Religious Diversity

This course is a study of the cultural settings, lives of founders when appropriate, oral or written traditions and literature, worldviews, myths, rituals, ideals of conduct, and development of some of the world's religions. Religions studied will typically include tribal religions, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, and Bahai. Readings, videos, and websites will help introduce and illustrate not only the cultural settings in which these religions appear, but also the voices and faces of contemporary religious practitioners.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)

This course will examine the roles and views of women in religious traditions. Students will encounter scholarship on gender, religion, and feminist theology in different traditions. The primary focus of this course will be on the religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, although other traditions and contemporary religious movements may be considered.
Cross listed with GEND 2300R.
(Normally offered every year.)

Religion in the U.S. is vital and diverse and its study illuminates not only early American society, but also the current pluralism within our contemporary culture. This course will introduce religious traditions in the U.S. through thematic, historical, denominational, and cultural considerations. Though the Puritan roots of U.S. religious history will be considered, this course emphasizes the variety and diversity of religious experiences in the U.S., including Native American, Protestant, Catholic, African-American, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions.
(Normally offered every year.)

This course explores the formation, differences and conflicts among and between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam through comparative themes.

This course explores religious responses to social justice issues, such as conflict, poverty, oppression,discrimination, and the environment. Particular focus is lent to the distribution of resources, gender and racial discrimination, war and other forms of violent behavior and the historical, philosophical, religious, economic, cultural influences therein. The course will also show some implications that theories and implementations of justice have that could aid in framing public policy and social justice activism around particular issues.

This course explores a religiously diverse range of end of time stories. Ancient and modern, oral and written, apocalyptic scenarios can function as ethical and political criticism of the status quo, a literature of, by, and for the marginalized, and offer alternative, cosmic justice or future renewal. All of the religions examined, which include tribal, world religions as well as movements that prioritize ethnicity, race, and anti-colonialism are international but will be examined in the context of their contemporary North American expressions.
(Normally offered every year.)

This course allows students to participate in an internship for the purpose of supplementing their academic coursework, exploring vocational options, and professionalizing their approach to career choices. Students might intern as a volunteer in a non-profit organization, as a research or field case study assistant, or in formal or informal ministry or in other relevant areas. P/F only.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the department chair.

The course explores the modern construction of religion and religions as a legal, international, historical, and cultural category. We will investigate what definitions and assumptions are at work and who religious tradition is invented, maintained, or changed and for what ends. Classifications interrogated include religious, spiritual and secular, academic and folk. Materials and movements examined include intentionally provocative juxtapositions of ancient, new, tribal, world, localized and international. It is common in contemporary discourse to privilege individual freedom to choose or create a religious identity, therefore, this course will pay special attention to the ways in which spirituality obscures the extent to which individualistic ideology legitimates the creation of self-identity through consumer and lifestyle choices.

Supervised individual projects for students on topics selected by the student in consultation with the instructor. Special Projects may not duplicate courses described in the catalog.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.

This course surveys the art of “Non-Western” societies from prehistory to the present. Cultures discussed include South and Southeast Asia, China and Japan, Africa, and cultures of the Americas (Pre-Conquest and Native American). The term “Non-Western” traditionally refers to cultures that initially developed outside the realm of Western culture and at some distance from the European artistic tradition. The term is not only excessively broad but also problematic, because it implies an opposition to western art. We will explore these issues. The main objective of the course is to provide students with a global perspective on the richness and diversity of art produced by the cultures studied. It also considers the impact of colonization and globalization on the treatment of artworks from non-western cultures and the development of new art forms.

The study of cultural differences that influence the exchange of meaning between individuals and groups of different cultural and/or racial backgrounds. The course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the uniqueness of cultures and the resulting variations in communication styles and preferences, and to provide strategies and skills for successfully communicating across cultural barriers. Students will spend at least 20 hours during the semester working with community agencies serving clients from different cultures.

(Normally offered each semester.)

This course is designed to help students develop theoretical and practical understandings of dialogic communication. Students will develop the skills necessary to effectively participate in and facilitate transformational dialogue. In addition to developing a comprehensive understanding of current dialogic research, students will have several opportunities to practice their facilitating skills by helping NWU and Lincoln community groups engage impasse through dialogue.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing and permission of the instructor.

Each course in the Topics in World Literature group will study a selection of literary works that engage the chosen topic--texts of different genres, from historical eras, and from different cultural traditions. The selected readings will present both abstract principles involved in the topic and its immediate, lived realities.
Prerequisite(s): Any First Year Writing course.

Fiction and essays by women from various cultures (including the U.S., Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean) will be the focus of this course. The multicultural, international reading list will provide students insight into the lives and experiences of women most likely very different from themselves; thus they can appreciate and learn from the differences and make connections across cultures.
Cross listed with GEND 3410.
Prerequisite(s): First Year Writing and sophomore standing.

A thematic course designed to complement the more traditional offerings in British and American literature. The emphasis will be on the shock of colonization, the oppression of imperialism, and the struggle for independence. Attention will also be paid to the encounter of the individual with the questions of God, family, love, war, work, change, and death.
Prerequisite(s): First Year Writing and Sophomore standing.

This class will give students first-hand experience making social and political change. Our goal is to understand how ordinary citizens work for social, economic, and political justice within their communities. Students will work with a grassroots organization to experience the way in which mobilization and change in Lincoln occurs. When the course is offered for 2 credits, the focus will be on the strategy of grassroots organizing and how that is manifested in the students' experiential learning projects. When the course is offered for 4 credits, there will be an additional focus on theories grassroots organizing and on the tactics employed by influential political activists in the United States and globally.

See SOC 2330 Race Relations and Minority Groups.