RST 225 - Religion, the Nation and the State

This course will unpack the three concepts of “religion”, “nation”, and “state”, and explore the various ways in which they have intertwined and diverged. Through an examination of all three categories both historically and in the contemporary world, students will map their origins, their interplay with each other, and their divergences, with special attention paid to nation-state formations vis-a-vis the world’s three largest religions by population–Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Also in focus will be the omissions in national identity and citizenship that arise from the centrality of a religion in the formation of a nation-state. Course content will include a variety of sources: primary documents and secondary academic sources, in audio, visual, and textual formats.
Lecture
Credits: 3
Offered: Spring
Core Course
DCCG: Global Perspectives