Religion
MODULE: Religion
Program delivered by distance learning higher education up to a maximum of 48 credits. This module may be combined or completed with other online university courses from this faculty.
DESCRIPTION:
Study of the world's major religious traditions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, the religions of China and Japan, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This program will focus on the academic study of religion, with attention to: common dimensions of religious experience; the interaction of religion and culture; theoretical accounts for religious belief and experience; religious expression in myth, ritual, symbol, and social organization; and religious responses to archetypal problems of human experience. All our lives are affected by what goes on in other cultures thoughts and beliefs, so the better we understand each other the better is our chance for achieving a safer, more productive and more caring community. Upon request this program may be adapted and focused in the study of one single major religion.
Courses list (each subject accounts for 3 credits):
1 BIU Earned Credit = 1 USA Semester Credit (15 hours of learning) = 2 ECTS Credit (30 hours of study).
World Myths & Beliefs
Religion Judaism & The Old Testament Christianism & The New Testament Catholicism & The Christian Church Islamic Tradition & Fundamentalism Hinduism & Buddhism Religions of China & Japan Indian Philosophies Religions in America Comparative Religion Contemporary Religious Thought Philosophy of Religion Spiritual Wellness Philosophy of Ethics & Law Metaphysics
Academic Supervisor: Joseph Kariuki Njino
More information about this supervisor and online university course instructors at BIU Human Network.
This module is applicable to Specialist, Expert, Bachelor's, Master's and Ph.D. (Doctor) Programs. This distance learning degree program is designed at the postgraduate level – Master’s or Doctoral. This module may be easily adapted to complete the Specialist, Expert or Bachelor’s adult degree program requirements. A further option is the enrollment into the online university courses listed in this module.
* University Course (3 credits): Select 1 subject from this module.
* Specialist Diploma (15 credits): First 5 subjects or select 5 subjects from this module.
* Expert Diploma (21 credits): First 7 subjects or select 7 subjects from this module.
* Bachelor's Degree (130 credits): The Admission certificate issued after submission of the application for admission will show the amount of credit transferred and validated from previous education and experience, and the amount of credits required to complete this undergraduate program's major. Additional courses from other modules of this faculty will be assigned in case that the credits displayed on this module are not enough to complete the bachelor's required credits.
* Master's Degree (35 credits): Select from 3 to 9 subjects from this module depending on the amount of credits transferred from previous education and experience. Add 13 credits corresponding to a final project to the selected subjects.
* Ph.D. (Doctor) (45 credits): Select from 3 to 9 subjects from this module depending on the amount of credits transferred from previous education and experience. Add 18 credits corresponding to a final thesis to the selected subjects.
BIU issues an admission certificate after receiving your complete application for admission. This document will show the amount of credits transferred and validated from previous education and experience, and the amount of credits required to complete the degree program's major. BIU can not perform this evaluation without the complete application for admission.
Courses Description (each subject accounts for 3 credits):
World Myths & Beliefs
This course provides an analysis of religion as a universal aspect of human culture expressed as belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers and forces. It focuses on the characteristics of major indigenous beliefs and mythologies. It emphasizes the psychological, religious, and cultural meanings of myth.
Instructor: Joseph Kariuki Njino
Religion
This course is based on the academic study of religion, putting special attention to: common dimensions of religious experience, the interaction of religion and culture, theoretical accounts for religious belief and experience, the religious responses to archetypal problems of human experience, and the religious expression in myth, ritual, symbol, and social organization.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Judaism & The Old Testament
This course explores the study of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), with special attention given to the historical development of the religious institutions and the literature of ancient Israel. It also explores the survey of the background, emergence, development, and progress of the traditions of the Jewish people and Judaism and their relationships with heathen, Christian, Islamic, and secular societies over three millennia of time. Religious concepts, such as God, human nature, prophecy, and theodicy are also seen.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Christianism & The New Testament
This course reviews the historical/critical examination of the literature that became scripture for the Christian Church. Special attention is put on the interplay between the emerging church and Judaism on the one hand, and between the church and Greco-Roman cultures on the other. A survey of the intellectual development of Christianity, with attention to major Christian thinkers and their positions with regard to the philosophical problems of Christian theology is studied.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Catholicism & The Christian Church
This course reviews the origins and historical development of Christian churches to modern times. It studies the various ideological systems that have been of primary influence. It also explores the key historical epochs and events that shaped and created the contemporary church, as well as doctrines, traditions, and institutional forms in their specific historical and cultural contexts.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Islamic Tradition & Fundamentalism
This course explores the religion of Islam in its many facets: Pre-Islamic Arabia, the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, the prophetic traditions, tradition and customs, law, theology, major denominations, philosophy, and mysticism. It also studies the relation of worldwide fundamentalism as a response to religious modernism and liberalism.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Hinduism & Buddhism
This course explores the ancient and modern aspects of Hinduism, the most important texts of the tradition, and the concepts of gods, the soul, rituals and doctrines. It also explains the practice of Buddhism, the philosophical theories of the Buddha, meditation, and nirvana, and the impact of Buddhism and Hinduism on today's religion and politics.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Religions of China & Japan
This course introduces the historical texts and contexts of major Chinese religions from Shang Dynasty shamanic practices to debates about religion in contemporary China. It also presents the Shinto and Japanese Buddhism and their roles in Japanese society and culture.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Indian Philosophies
This course studies the doctrines and arguments of the major Indian schools of philosophy (Samkhya, Buddhist, Vedanta, Nyaya-Vaisesika, and Navya-Nyaya) and how these schools attempt to ground their religious systems in logical argumentation about the human soul, God, and the path to nirvana.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Religions in America
This course presents the historical and social development of religion in the United States, including indigenous religions, Protestant and Roman Catholic Christianity, and Judaism. It also deals with slave religion and the black church, religion and gender, revivalism and fundamentalism, and new religious movements.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Comparative Religion
This course is a study of the world's major religious traditions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, the religions of China and Japan, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All our lives are affected by what goes on in other cultures and countries, so the better we understand each other the better is our chance for achieving a safer, more productive and more caring community.
Instructor: Joseph Kariuki Njino
Contemporary Religious Thought
This course provides an academic study of religion, with attention to: common dimensions of religious experience; the interaction of religion and culture; theoretical accounts for religious belief; religious expression in myth, ritual, symbol, and social organization; and religious responses to human problems.
Instructor: Joseph Kariuki Njino
Philosophy of Religion
This course provides a philosophical analysis of major religious concepts, such as God, the relationship between faith and reason, human nature, freedom of will, immortality, and the problem of evil.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Spiritual Wellness
This course analyses the distinctions between religion, theology and spirituality. It considers the stages of spiritual development for the individual and the relationship between spirituality and health from the perspective of the world religions. It evaluates the effectiveness of spiritual practices for wellness and the ways to address issues of spirituality in the lives of people.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
Philosophy of Ethics & Law
This course investigates the philosophical problems of the social and political interaction, including ideology, law and ethics. It explores normative ethical theories that attempt to say what we ought to do and the relations between legal rules and the rules of ethics and custom. It studies the social and ethical foundation of law and legitimacy, and the limits of law and the state. It also explores moral reasoning and how rigorous an ethical position can be applied to real-life experiences.
Instructor: Margarita Trejo Poison
Metaphysics
This course examines problems such as the concepts of existence, essence, god, universals and particulars, the nature of change, possibility, causation, space and time. Also, many traditional philosophical issues such as free will, the mind/body problem, the soul, consciousness, and the existence of abstract entities (e.g. numbers), fall in the domain of metaphysics.
Instructor: Richard Kaplan
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Professionally recognized and validated degrees.
Accredited (Non USA CHEA). International legalization available.
