🐻 Cornell Religious Studies unofficial reading list, fall 2026
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Sophomore level
Buddhism RELST 2299
- The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Buddhism by Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
- The Foundations of Buddhism by Rupert Gethin
South Asian Religions in Practice: The Healing Traditions RELST 2546
- The Indian Way: An Introduction to the Philosophies & Religions of India by John M Koller
- Shamans, Mystics & Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India & its Healing Traditions by Sudhir Kakar
- Medusa’s Hair: An Essay on Personal Symbols & Religious Experience by Gananath Obeyesekere
- Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India by Diana Eck
- Given to the Goddess by Lucinda Ramberg
- In Amma’s Healing Room: Gender & Vernacular Islam in South India by Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger
- Gabriel of Madness: Islamic Poetry & Ethics in an Age of Hindu Nationalism by Anand Vivek Taneja
- Mudpacks and Prozac: Experiencing Ayurvedic, Biomedical & Religious Healing by Murphy Halliburton
Junior level
Partition: Violence, Citizenship & the Making of Modern South Asia RELST 3023
- The Partition of India by Haimanti Roy
- From Raj to Republic: Sovereignty, Violence & Democracy in India by Sunil Purushotham
- Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir by Malik Sajad
History, Theory & Methods in the Academic Study of Religion RELST 3049/6049
- Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology by Mary Douglas
- Fetishizing Tradition: Desire and Reinvention in Buddhist and Christian Narratives by Alan Cole
- Revelatory Events: 3 Case Studies of the Emergence of New Spiritual Paths by Ann Taves
- How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others by T.M. Luhrmann
History of Christianity RELST 3695
- Confessions by Augustine
- A Brief History of Christianity by Carter Lindberg
- Secrets of God: Writings of Hildegard of Bingen by Sabina Flanagan
Senior level
Time & History in Ancient Mexico RELST 4256/7250
- The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript by Díaz & Rodgers
- Portraying the Aztec Past: The Codices Boturini, Azcatitlan & Aubin by Angela Herren Rajagopalan
- Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs: A Guide to Nahuatl Writing by Gordon Whittaker
Moses Maimonides RELST 4540
- Epistles of Maimonides: Crisis & Leadership Abraham S. Halkin
- A Maimonides Reader by Isadore Twersky
- Maimonides in His World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker by Sarah Stroumsa
- Maimonides: The Life & World of One of Civilization’s Greatest Minds by Joel L. Kraemer
- The Guide of the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides