List of all Graduate Courses Offered by the Religion Department

The following information describes all graduate courses offered in the Religion department. Please note that this is a total course listing, and does not reflect the courses offered in a particular semester.

• Old Testament Courses
• New Testament Courses
• Historical Studies Courses
• Theological/Bioethical Studies Courses
• Research Courses
• Biblical and Related Languages

Old Testament

5301 Contemporary Issues in Old Testament Study
A selected major issue in contemporary Old Testament scholarship. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5302 Seminar in the Torah
A designated portion of the Old Testament scriptures chosen from the Torah. Attention will be given to critical and theological problems, relevant bibliography, contributions of significant scholars, and contemporary issues in interpretation. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5303 Seminar in the Former Prophets
A designated portion of the Old Testament scriptures chosen from the Former Prophets. Attention will be given to critical and theological problems, relevant bibliography, contributions of significant scholars, and contemporary issues in interpretation. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5304 Seminar in the Latter Prophets
A designated portion of the Old Testament scriptures chosen from the Latter Prophets. Attention will be given to critical and theological problems, relevant bibliography, contributions of significant scholars, and contemporary issues in interpretation. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5305 Seminar in the Writings
A designated portion of the Old Testament scriptures chosen from the Writings. Attention will be given to critical and theological problems, relevant bibliography, contributions of significant scholars, and contemporary issues in interpretation. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5308 Old Testament Theology
The history and nature of the discipline Old Testament Theology focusing on methodology, personalities, major works and central themes.

5309 Selected Documents from the Hebrew Scriptures (Cross-listed as HEB 5309)

5323 The History of Ancient Israel A graduate seminar focusing on ancient Israelite history and historiography. The course will involve a thorough overview of the history of Syria-Palestine and a rigorous examination of the interests and intentions of the ancient writers. While archaeological and geographic evidence will to some extent inform the subject matter of the course, the primary emphasis will be on information gained from the written sources, both biblical and epigraphic.

5324 Syro-Palestinian Archaeology A graduate seminar focusing upon the archaeology of Syria and Palestine from the Early Bronze Age through the Persian Period (ca. 3300-334 B.C.E.). Emphasis will be given to the use and interpretation of archaeological data with special reference to the Old Testament.

New Testament

5311 Contemporary Issues in New Testament Study
A selected major issue in contemporary New Testament scholarship. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5312 Seminar in the Pauline Epistles
A designated portion of the New Testament scriptures chosen from the Pauline Epistles. Attention will be given to critical and theological problems, relevant bibliography, contributions of significant scholars, and contemporary issues in interpretation. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5313 Seminar in the Synoptic Gospels
A designated portion of the New Testament scriptures chosen from the Synoptic Gospels. Attention will be given to critical and theological problems, relevant bibliography, contributions of significant scholars, and contemporary issues in interpretation. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5314 Seminar in the Johannine Literature
A designated portion of the New Testament scriptures chosen from the Johannine Literature. Attention will be given to critical and theological problems, relevant bibliography, contributions of significant scholars, and contemporary issues in interpretation. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5315 Seminar in Acts, Hebrews, and the General Epistles
A designated portion of the New Testament scriptures chosen from Acts, Hebrews, or the General Epistles. Attention will be given to critical and theological problems, relevant bibliography, contributions of significant scholars, and contemporary issues in interpretation. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5317 Seminar in New Testament Greek (Cross-listed as GKB 5317)
Hellenistic Greek based upon the translation and exegesis of selected portions of the New Testament and other early Christian literature. Attention will be given to grammar, lexicography, and textual criticism. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5318 New Testament Theology
The history and nature of the discipline New Testament Theology focusing on methodologies, personalities, and major works.

5321 New Testament in Its Jewish Context
A graduate seminar focusing on aspects of the Jewish milieu in which early Christianity emerged. The course may be taken up to two times when content differs.

5322 New Testament in Its Greco-Roman Context
A graduate seminar focusing on some aspects of the Greco-Roman milieu in which early Christianity emerged. The course may be taken up to two times when content differs.

Historical Studies

5330 The Pentecostal Tradition
A study of the Pentecostal tradition in Christianity, with particular attention to roots in the Holiness movement of the nineteenth century, origins and developments, and subsequent growth in Charismatic expressions of faith. The course may be taken up to two times if the content differs.

5331 History of Ancient Christianity
Patristic literature up to 500 CE. Selections for study will be made from apocryphal, apologetic, polemical, doctrinal and biographical types of literature. Careful attention will be given to at least one of the following ecclesiastical histories: Eusebius of Caesarea, Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5332 History of Medieval Christianity
A study of the development, variety, and expansion of Christianity from 500 CE to the sixteenth century. Attention will be paid to the evolution of Christian beliefs and practices both within and outside formal Church structures. Topics may include encounters between Christian missions and indigenous religions, popular piety, ecclesiastical and state structures of power, monasticism, gender dynamics and the status and role of women, dissident movements, pilgrimage, Crusade, theology, and the rise of Scholasticism. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5333 History of the Continental Reformation
A study of the origins and developments of new expressions of Christianity in the sixteenth century. Attention will be devoted to Lutheran, Reformed and the Roman Catholic aspects of the sixteenth-century Reformations in Europe. Topics may include the origins of various movements, key figures, popular expressions of Reformation thought and practice, church-state relations, persecution, dissent, refugees, the status and role of women, gender dynamics, as well as Christian missions and expansion. Course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5334 History of the English Reformation
The Reformation as it developed in England with particular attention to the background of the English church in the Late Middle Ages; the influence of Wycliffe, Tyndale, and the English Bible; the progress of reform under the Tudors and the Stuarts; the rise of Puritanism and nonconformity; the Civil Wars; and toleration. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5335 Modern European Christianity
History of European Christianity since the Reformation. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5336 History of American Christianity (Cross-listed as AMS 5336)
History of American Christianity from the colonial period to the present, with particular emphasis on major movements, issues, and controversies, such as Puritanism, religious liberty, revivalism, westward expansion, the rise and growth of denominations, abolition and slavery, the fundamentalist modernist debate, civil rights, feminism,and the rise of the religious right. The course may be taken up to three when content differs.

5337 Baptist History
Source materials of Baptist history and polity with particular attention devoted to Baptist origins, development, theological positions, leaders, and current trends. The seminar approach will be followed, and the course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5349 The Radical Reformation
An examination of the Radical Reformation, also called the Left Wing of the Reformation, or Anabaptism. Possible topics of focus include the origins of the movement, diverse and developing pieties, ecclesiologies, theological reflections among Anabaptists and Radicals of the sixteenth century, martyrdom, the status and role of women in Anabaptist traditions, and the influence and importance of persecution and refugee migration to the movement.

5372 Church and State During the Reformation Era
Church-state relations were among many cultural relationships that were redefined during the sixteenth century; however, scholars differ as to the reformers' influence in this transformation and in the development of social orders throughout Europe. Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Anabaptist leaders, Anglican scholars, Catholic officials, and many others contributed unique and often conflicting views of the relationship between church and state. This course examines the broad contours of church-state thought during the Reformation period beginning with the conciliar movement in the 14th and 15th centuries, and ending with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

5373 Contemporary Issues in Historical Studies
A selected major issue in contemporary historical studies scholarship. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs. Courses offered over past three years have included Christianity in Africa; Women, Gender, and American Evangelism; And Race and American Religion.   

5380 History of the Christian Movement
An examination of the world Christian movement in its ecclesial and para-ecclesial cross-cultural, inter-religious processes, including transatlantic, postcolonial and decolonial interpretations from the global south, particularly Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

5381 Christianity in Latin America & the Caribbean
An examination of Christianity in South/Central America and the Spanish Caribbean with transatlantic, postcolonial, and decolonial methodological frameworks, including intra and inter Christian dynamics with Amerindian and Afro-Latin American religions, geopolitical history, and migratory movements.

5382 Christianity in Africa and in Africa-Diaspora Regions
An examination of Christianity on the continent of Africa, with particular interest in Early African Christianity, the interaction with traditional religions and Islam, and Western African transatlantic history.

Theological Studies

4352 History of Christian Theology I
Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing or consent of instructor.
The major developments of the first eight centuries of Christian theology from the post-Apostolic period to the last of the seven ecumenical councils in 787 CE, with special attention to the theological controversies leading to the formation of the Christian community's central doctrines.

4353 History of Christian Theology II
Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing or consent of instructor.
The major developments of Christian theology, primarily in the West, from the ninth through the mid-seventeenth centuries with emphasis on the great theological systems of the Middles Ages and the theological aims of the sixteenth-century reforming movements.

4354 History of Christian Theology III
Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing or consent of instructor.
The major developments of Christian theology in the modern period from the late seventeenth century to the present, emphasizing the rise of modern historical and philosophical perspectives which challenge traditional Christian claims.

4388 Christian Literary Classics (Cross-listed as ENG 4388)
Prerequisite(s): Upper level standing.
A study of the various ways in which theological and imaginative excellence is displayed in such classic Christian authors as Augustine, Dante, Herbert, Bunyan, and Hopkins.

5350 Issues and Themes Within Patristic Thought
Knowledge of French and German. Formulation of a Christian doctrine of God came to a crisis in the fourth century when a series of conflicts over the relation of the Father and Son erupted and absorbed the intellectual energies of the Church for almost a century. As a result of the so-called "Arian controversy," various points of Trinitarian and Christological doctrine became canonized for defining orthodoxy. These have functioned as norms for all subsequent doctrinal and exegetical development, profoundly shaping the theological identity of the Church. Moreover, in the last two decades of this century, scholarship has been greatly altered by a number of changes in the interpretation of major figures and doctrinal development in the fourth century such that a significant amount of re-writing of historical theology is currently taking place. It is clear that Nicene- "Arian" conflicts went through distinct stages, and were more complicated and less compartmentalized than presented in many histories of the period.

5351 Medieval Theology
The thought and practice of Christianity in the Middle Ages. Selected major texts will be read, either in a format that examines the works of various writers, or with a focus on one major theologian (e.g., Anselm, Aquinas) or theme (e.g., monasticism, scholasticism). A reading knowledge of Latin is preferable, and either French or German is required. Course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5352 The Nicene-'Arian' Controversies of the Fourth Century
Investigation of the development of Trinitarian theology in the first four decades of the fourth century leading up to the council of Nicaea and its immediate aftermath. After touching on antecedent works by Origen and Eusebius, the course focuses upon the writing of Athanasius and Arius of Alexandria, Eusebius of Caesarea, Eusebius of Nicomedia, and Marcellus of Ancyra, concluding with the council of Serdica (342/3).

5353 Nineteenth-Century Theology
Major developments of nineteenth-century theology and their continuing relevance. One or more selected major theologians or movements will be examined.

5354 Twentieth-Century Theology
Major developments of twentieth-century theology and their continuing relevance. One or more selected major theologians or movements will be examined. Course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5356 Contemporary Systematic Theologies
Systematic theology as a genre of theology within the Christian tradition. Emphasis will be placed on systematic theologies written after Barth and Tillich. Analysis of these works will focus on questions of method as well as content. Special attention will be paid to issues related such developments as liberation and feminist theology and postmodern thought.

5357 The 20th Century Catholic Renascence
The resurgence of Roman Catholic theology and literature in the previous century, as well as its continuing relevance for our time.

5358 Seminar on Liberation Theology (Cross-listed as CHS 5306 PSC 5306)
Various liberation theologies that have emerged over the last decades in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and North America. Included will be the pioneering work of James Cone, Gustavo Gutierrez, Rosemary Ruether and the theological and political schools of thought that have followed and extended their analyses.

5360 Contemporary Theological Problems
Important theological problems which confront the theologian and the Christian community today. Problems such as faith and science, theological language, evil, theology and history, and Christian selfhood and modern psychology studied. Both historical and contemporary attempts to deal with the problems will be considered. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

5362 Christian Anthropology
Meaning and relevance of the Christian understanding of humanity for contemporary existence in the light of Biblical, classical, ancient, and modern interpretations.

5363 Christology
Historical development and theoretical systematization of major Christological themes, giving special attention to interrelation of materials from Biblical studies, history of dogma, and systematic theology.

5393 Contemporary Problems in Christian Ethics
A research seminar focusing on ethical problems in the contemporary society and the resources available in the Judeo-Christian traditions for analyzing these problems. Students will work on a specific problem or problems Emphasis will be placed on developing technique and discovering the resources available for ethical analysis. The course may be taken up to three times when content differs.

Bioethics-specific courses within the Theological Studies area

One Bioethics-specific course will be offered each semester. Students in the Bioethics track must take these courses; most but not all will be available to other Theological Studies students as options within their concentration. For non-Bioethics Theological Studies students, taking Bioethics-specific options will not fulfil all the requirements for the Bioethics track.

5368 Bioethics
An introduction to bioethics from a Christian theological perspective. This course will discuss the context and history of bioethics, the meaning of the body, the end of life, the beginning of life, and the treatment of human subjects.

5370 Neuroethics and Theology
A course focusing on the theoretical and practical ethical issues raised by neuroscience and neurotechnologies, ranging from the neuroscience of moral judgment and agency to the ethics of neuroscientific research and clinical practice. Students will develop theological responses to a range of questions and debates in the neuroethical literature.

Biblical and Related Languages

REL 4303 and REL 4304 may only be taken as electives. REL 5325 and REL 5326 can be taken for credit in the Old Testament Studies concentration if they are registered as REL courses. If they are registered as UGA 5306 or AKK 5307, they will count as electives.

4303 Aramaic (Cross-listed as ARA 4303)
Prerequisite(s): HEB 2301 or its equivalent. Grammar of Biblical Aramaic and of selected Aramaic portions of the Old Testament with a brief introduction to post-Biblical Aramaic materials.

4304 Syriac (Cross-listed as SYR 4304)
Prerequisite(s): REL 1310, 1350 and Upper-level standing. Introduction to ancient Syriac with selected readings from Syriac manuscripts of biblical books as well as early Christian literature.

5325 Ugaritic Grammar and Lexicography (Cross-listed as UGA 5306)See UGA 5306 for course description.

5326 Akkadian Grammar and Lexicography (Cross-listed as AKK 5307)See AKK 5307 for course description.

Research

5399 Religion Colloquy
Prerequisite(s): Twenty-four semester hours of graduate course work. Required for participation in the Teaching Fellows Program, also known as the “Teaching Colloquy.”  The colloquy will address a broad range of institutional and pedagogical issues related to the teaching of religious traditions and especially the Christian tradition in an academic context.

5V00 Special Studies in Religion 1 to 3 sem. hrs.
An individualized course (1 sem. hr.) on an ad hoc basis that allows students to work on special research projects that are needed in the students’ graduate programs, but that are unavailable in the regular curriculum.

5V99 Thesis 1 to 3 sem. hrs.
Students register for the thesis and receive credit when the thesis is finally approved.

6V00 Dissertation Proposal and Prospectus 1 to 3 sem. hrs.
A course taken by third- and fourth-year students who have completed coursework until the prospectus has been defended. This course allows doctoral students to work with their dissertation advisors on completing the qualifying requirements for advanced standing in their areas of concentration, preparing their topic proposals, or writing their prospectuses in anticipation of candidacy. The course can only be taken for three semesters (1 sem. hr.) without special permission. Course provides students full-time status.

6V99 Dissertation 1 to 9 sem. hrs.
Supervised research for the doctoral dissertation. This course is taken by doctoral students who have passed their prospectus defense and any other requirements prior to moving to the ABD status. A total of at least nine semester hours is required for the completion of the dissertation.