RELG 036. Christian Visions of Self and Nature

This course is a thematic introduction to Christianity. Beginning with early Christian writings and moving historically up through the contemporary period, we will explore a wide variety of ideas about God, self, and nature. Readings will focus on scientific and natural history treatises in dialogue with theological texts. We will explore the writings of Christian naturalists to study the linking of science and religion, and we will investigate a multiplicity of views about Christian understandings of the relationship between the human and non-human world. This class includes a community-based learning component: Students will participate in designing and teaching a mini-course on “Nature and Chester” to students in the nearby community of Chester. Readings include Aristotle (critical for understanding science in the later Middle Ages), Hildegard of Bingen, Roger Bacon, Galileo Galilei, Charles Darwin, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Muir, Graceanna Lewis, Thomas Berry, Nalini Nadkarni, and Terry Tempest Williams.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Religion
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/religion

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