Course Schedule and Catalog
Course Schedule - Spring Semester 2026
Meeting location information can now be found on student schedules in ESTHER (for students) or on the Course Roster in ESTHER (for faculty and instructors).Additional information available here.
Meeting location information can now be found on student schedules in ESTHER (for students) or on the Course Roster in ESTHER (for faculty and instructors).Additional information available here.
RELI 654 001 (CRN: 25468)
ARTS OF LIVING
Long Title: ARTS OF LIVING AND ETHICAL AGENCY
Department: Religion
Instructor: Clements, Niki
Meeting: 4:00PM - 6:29PM M (12-JAN-2026 - 24-APR-2026)
Part of Term: Full Term
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Language of Instruction: Taught in English
Method of Instruction: Face to Face
Credit Hours: 3
Course Syllabus:
Course Materials: Rice Campus Store
Restrictions:
Must be enrolled in one of the following Level(s):
Graduate
Section Max Enrollment: 10
Section Enrolled: 10
Enrollment data as of: 25-NOV-2025 9:57AM
Final Exam: No Final Exam
Description: This graduate seminar analyzes the long western tradition of “philosophy as a way of life” and its attention to spiritual exercises. From ancient philosophy and late ancient asceticism to twentieth-and-twenty-first philosophers and scholars of religion, we will interrogate the interconnection between theory and practice, reflection and action, what we know and how we shape ourselves. We will look at how forming a way of life is itself an art – where (1) technical training in philosophical and religious communities includes bodily, affective, and reflective practices which allow for (2) individuals to forge their own dispositions towards acting, feeling, and thinking that challenge social norms.