AP/RLST 2805 6.00
World Religions in Canada
Tracing the origins and development of different religious communities, this course identifies and analyzes ways in which the religious reflects, shapes and embodies the social and cultural diversity and plurality of everyday life in Canada. It invites students to explore a variety of religious experiences and traditions, as they are domesticated in local and familiar contexts upon Canada’s social and cultural landscape. The course examines the sacred texts, myths, doctrines, ethics, rituals, institutions and attitudes to contemporary issues of First Nations peoples, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Ba’hais, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and East Asians in their personal spiritual and communal religious lives. The course compares and contrasts classical and Canadian forms of the religious traditions studied, both in terms of their historical dispersion and in terms of their dealings one with another in today’s Canada in both urban and rural environments. New Religious Movements and less well-known expressions of the spiritual and the religious also receive attention. Students are encouraged to investigate the contemporary status and future development of the spiritual and the religious in Canada, especially instances of their individual and institutional manifestation in material culture and the popular media.
RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Multiple
Course Category: Required Courses