MODULE I – Approaching Religion

Sec 1 • Religion in a Public College

1.1 Religion in a Public College
1.2 The Scholar's Toolkit
1.3 History of Religion
1.4 Why Religion Matters

Sec 2 • The Sacred

2.1 Before Religion
2.2 Sacred, Totem, & Taboo
2.3 Ritual before Religion
2.4 Myth & Meaning-Making

Sec 3 • Diné: The Navajo Tradition

3.1 Diné Bikéyah: The People & the Land
3.2 Hozho: Walking in Beauty
3.3 Medicine, Ceremony, & the Spoken Text
3.4 Reservations & Diné Life Today

MODULE II – Asia

Sec 4 • Hinduism & Sikhism

4.1 From the Vedas to Brahman
4.2 Karma, Samsara, and the Paths
4.3 Epics, Devotion, and Colonial India
4.4 Sikh Traditions

Sec 5 • Buddhism

5.1 The Prince & the Palace
5.2 The Four Noble Truths as Diagnosis
5.3 The Dharma Across Asia
5.4 Modern Buddhist Practice

Sec 6 • Chinese Religion

6.1 The Dao: Legend, Text, and Wuwei
6.2 Confucius: Bonds and Virtues
6.3 Three Teachings, One Life
6.4 Asia Today: Practice, Upheaval, & America

MODULE III – Abraham

Sec 7 • The Biblical World

7.1 Before Israel: Mesopotamia & Egypt
7.2 Kingdom, Temple, & Exile
7.3 Persia: Return, Temple, & Torah
7.4 Greece & Rome in the Holy Land

Sec 8 • Judaism

8.1 From Temple to Talmud
8.2 These & These: Peoplehood and the Path
8.3 They Tried to Kill Us: History & the Holidays
8.4 A Jewish Life: Practice, Movements, & America

Sec 9 • Christianity, Pt. 1

9.1 Roman Galilee & the Messiah
9.2 The Church in a Roman Universe
9.3 Creeds, Canon, & Empire
9.4 The Great Schism of 1054

Sec 10 • Islam

10.1 Arabia and the Messenger ﷺ
10.2 Revelation: The Quran and Its World
10.3 The Community: Succession, Law, & the Golden Age
10.4 A Muslim Life: The Pillars, the Mosque, and America

(For more, see my 14-week Islam course)

MODULE IV – Modernity

Sec 11 • Christianity, Pt. 2: Reformed

11.1 How the West Kept the Faith
11.2 Popes, Crusades, & the Sword
11.3 Scholasticism: A Cathedral of the Mind
11.4 Modernity & Reformation

Sec 12 • Religion & Modernity

12.1 The Modern, Observant Jew
12.2 Religion & the New World
12.3 Reform & Revival in the U.S. & Beyond
12.4 Nation: Religion & the Modern State

Sec 13 • Religion in America

13.1 Puritan: England & New England
13.2 Disestablishment & the First Amendment
13.3 The Social Gospel & the Black Church
13.4 The Cold War & the Rise of Nondenominationalism

Sec 14 • Religion Today

14.1 The Decline of Mainline Christianity
14.2 Spiritual but not Religious
14.3 Religion & the Media
14.4 What is Religion? (A Review)