The Medieval Studies Institute

Department: Religious Studies

A study of “religion” and related categories in scholarship on premodernity.  Key themes and topics in the course will include: the history of “history of religions” scholarship; philological and post-colonial critiques of “religion” as a trans-historical and trans-cultural category; ways of theorizing relationships between pre-modern discursive constructions and the modern construction “religion.” All readings will be in English or English translation, though students will be encouraged to engage primary and secondary sources in their sub-fields of specialization in the original languages.  Coursework will consist of weekly response papers and a final research paper that relates a course theme(s) or topic(s) to the student’s sub-field interests.