Catalog of Courses for Engaging the Liberal Arts
Courses designed for first-year students that will help them adjust and adapt to college and learn about the many resources and opportunities available to them as they pursue their liberal arts degree.
Courses on variable topics that will help students adjust and adapt to college and learn about the many resources and opportunities available to them as they pursue their liberal arts degree.
Academic Realities & Strategies for Success is a 1-credit, graded course that introduces students who have struggled academically in the previous semester to effective study strategies, University resources & life skills that support student success. Class covers a range of content relevant to academic performance, including time & stress management, critical thinking skills, & life strategies for achieving success in the college environment.
Courses designed for second-year students that will help them adjust and adapt to college and learn about the many resources and opportunities available to them as they pursue their liberal arts degree.
Courses on variable topics that will help students (1) identify and prepare for a major in the College and (2) learn about the many resources and opportunities available to them as they pursue their liberal arts degree.
Transcripts and resumes in the 21st century have to be more than documentation on paper. This is not only because computers have become ubiquitous, but also because digital technology allows us to represent who we are to others and to ourselves in more multi-dimensional ways than print can. In this class you will assemble three e-portfolios. Together students will view, critique, and give feedback to each other's work.
Students explore how insights from various disciplines inform their understanding of healthcare. Guest lectures and informational interviews connect students with healthcare professionals to gain a better understanding of the various health professions and to assess their own career goals. Students develop skills in interdisciplinary research and problem solving, in oral and written communication, and the integration of diverse perspectives.
This course introduces strategies that will enable students to be effective learners. These tools include methods for learning, planning, and critical thinking. Specific topics include: methods for time management, prioritization, note-taking, test preparation, habit formation, assessment of arguments and data, productive approaches to challenges, and utilization of University resources.
ELA 2910 provides students with a toolkit of methods that can help them attain their academic goals at the UVA. The class introduces metacognitive learning strategies that support student comprehension and knowledge retention across disciplines. The course covers approaches to managing lengthy and complex readings, the analytical and evaluative skills of scholarship, time and stress management techniques, and individually targeted strategies.
This course supports students in securing and preparing for a professional summer internship through career exploration, self-assessment, skill development, & search strategies. Students connect the skills & competencies to a liberal arts education with the core proficiencies sought by employers. Students utilize the Career Center resources including counseling & Virginia Alumni Mentoring.
Courses on variable topics that help students translate their liberal arts education into the world of work.
Courses on variable topics that help students translate their liberal arts education into the world of work.
An introductory survey course exploring the topic of Africana religions generally -- including the practices of spirituality of black people in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and on the continent of Africa. Particular attention will be paid to the relations between these various locations, the similarities and differences. We will engage music, watch film, read fiction, poetry, sacred texts and works of critical nonfiction.
This course will survey the central debates of the field of African Philosophy: what counts as "African"? what counts as "philosophy"?, the universality or cultural particularity of rationality, the role of race and racism in modern, Western Philosophy, the role of writing and orality in philosophy, and "African" conceptions of the self, truth, knowledge, gender, ethics, and justice.
Introduces the mythology, ritual, philosophy, and religious art of the traditional religions of sub-Saharan Africa, also African versions of Christianity and African-American religions in the New World.
The Orisa traditions of the Yoruba-speaking peoples of West Africa have survived and thrived across centuries of war, slavery, and colonization, and continue to provide meaning to the lives of millions of people all over the world. This course will survey the various Orisa traditions of West Africa and the Americas, their interactions with other traditions as well as their influence on Black Atlantic art and spirituality.
A survey course which familiarizes students with African-derived religions of the Caribbean and Latin America
This course examines women's religious activities, traditions and spirituality in a number of different African contexts. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, literary, and religious studies scholarship, we will explore a variety of themes and debates that have emerged in the study of gender and religion in Africa. Topics will include gendered images of sacred power; the construction of gender through ritual; sexuality and fertility; and women.
Not only is Nigeria home to uniquely dynamic, diverse, and globally influential religious traditions, but these traditions have profoundly shaped the history, culture, and politics of the nation-state of Nigeria and its diaspora. This course examines the historical development of religious traditions in Nigeria and their interactions.
This seminar examines changes in ethnographic accounts of African diaspora religions, with particular attention to the conceptions of religion, race, nation, and modernity found in different research paradigms. Prerequisite: previous course in one of the following: religious studies, anthropology, AAS, or Latin American studies
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions.
An exploration of religious concepts, practices and issues as addressed in African literature and film. We will examine how various African authors and filmmakers weave aspects of Muslim, Christian and/or traditional religious cultures into the stories they tell. Course materials will be drawn from novels, memoirs, short stories, creation myths, poetry, feature-length movies, documentaries and short films.
Historical and topical survey of Christianity in Africa from the second century c.e. to the present. Cross listed with RELC 3890. Prerequisite: A course in African religions or history, Christianity, or instructor permission.
This course will survey the history of Islam and Muslim societies in Africa through their arts. Covering three periods (Precolonial, Colonial, and Post-colonial), and four geographic regions (North, East, West, and Southern Africa), the course will explore the various forms and functions of Islamic arts on the continent. Through these artistic works and traditions we will explore the politics, cultures, and worldviews of African Muslim societies.
An examination of Christian missions in Africa in the 21st Century. Through a variety of disciplinary lenses and approaches, we examine faith-based initiatives in Africa--those launched from abroad, as well as from within the continent. What does it mean to be a missionary in Africa today? How are evangelizing efforts being transformed in response to democratization, globalization and a growing awareness of human rights?
The Orisa traditions of the Yoruba-speaking peoples of West Africa have survived and thrived across centuries of war, slavery, and colonization, and continue to provide meaning to the lives of millions of people all over the world. This course will survey the various Orisa traditions of West Africa and the Americas, their interactions with other traditions as well as their influence on Black Atlantic art and spirituality.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions.
This course examines women's religious activities, traditions and spirituality in a number of different African contexts. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, literary, and religious studies scholarship, we will explore a variety of themes and debates that have emerged in the study of gender and religion in Africa.
Not only is Nigeria home to uniquely dynamic, diverse, and globally influential religious traditions, but these traditions have profoundly shaped the history, culture, and politics of the nation-state of Nigeria and its diaspora. This course examines the historical development of religious traditions in Nigeria and their interactions
An examination of Christian missions in Africa in the 21st Century. Through a variety of disciplinary lenses and approaches, we examine faith-based initiatives in Africa--those launched from abroad, as well as from within the continent. What does it mean to be a missionary in Africa today? How are evangelizing efforts being transformed in response to democratization, globalization and a growing awareness of human rights?
This seminar will examine some of the most profound and influential writings about love from the Islamic intellectual and poetic traditions. Perhaps more than any other civilization, the literary and philosophical traditions of Islamic civilization have been "love-centric." In this course we will closely read and discuss various philosophies and theories of love from the mundane to the mystical.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions
By reading ethnographic accounts of ritual performances in West Africa and its Atlantic diaspora, the seminar considers theories of ritual, discursive and non-discursive forms of remembrance, and the production, malleability and politics of memory amidst the particular challenges that the histories of slavery, colonialism, and collective trauma pose to the development of collective identities in the Afro-Atlantic World.
What counts as "African"? what counts as "philosophy"?, what separates "philosophy" from "religion"?, the universality or cultural particularity of rationality, the role of race & racism in modern, Western conceptions of philosophy & religion, the role of writing & orality in philosophy, and "African" conceptions of the self, truth, knowledge, gender, & ethics, as well as exploring & critiquing different approaches to "African Philosophy".
An introduction to African religions that originated south of the Sahara. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, and religious studies scholarship, we explore indigenous religious systems, institutions, and ways of knowing ¿ including cosmologies, rituals, healing and devotional practices. We assess the impact of colonialism on African religious cultures, consider developments in the postcolonial era, and discuss Islam and Christianity.
A history of Christianity in Africa from its roots in 2nd-century Egypt and the Maghreb to the present. Covers Ethiopian Orthodoxy, 16th-18th-century Kongolese Christianity, colonial-era missions, African indigenous churches (AICs), Pentecostalism, and African theology. Themes include translation, conversion, inculturation, and decoloniality. Situates Christianity within wider developments in African religious history.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions.
This individualized graduate tutorial covers some of the most important authors and developments in decolonial studies, with particular attention to their relevance and intersection with religious studies. The goal of the tutorial is to train graduate students in the emerging canon of work on decoloniality, its methods of exposing, critiquing, and dismantling coloniality in academic disciplines and beyond, and its importance to religious studies.