Satisfies Humanities General Education Requirement

This course explores a distinctive mode of human creativity - religion. In particular, we will focus on the diversity and breadth of women's religious practice and thought in Goddess religions, Voodoo, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Native American religions. We will examine approaches to the study of religion, including psychological, anthropological, sociological, and phenomenological theories. In other words, we will talk about how to talk (and think) about religion. In addition, we will read diverse genres of religious expressions, including autobiography, theology, critical essays and ethnography. We will find out what religious women value about their religion and why they talk about it they way they do. We will discover how "outsiders" critique and/or value religion and why. We will analyze what these values tell us about human nature, society, and power. Prerequisite: sophomore standing; one prior course in Women's and Gender Studies or Religious Studies.