This is both an interdisciplinary course treating architecture and religion
and a multi-cultural course covering paganism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
Buddhism, and Hinduism.  The course will investigate a representative sample
of sacred sites and shrines of these faiths, with a focus on architecture.
It will examine why these places became holy to certain religions, what the
concept of "sacred" or "holy" meant to them, how the human and divine
commingled, why the peoples of these faiths built shrines at given
localities, how the shrines were designed to accommodate the faithful, how
it is that some of the sites actually served or continue to serve different
religions simultaneously, whether the original purposes and rituals marking
these sites have changed over time, and how
architectural forms were made to follow function. Slides and some clips from
films will be shown, and there will be readings.  Assignments include
quizzes, short papers, group reports, and a written examination.