriad opportunities for enhancing your understanding of religion's role in history and society. In addition to events supported by the department, we also work closely with several affiliated centers.Read more about our affiliates.
Jun 20, 2024 · While religious practices have changed, the essential aspects of each religion are ancient. By studying ancient religious ideas, we are compelled to study other disciplines such as history, philosophy, and sociology. To Study Religion Is to Study History. To one extent or another, all religions are historical.
Sep 5, 2023 · This essay will examine the role of religion in society, considering its historical context, impact on culture and identity, role in social cohesion, implications for politics and morality, and the ongoing debate surrounding its place in modern society. A nuanced analysis highlights religion's complex and multidimensional influence.
When we study religion, we study the subject which unifies all the other subjects of the humanities. Until our own time and in many places in our own time, religion is the center of human life. If we do not study religion, we are not studying what is important about ourselves in the world. These are truisms. And yet, these are truisms which may ...
Who Cares About Religion? Religion is a human and social phenomenon that is complex and persistent. It is never so simple as a set of beliefs in supernatural beings or the message contained in a sacred book. Religion pervades all aspects of public and private life, at home and abroad. Our politics are saturated with religion, as are the protest and social justice movements defining the key ...
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Feb 12, 2019 · Abstract Jonathan Z. Smith’s essay “Religion, Religions, Religious” is a foundational essay in the study of “religion” as a taxonomic category. The essay itself makes three interrelated arguments that situate religion in Western intellectual history and argue that “religion” is a term scholars define to suit their own intellectual purposes. Though the essay, and Smith’s work ...
