Countries: US

Probes the ethical dimension in an effort to understand what motivates believers to behave according to their beliefs. Tangible results of belief practices are observed in the building of religious monuments such as pyramids and cathedrals, the observation of prayer rituals, and the committing of terrorist acts, to name a few. The lesson compares religious ethics (proper patterns of action) and rules of ethics in society (law, custom, morals). It also attempts to discern how obligation, responsibility, and punishment are present in religious ethical systems.

Explores ethical conflicts inspired by a volatile mixture of religion and politics in Middle Eastern societies. Examples of this conflict are offered from two different countries – Israel, with its mix of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and Egypt, where Christian believers clash with Muslim believers. Students also learn how ideas taken for granted in the U.S. – such as freedom of religion, property rights, and sovereignty – tend to fuel ethical conflicts in the Middle East.

Explores key class themes such as the religious process, the pervasiveness of religion, seeker style, boundary questions, rites of passage, and the many types of religious experience. The lesson delves into the motivations that compel students to study at the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, a provocative new age center in Yelm, Washington.

Probes how profound life questions arising out of the experiential dimension find answers in the great myths and paradigm-laden narratives of the world’s religions. Also discussed are the ways in which these answers shape religious activity among believers. Feature interviews include a Hindu describing the “Myth of the Ganges River,” a Christian fundamentalist discussing the importance of the baptism ritual, and a discourse on death as a religious motivator in the Jerusalem graveyards above the Holy City.

Describes the three great myths in the Torah-creation, liberation, and the making of the covenant on Sinai-that undergird and inspire all Jewish religious activity. Features an explanation of the Talmud by Dr. Lorberbaum of the Hartman Institute, and an interview with a Hasidic Jew conducted at the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Focuses on believers who have chosen to devote their lives to worship, prayer, or meditation. A study on monastic life provides the foundation for this lesson, which includes enlightening interviews on the topics of mysticism and meditation with a Coptic Orthodox monk and a Hindu swami.

Focuses on the experiential dimension of Hinduism. The class features interviews with Swami Prabuddhananda from the Vendanta Society of Northern California and Shankara Pundit of the Chicago Hare Krishna Center.

Explores the Buddhist view on the relationships between religious impulse, profound life questions, and the experiential dimension. The lesson explains such fundamental Buddhist concepts as “The Four Noble Truths”, “The Eight Fold Path”, egolessness, karma, dharma, and reincarnation. Featured is a Zen Buddhist from the San Francisco Zen Center and Tibetan Buddhists at the Dharmadatu Temple in Chicago.

Focuses on the six dimensions of worldviews upon which the course is structured: experiential, mythical, ritual, doctrinal, ethical, and social. In this class, students are introduced to the experiential dimension in Christianity and become acquainted with such concepts as hierophany, axis mundi, and the “sacred and profane” in religious life.

Delves into the reasons, motivations, and instincts that have inspired the cultural expressions we now call “religion”. Students explore archaic religious systems, the eternal search for answers to profound life questions, and various religious styles.