Courses
Greek
GREK-101 Elementary Koine Greek I
First-year principles of grammar and syntax for New Testament Greek. Using a first-year grammar and graded readings from the NT, the goal is quickly to develop reading skills for the NewTestament in its original language.
GREK-102 Elementary Koine Greek II
First-year principles of grammar and syntax for New Testament Greek. Using a first-year grammar and graded readings from the NT the goal is quickly to develop reading skills for the NewTestament in its original language.
GREK-201 Intermediate Greek Exegesis
This course develops and matures the skills acquired in first-year Greek by further exploring the grammar and syntax of Koine Greek using New Testament texts and other Jewish and Christian Greek literature from the 1st Century. In addition to exploring these texts grammatically, the class will explore the texts in their culturalcontexts. The course operates inductively via thetranslation of texts. This course fulfills the Central Curriculum Language requirement.
Philosophy
PHIL-101 Problems in Philosophy
An introduction to philosophy and philosophical problems. Emphasizes standards and ideals of morality and truth.
PHIL-105 Philosophy of Love & Desire
An introduction to philosophy, this course examines theories of love, desire, and friendship from ancient, medieval, modern, 19th and 20thcentury philosophers.
PHIL-111 Introduction to Logic
Basic aspects of logical argument. Emphasizesdeduction and presents some of the related problems of language.
PHIL-122 Resolving Moral Conflicts
Investigates problems involved in moral decision making, providing students with a betterunderstanding of what it means to be a good individual, a good family member, and a good citizen of the nation and world.
PHIL-201 Everyday Ethics
This course is an examination of ethical theory and practice in connection with the relevant social and political philosophy, focusing on the philosophical issues that arise in everyday life.
PHIL-210 Philosophy of Religion
Focus on classical and contemporary writings to determine the credibility of religious faiths and beliefs.
PHIL-212 Feminist Philosophy
An examination of the various forms of feminist philosophy (e.g., liberal feminism, radical feminism, existential feminism, Marxist/socialist feminism, psychoanalytic feminism, postmodernfeminism, eco-feminism, multicultural & global feminism). Emphasizes how feminism differs from common (mis)understandings of it. Some attention is also given to various women in professional philosophy.
PHIL-213 Symbolic Logic
Examines basic procedures for determining thevalidity or invalidity of deductive arguments. Emphasizes standard notations, principles andmethods used in modern symbolic logic. Also coversaspects of set theory.
PHIL-221 Applied Ethics
Examines a variety of practical ethical issues andproblems using the tools of philosophical analysisand moral theory. Subject area for course will change on a rotating basis and will include bioethics, ethics of war and peace, business ethics, and environmental ethics.
PHIL-222 Ethical Theory
Principal theories of moral value and duty in the history of Western thought as well as incontemporary philosophy. Readings may includeworks from such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle,Kant, Mill, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Held, Korsgaard, Hursthouse, Hooks, Bordo, de Waal,MacIntyre, Blackburn, and Lear.
PHIL-235 Aesthetics
Examines artistic and aesthetic values reflected in both past and present philosophies of art and beauty. Readings may include selections from Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Kant and Tolstoy, as well as 20th-century philosophers and artists.
PHIL-241 Ancient Philosophy
The origins of Western philosophical thought in ancient Greece and Rome. Emphasizes Plato, and Aristotle, and the Stoics.
PHIL-243 Modern Philosophy
Focuses on the ideas of European and British philosophers from Descartes through Kant.
PHIL-250 Metaphysics-Theories of Reality
Investigations into the nature of being and the structure of reality, as well as the epistemological and ethical status of such inquiries, as conducted by such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Nietzsche.
PHIL-301 Plato Seminar
An intensive study of the works of Plato. Topics may vary, including: Plato's theory of education, Plato and the Greek literary tradition, Plato's Republic, the role of the body in Plato's epistemology, dialectic and dramatic dialogue.
PHIL-305 Topics in Philosophy
Examines selected topics in philosophy, depending on student and instructor interest. Course may berepeated for credit if topic is different. 2 - 4 SH.
PHIL-310 Philosophy of Science
Investigates the logic of the scientific method, the history of scientific thought, and the philosophical underpinnings of modern science. Focuses on developing an understanding of thenature, origins, and growth of modern science and the application of scientific knowledge to human affairs.
PHIL-312 Epistemology-Theories of Knowledge
Do we have knowledge of the world around us, the so-called external, objective world? Are there any objective truths about the world for us to discover? If there are, how do we come to have knowledge of these truths? These and other related questions of epistemology will constitute the subject matter of this course.
PHIL-443 Political Philosophy
The ideas of the major philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke,Rousseau, Mill, Hegel and Marx. Juniors or seniorsonly or by instructor's permission.
Religion
RELI-102 Applied Biblical Ethics
Ethics Examines what contributions biblical textscan make to specific moral dilemmas in contemporary society, using the biblicaltraditions of the Old and New Testaments together with ethical theory and the Christian traditions of biblical interpretation. Specific problemsvary, but at least six of the following areas are covered each time the course is offered: economicsand consumerism; personal vocation;environmentalism; recreation and entertainment; sexual issues; health care; violence and war;education and moral development; media; and racism.
RELI-103 The New Testament
An introduction to those texts identified as Christian scripture. Particular focus on the social, historical and religious contexts that helped shape this literature and the ways in whichthese texts witness to the early history of Christianity.
RELI-105 World Religions
Examines both historical and contemporary aspects of the world's major religions.
RELI-107 Faiths and Values
Examines the contemporary personal and socialconsequences of religiously based values from a multicultural perspective.
RELI-109 Religions in the United States
Examines the variety of religious expressions and options in the United States, past and present, with some attention to common themes or underlyingunity.
RELI-110 Introduction to Religious Studies
Explores the human phenomenon of religion via the cross-disciplinary perspectives and methods of religious studies. Seeks to gain understanding of a wide range of cross-cultural human religious experiences such as ritual, the sacred, the divine, religious community, religious ethical norms, mysticism, myth and doctrine. Provides a foundation for understanding religious studies as a discipline.
RELI-113 Introduction to Judaism
Examines Judaism as it has been defined and developed as a way of thought and a way of life. The course focuses on central religious concepts, holidays, life-cycle ceremonies, and various formsof religious expression, including prayer andritual, in order to help students understand what it means, and has meant, to be a Jew. Sponsored inpart by the Jewish Chautauqua Society.
RELI-115 Jewish Philosophy and Ethics
Explores issues and problems related to the spiritual literature and philosophy of the Jewish people, from the Talmudic period through the present. Topics vary, and may include classical Jewish texts, spiritual traditions, mysticism, religious organization, gender and community, and Judaism in America. The course encourages studentsto recognize in Jewish texts reflections of Judaism that are diverse and, at times, antithetical to one another. Sponsored in part by the Jewish Chautauqua Society.
RELI-200 Phillipines: Learning/Service
RELI-201 The Old Testament
An introduction to the texts of the Hebrew Bible, with concern for their socio-historical contexts, literary forms, and theological insights. Attention also to the variety of ways in which this literature has been and continues to be valued.
RELI-203 The Gospels and Jesus
Close reading of both the canonical and non-canonical gospels and their various representations of Jesus. Consideration of the search for the historical Jesus and the nature of the communities from which the gospels derived.
RELI-205 Paul
The life and teachings of Paul in the context of his times. Analysis of the Pauline writings and their treatment of such theological themes asfaith, the nature of the church, and theexpectations for the future, plus Paul's views on such social issues as marriage and sexuality,slavery, society, and the state.
RELI-207 Women in Biblical Tradition
An extensive inquiry into women?s stories andimages in the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and related literature from the biblical period. Explores the range of roles played by women withinbiblical narratives, the variety ofmetaphorical/symbolic uses of femininity in biblical traditions, and legal and ethical precepts related to the status of women in the biblical period. Methods and approaches from the social sciences, history, literary studies, and theology, as shaped by feminist theory, will serveas the main guides for this study.
RELI-210 Philosophy of Religion
Focus on classical and contemporary writings to determine the credibility of religious faiths and beliefs.
RELI-213 Christian Worship
A survey of the development of Christian worship from the New Testament to the present day, which examines the impact of religious beliefs, historical and denominational traditions, andsocietal influences on the forms and architecture of worship.
RELI-214 Hymnology
A survey of hymnody in the Christian church from early Greek and Latin hymnody through present-day trends in hymn-writing. Texts and music will be examined.
RELI-215 Music in Christian Rituals
Examines the theological and musicological aspectsof artistic contributions to Christian worship as recognized in cultural settings.
RELI-220 Magic, Witchcraft & Religion
Examines anthropological concepts of magic, witchcraft, and religion in a cross-cultural context. Drawing on ethnography, anthropological theory, history, and film, the class explores the nature of magic, witchcraft, and religion; the relations among them; and the ways in which they interact with other social formations, for examplegender, politics, and economics. Countries studiedhave included South Africa, India, Haiti, and the U.S.
RELI-225 Women in Religion
Critically studies how women are perceived, portrayed, and involved in a number of the world'sreligions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and women's spiritual movements.
RELI-250 Images of Jesus in Central America
An intensive course combining two weeks of on-sitestudy with service at clinics, churches and mission sites in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. This course examines icons, paintings, hymns, communal life, liturgies, devotional practices, and theological statements as expressions of the Christologies that are operative in a variety of Central American churches. Travel occurs during winter break. This is the academic component of the SU Casa (Susquehanna University Central American Service Adventure) program.
RELI-290 Philippines: Service Learning
This class is a two-part course. The first part is a spring semester class wherein students study Filipino culture, history, language, religion, andcuisine. The second part of the program is atwo-week service learning trip to the Philippines.the first week focuses around a service project inthe provincial city of Lipa City in Batangas Provice. The majority of the second week is spentin Manila working at the Kanlungan Shelter for children.
RELI-300 Apocalypticism
Using interdisciplinary perspectives from sociology, cultural anthropology, religious studies, history, cultural studies, theology, and biblical studies, this course examines the role and modes of speculation about the end of theworld as a contemporary interpretive and cultural problem in the Western religious and secular traditions. The origins of apocalyptic worldviews in ancient Judaism and Christianity and how it is we continue to use these traditions in our own time are explored, as well as how medieval andearly modern developments to contemporary utopianism and millennialism impact us.
RELI-301 Biblical Studies
Advanced studies in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and/or the New Testament. Potential course offerings may include: Wisdom Literature, the Narrative Art of the Bible, or the Art and Archaeology of the Biblical World.
RELI-305 Topics in Religion
Examines selected topics in religion, depending onstudent and instructor interest. Course may be repeated for credit if topic is different. 2 - 4 SH.
RELI-309 Luther: Life and Thought
Through readings from the writings of Martin Luther (1483-1546) and major secondary sources, this course examines the life, thought and importance of Luther in the context of his times and with attention to his significance for today'sChristian churches and interfaith dialogues.
RELI-311 Historical Studies
Advanced studies in religious and cultural topics historically considered.
RELI-321 Current Religious Issues
Advanced studies in religious issues, both personal and social, ethical and theological.
RELI-350 Science and Religion
RELI-360 Religious Fundamentalisms Modern World
This course examines religious beliefs, practices,and ways of life that have come to be labled "fundamentalist." We will attend in particular totheir emergence in the modern world and the ways in which they critically engage secular convictions about morality, aesthetics, and epistemology. We will focus on Protestant Fundamentalism and the Islamic Revival, but, depending on student interest, may also consider ultra-orthodox Judaism or Hindu nationalism.
RELI-400 Independent Study
Study of a particular topic under the guidance of an instructor. This option is available to all students, not just majors and minors.
RELI-502 Practicum
Experiential learning in a social, political,religious or academic setting. Includes reflectivestudy and analysis under faculty supervision and aterm paper or equivalent writing. No more than sixhours may be taken for major credit; no more than four hours for minor credit.
