The objective of this course is to introduce students to the variety of intellectual disciplines by which religions can be studied and some of the topical concerns of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Topics to be covered in the course include: What is religion? Religious studies vis-¿-vis historical, anthropological, sociological, and psychological approaches to religion; the sacred/holy; myth, symbol; society and the sacred; deity; cosmogony, religious anthropology, theodicy; ethics, eschatology and secular humanism in the modern age.