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  2. HDS 3160

Religious Dimensions in Human Experience: Apocalypse, Sports, Music, Home, Sacrifice, Medicine
HDS 3160

Jointly Offered with: Faculty of Arts & Sciences as ANTHRO 1475, Faculty of Arts & Sciences as RELIGION 16

Course Information

Description

What is Religion? Why does it show up everywhere? Using archaeology, religious studies and social thought, this course will study the major themes in the history of religions including 'encountering the holy', sports' and ritual', 'crossing borders', 'sacrifice as creation', 'pilgrimage and sacred place', 'suffering and quest for wisdom', 'music and social change', 'violence and cosmic law'. Readings from Native American, African American, Latinx/+, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu traditions. Focus on the tension between individual encounters with the holy and the social construction of religion. Readings from Gloria Anzaldua, Toni Morrison, Judith Sherman, Arthur Kleinman, Popul Vuj, Mircea Eliade, Michael D. Jackson. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Anthropology 1475 and Religion 16.

School Harvard Divinity School
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Available for BTI Cross Registration

Available for Harvard Cross Registration

Course Component Lecture
Instruction Mode In Person
Grading Basis HDS Student Option (LG/SUS/AUD)
Exam/Final Deadline Dec. 11, 2026
MTS/ThM Area of Focus Comparative Studies
Religion, Ethics, and Politics
Religion, Literature, and Culture
Religion and the Social Sciences
Arts of Ministry Religious Education and Spiritual Development
MDiv Histories, Theologies, and Practices Non-Tradition Specific
Language Course Type N/A
Language Taught N/A
MDiv Scriptural Interpretation N/A
Course Level N/A