Religious Studies Major
Requirements
The major consists of a minimum of nine courses:
With the Department's approval students with a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher, and a major GPA of 3.20 or higher may elect to write and Honors Thesis (495/496) during their senior year.
Six additional approved REL electives:
The electives must include a 300-level elective, two courses in Transformations (Traditions and Practices), and at least one course in each of the three remaining non-Introductory domains of inquiry - Representations (Text and Contexts), Power and Difference, and Additional Department Electives chosen from the following Religious Studies Domains of Inquiry:
Introductory:
REL 101 | Religions in World Cultures | |
REL 102 | Contemporary Religious Issues | |
REL 103 | Religion, Myth, and Fantasy | |
REL 104 | Saints, Mystics, Ecstatics | |
Transformations (Traditions and Practices):
REL 211 | Hinduism: Unities and Diversity | |
REL 212 | Buddhism: From India to Asia and Beyond | |
REL 213 | Judaism: Faith, Communities, Identity | |
REL 214 | Christianity: From Jesus to the Third Millennium | |
REL 215 | Islam: History, Faith, and Practice | |
REL 216 | Religions in Africa: Contemporary and Historical Expressions | |
REL 231 | Religions in American History and Culture | |
REL 232 | Religions in Latin America | |
Representations (Texts and Contexts):
REL 201 | The Biblical Imagination: Torah, Prophets, Writings | |
REL 202 | Christian Scriptures | |
REL 203 | Religion and the Literary Imagination | |
REL 204 | India's Religious Texts: Sacred Word, Sacred Sound | |
REL 207 | The Quran | |
REL 260 | Global Muslim Literature and Film | |
Power and Difference:
REL 217 | Latina/o Religions: Not Just Catholicism | |
REL 222 | Interreligious Cooperation and Conflict | |
REL 225 | Sex, Gender, and Religion | |
REL 228 | Religion and Politics in Africa | |
REL 310 | Sacrifice: Ritual and Violence | |
REL 303 | Lived Religion in Context: Ethnographies of Africa and Asia | |
REL 305 | Muhammad and Prophecy | |
REL 308 | Visual Culture and Religious Identity | |
Additional Department Electives:
REL 223 | Religious Healing and Health | |
REL 224 | Religious Ethics | |
REL 250 | Anthropology of Religion | |
REL 301 | Philosophies of Religion | |
REL 304 | Spirituality and Transformation: From Sufism to Self-Help | |
REL 306 | Jewish Responses to the Holocaust | |
REL 307 | Jews in Poland, Culture and Memory | |
This page reflects the requirements for completing this major. General graduation requirements for all students can be found
here.