Religion

Classes

REL 150: Introduction to World’s Major Religions

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Designation
FGC

This course is a survey of the world's major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism. Course content will also include indigenous religions, especially those found in Hawaiʻi.

Course Outcomes
  • Identify reasons for the academic study of religion.
  • Evaluate different approaches, definitions, and components of religion.
  • Describe the basic beliefs and practices of the world's major religions.
  • Examine the history that has shaped the development of religions and that continues to impact religions today.

REL 151: Religion and the Meaning of Existence

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Designation
DH

Introduction to the basic ideas and issues in contemporary religious thought about the meaning of existence.

Course Outcomes
  • Identify reasons for the academic study of religion.
  • Describe the basic beliefs and existential answers for the world's major religions.
  • Examine relevant issues and questions about the meaning of existence.
  • Analyze the myths that provide answers to the meaning of existence.

REL 202: Understanding Indian Religions

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Designation
DH
Historical survey of the teachings and practices of the major religious traditions of India.
Recommended Preparation

REL 150 or 151.

Prerequisites

Placement in ENG 100, or consent of instructor.

Course Outcomes
  • Identify the myths, histories, doctrines, and practices of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.
  • Identify each religion’s understanding of the human condition, ethics, knowledge, death, the afterlife, and conceptions of the divine.
  • Identify common themes within the religions studied.
  • Interpret primary sources (such as epics, devotional poetry, mystical instruction, myths, and hymns).
  • Examine the relationship between religion and culture/society.
  • Question and think critically.

REL 205: Understanding Hawaiian Religion

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Designation
DH

Major Hawaiian religious teachings and practices from ancient times to the present. Investigation of cultural influence of Hawaiian religious beliefs; analysis of religious texts and relation to other traditions. This course may be applied to the BA language/culture core requirements at UH Mānoa.

Course Outcomes
  • Identify and access major sources on Hawaiian religion.
  • Express thoughts on Hawaiian religion in oral and written form.
  • Compare and contrast elements of the Hawaiian religious experience with others or with their own.
  • Identify ways in which Hawaiian religious thought and practice continues in the present.
  • Interpret some symbolism of Hawaiian religious ritual and poetry.

REL 206: Understanding Confucianism

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Designation
DH
Exploration of Confucianism in its philosophical, cultural, and historical context in China.
Recommended Preparation

Credit for REL 150 Introduction to Major World Religions.

Course Outcomes
  • Analyze the primary and secondary texts.
  • Explore the relevance of these texts to contemporary issues today, both in China and elsewhere.
  • Describe the origins and major historical periods in Confucian belief and practice.
  • Examine the relationship between religion and culture/society.

REL 207: Understanding Buddhism

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Designation
DH

Survey of major forms and practices of Buddhism.

Recommended Preparation

ENG 100 and either REL 150 or REL 151.

Prerequisite Courses
ENG 100: Composition I
Course Outcomes
  • Identify the major schools of Buddhism.
  • Describe key historical events in the development of Buddhist traditions.
  • Analyze the beliefs and practices of the major schools of Buddhism.

REL 210: Understanding Christianity

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Designation
DH

This course explores the history of ideas concentrating on events, persons, and issues with the greatest impact on the evolution of Christianity.

Recommended Preparation

REL 150 or REL 151

Course Outcomes
  • Identify reasons for an academic study of Christianity.
  • Assess the significance of its founder, Jesus of Nazareth.
  • Examine the three main divisions within Christianity.
  • Analyze the three main divisions' basic doctrines and practices.
  • Evaluate the relationship between Christianity and other Abrahamic traditions.

REL 212: Science Fiction and Religion

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Designation
DH

This course explores and reflects on the presence of religions and religious themes in science fiction films and television shows. Students will also discuss the ethics of robots and other forms of artificial intelligence (AI). This course explores the presence of religious themes such as the messianic hero, immortality, free will and determinism, prophecy, evil, mysticism, and apocalypse in films and tv shows including Star Trek, Star Wars, the Matrix, I Robot, Avatar, Superman, and more.

Recommended Preparation

REL 150

Course Outcomes
  • Identify the presence of the major religious motifs in science fiction films and television shows.
  • Analyze the hero archetype, the monomyth, in religious literature and science fiction media.
  • Investigate the ways in which science fiction constitutes contemporary religious myth-making.
  • Examine the influence and impact that artificial intelligence will have on society.

 

REL 217: Understanding Polynesian Religions

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Designation
DH

This course provides an introduction to the study of Polynesian religions through an exploration of the oral traditions of Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa (New Zealand), French Polynesia (Tahiti et al.), and Samoa among others. In this class, students will gain a foundational understanding of important religious themes that permeate Polynesia. Main themes include but are not limited to deities’ forms & functions, cosmogonies, etiologies, and belief-regulated practices. Additionally, a portion of the semester will focus on belief narratives as vehicles for the transmission of knowledge and the significance of contemporary representation and self-representation of Polynesian religion and culture. This class will use comparative analysis between Hawaiian religion and the religious traditions of Aotearoa, French Polynesia, and Samoa to identify the fundamental concepts needed to understand Polynesian religions and explore how they are interconnected and interwoven into the fabric of our lives today. (Cross-listed as HWST 217)

Course Outcomes
  • Identify and describe significant source-language terms, major figures, and stories in Hawaiian and other Polynesian religions
  • Identify and describe important themes common to Hawaiian and other Polynesian religions
  • Analyze, compare, contrast, major themes common to Hawaiian and other Polynesian religions

REL 296: Special Topics in Religion

Discipline
Religion
Credits 3 Lecture Hours 3
Students will investigate important topics in the study of religion such as Sacred Places, Religion and the Media, or Religion and Politics. A specific course description will be printed in the schedule of classes.
Recommended Preparation

REL 150 or REL 151

Course Outcomes
  • Identify the important concepts and facts associated with the topic under examination.
  • Explain cause and effect relationships in connection to the topic discussed.
  • Compare and contrast various religions’ ideas of the topic.
  • Relate the topic to contemporary events.