2025 - 2026 Course Offerings
The following undergraduate courses are planned for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Full Year Courses
RELS 131 World Religions/Religious Worlds **Offered through Arts and Science Online**
Introduces religion in India, China and Japan; also the movements of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Humanism.
NOTE: Offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online. Learning Hours may vary.
Learning Hours: 228 (48 Lecture, 24 Tutorial, 156 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite None. Exclusion Maximum of 6.0 units from RELS 131/6.0; RELS 132/3.0; RELS 133/3.0.
Course Equivalencies: RELS131; RELS131B
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science .
Fall 2025 Courses
RELS 132/3.0 Western Religions
This course will examine Judaism, Christianity, Islam as well as some indigenous traditions and new religious movements. It will primarily consider these religious traditions in their historical context, looking carefully at their origins, sacred literature, and ritual life, though at times we will consider selected contemporary issues that highlight different religions' response to modernity.
NOTE: RELS 132 and RELS 133 together, are equivalent to RELS 131.
Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 12 Tutorial, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite None. Exclusion Maximum of 6.0 units from RELS 131/6.0; RELS 132/3.0; RELS 133/3.0.
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science .
RELS 163/3.0 Popular Culture and Religion
This course will identify and describe characteristics of religion as they appear in popular culture (e.g. fashion; comics; movies; art; music; novels; sitcoms; dramas; video games) and analyze how such depictions present, shape, and create perceptions of religion in public discourse.
Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 12 Tutorial, 84 Private Study) .
Requirements: Prerequisite None.
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 205/3.0 Religion Meets Empire: Global Perspectives **Offered through Arts and Science Online**
Religion and other belief systems played a crucial role in governing empires, ranging from homogenization to accepting diversity - and even to both approaches or strategies in the same empire. The course critically assesses constructions of "religion" as a category and concerning inequality and diversity in global history.
NOTE: Offered online, consult Arts and Science Online (Learning Hours may vary).
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 9 Group Learning, 75 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite None.
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 223/3.0 Buddhism
Buddhism in India, the life and teaching of Gautama the Buddha, and the growth of the Theravadin and Mahayanist traditions.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science.
RELS 240/3.0 Magic, Witchcraft, and the Supernatural
Studies the differences between the categories of religion, magic, witchcraft, the supernatural, etc., as constructed in scholarship, popular culture, and practice. Focuses on examples such as New Religious Movements, depictions of magic in film and TV, and moral panics over alleged occult practices, and the histories that let us make sense of them.
Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 6 Group Learning, 12 Online Activity, 78 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science.
RELS 257/3.0 Indigenous Sages and Wisdoms
Following the specific roles usually associated with the category "shamanism", this course examines empirical accounts on the knowledges and practices of various types of spiritual specialists, such as sages, healers, diviners, priests, sorcerers, and mediums in Indigenous traditions in Canada and various regions of the world.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 302/3.0 Traditions in Religious Studies
A topic of current interest in Religious Studies not covered in other available courses.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science.
RELS 316/Living with the Dead: Religion, Culture and Death
In this interactive, inquiry-based course students will develop their own research project in order to explore how human beings attempt to live with the dead and to share spaces and lives with those who are no longer alive.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 48 Online Activity, 36 Private Study).
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level). Exclusion RELS 301/3.0 (Topic Title: Religion, Culture, and Death - Winter 2023).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 354/3.0 Theory in Religious Studies
An introduction to major theoretical approaches to the study of religion.
Learning Hours: 132 (36 Lecture, 96 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite Level 3 or above and 6.0 units in RELS at the 200-level. Exclusion A maximum of 6.0 units from RELS 353; RELS 354; RELS 355.
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 356/3.0 Christianity and American Politics
Christianity has significantly shaped U.S. politics, policies, and societal norms. The course examines this impact, especially in light of the constitutional separation of church and state. It delves into how Christian beliefs influence political ideologies and legislation, and its role in shaping voter perceptions and behaviors. The course also addresses the ethics of religious influence in politics, policy-making, and electoral processes, and its global implications, particularly in foreign policy and international relations.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 9 Group Learning, 75 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science.
RELS 368/3.0 Religion and Business Ethics
Students will develop background knowledge and analytic skills necessary to identify and negotiate religious commitments in business relationships and resolve ethical issues around the role of religion in business contexts. We will analyze case studies to explore various ways in which business practitioners can and do address questions arising in everyday interactions in the business world.
Learning Hours: 132 (36 Lecture, 96 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 398/3.0 Jewish Cultural and Political Thought
The development of modern Jewish thought and practice, including the Reform, Orthodox, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements. The consequences of the Holocaust and the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
Learning Hours: 132 (36 Lecture, 96 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science.
Winter 2026 Courses
RELS 133/3.0 Eastern Religions
This course will examine a host of religions from the "east". It will primarily consider these religious traditions in their historical context, looking carefully at their origins, sacred literature, and ritual life, though at times we will consider selected contemporary issues that highlight different religions' response to modernity.
NOTE: RELS 132 and RELS 133 together, are equivalent to RELS 131.
Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 12 Tutorial, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite None. Exclusion Maximum of 6.0 units from RELS 131/6.0; RELS 132/3.0; RELS 133/3.0.
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 137/3.0 Religion and Film
This course will explore how religion is portrayed in film, noting particularly the depiction of religious belief, practices, practitioners, and institutions, and the use of religious symbols and metaphors.
Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 12 Tutorial, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite None. Equivalency RELS 237/3.0*.
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 206/3.0 Drugs and Religion
This course explores the role of mind/body-altering substances in religions; as things claimed to be of spiritual significance; and as the objects of a fervor (today's "psychedelic renaissance") that we religion scholars can analyze as a new religious movement. It attends to western appropriation of plants and fungi sacred to Indigenous peoples.
Learning Hours: 120 (24 Lecture, 12 Group Learning, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 235/3.0 Religion and Environment
Examines how religious traditions shape human values and behaviours towards the environment and how environmental problems are shaping the evolution of religious and spiritual traditions.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science.
RELS 236/3.0 Religion and Sex
Views of and attitudes toward sexuality in selected world religions; the place of sexuality in religious traditions; relationship between sex and the sacred; specific topics such as marriage, gay and lesbian issues, contraception will be chosen.
Learning Hours: 126 (36 Lecture, 12 Group Learning, 6 Online Activity, 72 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 255/3.0 Research and Writing in Religious Studies
An investigation into the techniques of critical reading and writing for research in Religious Studies.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 2 or above) or (6.0 units in RELS at the 100-level). Equivalency RELS 355/3.0*.
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science.
RELS 270/3.0 Pop Islam
The course takes popular culture as a site of consumption but also utility, disruption, and agency. It considers what Muslim popular cultural production, be it via hip-hop, comics, sitcoms, stand-up comedy, movies and more, tell us about being Muslim today. Course starts by examining historical representation of Muslims in popular culture (using the theory of Orientalism) and then shifts to exploring contemporary production of Muslim popular culture. We will use religious studies and cultural studies theories, especially as they intersect with gender, sexuality, race, and politics.
Requirements: Prerequisite RELS 137/3.0 or RELS 163/3.0..
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 301/3.0 Themes in Religious Studies
A topic of current interest in Religious Studies not covered in other available courses.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.
Learning Hours: 132 (36 Lecture, 96 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science.
RELS 331/3.0 Religion and Violence
Links between violence and religious beliefs, practices and institutions; for example, sacrifice, holy wars, scapegoating, and suicide.
Learning Hours: 132 (36 Lecture, 96 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 342/3.0 Indigeneity and Nature
The seminar deals with the knowledges and practices through which Indigenous peoples conceptualize and approach what the West calls "Nature". Applying their underlying principles, we further analyze contemporary initiatives to promote interspeciesism, and to grant rights to Nature and legal personhood to different elements of the environment.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
RELS 346/3.0 AI, Biohacking, and Future Ñý¼§Ö±²¥
This course looks at issues raised by the intersection of religion and human enhancement technologies. We will consider categories of biohacking, AI, and possible future technologies including mind uploading. Engaging diverse religious issues, we will consider what it means to be human and "better".
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 3 or above) or (6.0 units of RELS at the 100-level).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science.