Spring 2010

WGS 340 • GODDESSES IN WORLD RELIGS/CULS

Course Description

This course will provide a historical and cross-cultural overview of the relationship between feminine and religious cultural expressions through comparative examinations and analysis of various goddess figures in world religions. We will begin our study in Asia; specifically in India, where goddess worship is a vital part of contemporary Hinduism in all parts of the subcontinent. From the goddesses of the Hindu tradition, we will move on to female figures in the Buddhist Mahayana pantheon, and then to some of the goddesses of western antiquity. We will end the course with a study of contemporary goddess worship in the United States as an important expression of Neo-Paganism. Issues relating to gender, sexuality, power and violence will be emphasized as themes throughout the course.

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