Major Requirements

2024 - 2025 Catalog

Religion major leading to BA degree

A major in religion leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree requires completion of at least 30 credits from 10 three- or four-credit courses including the following:

  1. Introduction: One course introducing theory and method in the study of religion chosen from REL 100 or 210. This course must normally be taken before the start of the senior year.
  2. Religious Traditions: Two courses introducing trends in the thought, practice, and/or significance of a religious tradition. At least one course must be chosen from each of two of the following religious traditions
    1. Asian Religions: REL 103, 131, 132, 231
    2. Christianity: REL 102, 152, 250
    3. Islam: REL 105, 108, 172, 271, 281, 283
    4. Judaism: REL 101, 106
    5. Secularity: REL 104
  3. Cluster: A group of at least three courses proposed by students in consultation with their departmental adviser before the end of the junior year, cohering in such a way as to define and inform students' particular interest in a tradition, a topic or a method of studying religion. The cluster must include at least two courses from the Religion Department and may include up to three credits from one three- or four-credit course in other related disciplines or interdisciplinary programs (e.g., anthropology, art history, classics, English, history, philosophy, political science, sociology, women and gender studies).

    Students are encouraged to search the catalog and each term's list of topical offerings for courses related to their study of religion.
  4. Additional work in religion or other related disciplines to add up to 10 courses. A limit of one non-Religion course will count toward the major including those in #3 above.
  5. A minimum of 15 credits must be at the 200 level or above, excluding REL 210, 399, and 493.
  6. Senior capstone: REL 399 or 493 (3-3)
  7. Students seeking to graduate with honors are required to graduate with a minimum of 11 three- or four-credit courses.

  1. Introduction:

    2. One course introducing theory and method in the study of religion chosen from REL 100 or 210. This course must normally be taken before the start of the senior year.

    • REL 100 - Introduction to Religion
      FDRHU Humanities Distribution
      Credits3

      Through consideration of texts in a diversity of humanistic and social scientific disciplines, this course explores the nature, function, and meaning of religion in individual and collective experience. It also explores texts, practices, and symbols from a variety of world religions.

    • REL 210 - Approaches to the Study of Religion
      FDRHU Humanities Distribution
      Credits3

      A study of approaches to understanding religious life and thought as found in selected writings in anthropology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, theology, and comparative religion.

  2. Religious Traditions:

    3. Two courses introducing trends in the thought, practice, and/or significance of a religious tradition. At least one course must be chosen from each of two of the following religious traditions:

    • Asian Religions:

       

      • REL 103 - Introduction to Asian Religions
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        A survey of the teachings, practices, and historical significance of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto.

      • REL 131 - Buddhism
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        A survey of the historical development of the doctrines and practices of Buddhism. After a discussion of the Hindu origins of Buddhism, the course focuses on the development of the Theravada, Vajrayana and Mahayana traditions. A class trip to at least one Buddhist center is included.

      • REL 132 - Hinduism
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        This course surveys Hindu religious traditions with a focus on the many ways in which Hindus visualize and talk about the divine and its manifestations in the world through mythic stories, use of images in worship, explanations of the nature of the soul and body in relation to the divine, and the belief in human embodiments of the divine in Hindu holy men and women. Topics include: the religious meanings of masculine and feminine in the divine and human contexts; the idea of local, family, and 'chosen" divinities; and differing forms of Hindu devotion for men and women.

      • REL 231 - Body and Soul in India
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        Seeking to understand the innermost self and its relation to the mind, the body, and the world, yogis and ascetics pursue extraordinary paths that invert the normal aims and values of society. This course surveys ideas on mental and physical training; their conceptual basis; the range of techniques used; and their philosophical development. Course material is drawn from a diverse range of religions that may include Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Islamic, and Christian. The course seeks to answer such questions as: "How can we live in our bodies while realizing spiritual potential?" "What roles do yogis and ascetics play in society?" and "What is their ethical status in the world?"

    • Christianity:

       

      • REL 102 - New Testament
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        An introduction to the history, literature and interpretation of the New Testament.

      • REL 152 - Christianity and Modern Culture
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        A study of Christian thought and cultures in the period from the Reformation into the 21st Century. Particular emphasis is placed on the challenges posed to the foundation of religious belief and practice in a modern context and the Christian responses to these challenges.

      • REL 250 - Truth, Belief, Dissent: Defining Insiders and Outsiders in Ancient, Medieval and Modern Religion
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        Who decides what is orthodox [acceptable thought] and what is heretical [unacceptable], how are these decisions made, and what impact do they have on societal definitions of "insider" and "outsider?" What perennial questions emerge in debates about orthodoxy and heresy -- e.g., the powers of states to enforce religious orthodoxy, the joining of political ideologies with religious interests -- and how are those questions addressed in modernity? This course explores the shifting and perpetually uncertain boundaries of truth and identity in religion. The focal religion is Christianity, but comparative religions are in view. Readings include selections from the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, "Gnostic gospels", and other so-called heretical texts, writings from the Church Fathers (with special attention to St. Augustine), medieval heresy trials, a contemporary American novel, and recent scholarly treatments of the boundaries that define "insiders" and "outsiders."

    • Islam:

       

      • REL 105 - Introduction to Islam
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        This course familiarizes students with the foundations of the Islamic tradition and the diverse historical and geographical manifestations of belief and practice built upon those foundations. Throughout the course, the role of Islam in shaping cultural, social, gender, and political identities is explored. Readings are drawn from the writings of both historical and contemporary Muslim thinkers.

      • REL 108 - The Qur'an
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        This course approaches the Qur'an from a range of modern and pre-modern perspectives: as an oral recitation; as a material object; as a historical document; as a literary text; as a foundation for Islamic law, theology and mysticism; and as a source for ethics and social activism. Particular attention is devoted to issues of gender and politics raised by the Qur'an.

      • REL 172 - Muslims in the Movies
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        An examination of the history of visual representation of Islam and Muslims in classical and modern cinema. We approach movies produced by both Muslims and non-Muslims over the last century as historical sources: visual monuments that have captured the specific cultural and political context in which they were produced. We examine a selection of these movies through the lens of critical theory and the study of religion in order to pay attention to how questions surrounding identity and representation, race and gender, Orientalism and perceptions of difference have historically influenced and continue to influence cinematic images of Islam.

      • REL 271 - Islam in America: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        Same as HIST 271. From the discourse on the War on Terror, to debates about Muslim women's dress, Islam in America has attracted the attention of journalists, activists, government officials, and scholars of religion. This course takes a critical-historical approach to the topic by examining key themes in the history of Islam in America: the lives of enslaved African Muslims in the Antebellum period and the Founding Fathers' visions of Islam; the immigrant experience of Arab Muslims at the turn of the 20th century; the role of Muslim organizations in the Civil Rights movement; and, the changing representations of American Muslims after the Gulf War and post-9/11. In interrogating the history of Islam in America, we specifically pay attention to the ways in which religion, gender, class, race, and citizenship continue to inform representations of Muslims in the U.S.

      • REL 281 - Modern Islamic Thought
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        A study of Islamic religious movements and representative religious writings of the past two centuries, with focus upon fundamentalist" or "revivalist" writings and upon recent authors responding to them."

      • REL 283 - Islam and Spirituality
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        This course explores Sufism, Shi'ism, and popular religious practices within the global Islamic community. Topics include Muslim meditative practices, popular festivals and celebrations in Islam and legal debates around their permissibility; mystical interpretations of the Qur'an. 

    • Judaism:

       

      • REL 101 - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        An introduction to the history, literature and interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).

      • REL 106 - Judaism: Tradition and Modernity
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        This course is an introduction to the rituals, concepts, and practices of Judaism from antiquity to the present day. Through a wide variety of sources, including rabbinic debate, fiction, drama, liturgy, memoirs, film, and history, we will consider how the Jewish tradition has developed, changed, and interacted with other traditions. Particular attention will be paid to the development of modern Jewish movements and communities.

    • Secularity:
      • REL 104 - Secularity, Disenchantment, and Religion
        FDRHU Humanities Distribution
        Credits3

        A study of the decline, transformation, and/or displacement of religious thought and practice in the west. Students explore depictions of religion and secularity in the modern west from the perspective of a variety of disciplines, including some or all of the following: sociology, psychology, philosophy, theology, literature, art. These explorations address the disenchantment that is supposed to have pervaded modern secularity, and they ask if secularity offers alternatives to such disenchantment.

  3. Cluster:

    4. A group of at least three courses proposed by students in consultation with their departmental adviser before the end of the junior year, cohering in such a way as to define and inform students' particular interest in a tradition, a topic or a method of studying religion. The cluster must include at least two courses from the Religion Department and may include up to three credits from one three- or four-credit course in other related disciplines or interdisciplinary programs (e.g., anthropology, art history, classics, English, history, philosophy, political science, sociology, women and gender studies).

    Students are encouraged to search the catalog and each term's list of topical offerings for courses related to their study of religion.

  4. Additional work in religion or other related disciplines to add up to 10 courses.

    5. A limit of one non-Religion course will count toward the major including those in #3 above.

  5. 15 credits of 200-level or above

    6. A minimum of 15 credits must be at the 200 level or above, excluding REL 210, 399, and 493.

  6. Senior capstone:

    7.  

    • REL 399 - Senior Seminar
      Credits3
      PrerequisiteReligion major and senior class standing

      This course begins with consideration of the nature of the study of religion. The remainder of the course is devoted to the writing of an independent research project. Students will continue to meet for discussion of work in progress and instruction in the craft of researching and writing a long, multi-source independent research project.

    • or

    • REL 493 - Honors Thesis
      Credits3
      Prerequisiteinstructor consent

      Honors Thesis.

  7. Students seeking to graduate with honors are required to graduate with a minimum of 11 three- or four-credit courses.