Religious Studies Major

Learning Outcomes

Graduating Religious Studies majors should be able to:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the beliefs, practices, and texts of more than one major religious tradition.
  2. Understand the diversity and complexity of religious traditions flourishing today.
  3. Comprehend the various ways religious beliefs and practices change in distinct temporal and geographical settings.
  4. Critically analyze significant questions and problems through the careful study of religious intellectual traditions.
  5. Develop scholarly skills to conduct sophisticated research within the discipline.

For a 30-credit major in Religious Studies, students complete the following:

Select 10 courses in Religious Studies, including:30
At least two courses at the 1000 level
At least five courses at the 2000 or 3000 level
Religious Studies Seminar
Independent Study
Total Credits30

Courses taken in fulfillment of the core requirement in Religious Studies are counted toward the major.

Pathways

In consultation with their major advisor, students will designate a "pathway" through the major by choosing one of the following:

Religious Studies

To complete the Religious Studies Pathway, students select six courses from the following:

RLST 1001Religion and the Critical Mind3
RLST 1002Common Questions, Traditional Response3
RLST 1003Religion in a Comparative Key3
RLST 1004Peoples of the Book, Sacred Texts, and Their Communities3
RLST 1101Introduction to Judaism3
RLST 1111History of the Jewish Experience3
RLST 1201Hebrew Bible/Old Testament3
RLST 1203Life of Jesus3
RLST 1211Introduction to the New Testament3
RLST 1402Introduction to Catholicism3
RLST 1601Religion in the United States3
RLST 1667Mormonism: An American Church3
RLST 1801Asian Religions3
RLST 1802Buddhism3
RLST 2113Jews and Judaism in America3
RLST 2115Women in Judaism3
RLST 2118Faith After the Holocaust3
RLST 2205Women in the Bible3
RLST 2207Prophetic and Apocalyptic Voices3
RLST 2220Writings of Paul3
RLST 2221Good News of the Gospels3
RLST 2222Writings of John3
RLST 2430Eastern Christianity: Europe, Africa, and Asia3
RLST 2440The Medieval Church3
RLST 2445The Reformation Era3
RLST 2660I'm Spiritual, Not Religious: The American Spiritual Tradition3
RLST 2662Afro-Caribbean and African American Religions: Shout, O Children!3
RLST 2663New Religious Movements in America3
RLST 2665Religion and Medicine in the United States3
RLST 2668American Catholic History3
RLST 2760Islam in America3
RLST 2880Hinduism3
RLST 2886Buddhism in the United States3
RLST 2889Tantrism3
RLST 2900Special Topics (Shell)3
RLST 3990Independent Study1-3

Theology

To complete the Theology Pathway, students select six courses from the following:

RLST 1203Life of Jesus3
RLST 1211Introduction to the New Testament3
RLST 1501Introduction to Christian Ethics3
RLST 1701Introduction to Islam3
RLST 2118Faith After the Holocaust3
RLST 2120Modern Jewish Theology3
RLST 2209Jewish Interpretations of Scriptures3
RLST 2331The Problem of God3
RLST 2335Liberation Theology3
RLST 2336Catholicism and Gender3
RLST 2338Evil3
RLST 2339Last Things: Catholic Belief in Life After Death3
RLST 2428Early Christianity3
RLST 2430Eastern Christianity: Europe, Africa, and Asia3
RLST 2441Encountering God in Medieval Christian Thought3
RLST 2443The Papacy3
RLST 2445The Reformation Era3
RLST 2448Faith and Reason: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition3
RLST 2544Finding God in All Things3
RLST 2550Catholic 2.0: Faith and Practice3
RLST 2552Contemporary Moral Problems3
RLST 2555Catholic Social Teaching3
RLST 2557Christian Spirituality3
RLST 2558The Classic: Truth in Religion and the Arts3
RLST 2660I'm Spiritual, Not Religious: The American Spiritual Tradition3
RLST 2649American Catholic Theologians3
RLST 2730Islamic Theology3
RLST 2750Islamic Ethical and Legal Thought3
RLST 2795Islam, Race, Power3
RLST 2900Special Topics (Shell)3
RLST 3990Independent Study1-3