Religion at Hampshire College

Religion
Religion has played a major role, both positively and negatively, in the formation of human culture around the globe.

The study of religion at Hampshire is almost universally interdisciplinary and interdenominational, allowing exploration of the ways religion has shaped our history, political life, social and cultural institutions, literature, arts, sciences, and even the languages we speak.

Students may focus on a specific religion or on co-evolution of multiple religions in a particular area of the world, may integrate spiritual perspectives into a study of healing, gender, or environmental sustainability, or may critically analyze a sacred text—but all consider their subjects in a manner respectful of their complexity and bring to their work an awareness of the wider-world implications.

Student Project Titles

 * En’Raptured: A Study of Rapture and the Premillennial Dispensationalist Movement
 * Encountering Devi: An Investigation of the Hindu Goddess Through Mythological and Political Contexts
 * Path of the Dharma Farmer: Seeking a Sustainable Spirituality
 * Lacan, the Buddha, and the Self: Finding Meaning in Religion and Therapy
 * Detour to Calvary Hill: Silk Screen Prints Inspired by Two Thousand Years of the Catholic Imagination
 * Young Evangelical Christians’ Perspectives on Politics, Pluralism and Sex Issues: an Ethnographic Study of the University of :*Massachusetts Chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ

Featured Faculty Profiles
Alan Hodder Professor of Comparative Religion

Robert Meagher Professor of Humanities

Ryan Bongseok Joo Assistant Professor of East Asian Religions

Sample First-Year Course

 * Exploring the Divine Feminine

The earliest evidence of religious imagination suggests that the source of all life, death, and rebirth, the power of creation, sustenance, destruction, and re-generation, was first understood as feminine. Goddess worship, arguably the original “religion” of the human species, has survived not only in memory but also in practice to the present day, despite the hostility or indifference of virtually every “world religion” of the past several millennia. This class will look closely at a number of prehistoric and ancient goddess traditions from Europe, the Near East, and South Asia, examining their ancient forms and their enduring legacies. More specifically, this class will begin in the painted caves of prehistoric France and end on the streets of contemporary Kolkota, home to the largest and most vital Mother Goddess festival in the modern world, the Festival of Ma Durga.

Sample Courses at Hampshire

 * The American Transcendentalists
 * Asian Religious Texts & Traditions
 * Buddhism, Hinduism & Christianity in the U.S.
 * Buddhist Traditions
 * The English Bible
 * Exploring the Divine Feminine
 * High Spirits: Reading & Writing about Spiritual Experience
 * Intro to the Buddhist Meditation Tradition
 * Intro to Tibetan Religion: The Four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism
 * Mystics & Texts
 * Myth & Myth Theory
 * Myth, Belief & Reality in World Literature
 * Nuns, Saints & Mystics in Medieval & Early Modern Europe
 * Religion in Modern India
 * The Rise of Secular Jewish Culture
 * Sacred to the Secular: The Performing Arts of Asia
 * Science in the Islamic World
 * Text, Canon, Tradition: Scriptures & Their Emergence in World Religions
 * Yoga Traditions: Philosophy, Practice & Narrative

Through the Consortium

 * Ancient Israel (AC)
 * Buddhist Philosophy (SC)
 * Intro to the Qu’ran (MHC)
 * Intro to Philosophy of Religion (MHC)
 * Mary Images & Cults (SC)
 * The Meaning of Life (SC)
 * Religious Movements in America (MHC)
 * Sacred Sound (AC)

Facilities and Resources
The Five Colleges provide an excellent environment in which to study Buddhism, with one of the largest concentrations of scholars of Buddhist Studies in the United States. Collectively we enable students to study most of the major Buddhist traditions. The Five College Buddhist Studies Certificate might be pursued in conjunction with a major in philosophy, religious studies, anthropology, Asian studies, or another field to which Buddhist studies is directly relevant. It might also be used to support studies in a very different field, such as law, one of the social sciences, or studies in the arts or humanities. Students who enter this program will benefit from the structure it provides and from advising by program faculty, enabling them to take full advantage of the resources offered in the valley beyond their individual colleges.

In addition to many study abroad and other extended study programs in Asia, Hampshire’s academic exchange program with the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in India offers a unique opportunity for our students to study Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan history and culture, and Tibetan textual analysis in an intensive program taught by the faculty of the (Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies) in Sarnath, India. The Institute is a research and teaching university established and jointly administered by the Tibetan Government in Exile and the Ministry of Education of India. In recognition of the importance of this thriving program, which was initiated by Hampshire College many years ago, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited in May, 2007 to address the members of the Smith and Hampshire communities.

Located on the Hampshire campus, the National Yiddish Book Center creates innovative programs to inspire readers and students who want to learn more about Jewish history and culture. The center’s internship program has given dozens of students a valuable foundation for notable careers in the fields of Jewish studies and education. Yiddish Book Scholarships have supported undergraduates, graduates, readers and teachers in their ongoing study of Yiddish literature. The center also offers events and conferences for college students, focusing on Jewish literature and culture.

Information Quoted From: http://www.hampshire.edu/admissions/religion.htm