Cooper Union

World Religions

This course explores critical issues of studying religion as an academic discipline, beginning with the questions of what religion means and how the term has been defined and re-defined in the history of major theories and methods that have shaped the academic study of religion. The second part of the course will examine ancient and contemporary expressions of various religious traditions: indigenous religion, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Emphasis is on reading closely some of the foundational texts and their evolving interpretations. The last part will consider how the study of religion intersects with other dimensions of human society such as race, politics, nationalism, and violence/non-violence.

3 credits.

Course Code: HUM 394

Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.
“My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”
From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.
Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.