James S. Cutsinger, Chair

Overview

The Department of Religious Studies offers a Bachelor of Arts degree with the option for an intensive major, which has potential for a degree “With Distinction in Religious Studies” upon graduation. The department offers both a major and a minor in religious studies for students seeking a broad liberal arts education focused on the study of a range of complex issues. Students engage in a dynamic, multi-disciplinary investigation that involves insights from fields such as anthropology, history, philosophy, sociology, and theology. Most of all, however,  the program of study embraces critical and careful thinking, honest analysis, and an openness to learning about new ideas.

Programs and Courses

Programs

• Religious Studies Minor
• Religious Studies, B.A.

Courses

• RELG 101 - Exploring Religions
• RELG 120 - Comparative Religion
• RELG 201 - Religion and Culture
• RELG 202 - Introduction to Reason and Faith
• RELG 204 - Introduction to Religions in America
• RELG 205 - Morality, Ethics, and Religion
• RELG 206 - History of the Devil
• RELG 207 - Introduction to African American Religions
• RELG 210 - Introduction to Hinduism
• RELG 219 - Ethics and the Good Life in Asian Religions
• RELG 220 - Introduction to Buddhism
• RELG 221 - Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice
• RELG 230 - Introduction to Judaism
• RELG 240 - Introduction to Christianity
• RELG 250 - Introduction to Islam
• RELG 270 - Religion and the Arts
• RELG 291 - Special Topics in Religious Studies
• RELG 301 - Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
• RELG 302 - New Testament
• RELG 310 - Paul and the Philosophers
• RELG 311 - Gospel Literature and the Formation of Christianity
• RELG 312 - The Life and Letters of Paul
• RELG 313 - The Johannine Literature
• RELG 315 - Early Christianity
• RELG 316 - Imagining Jesus: Antiquity to Present
• RELG 320 - The Greek New Testament
• RELG 321 - Old Testament Prophets
• RELG 332 - Christian Theology
• RELG 333 - Sex, Gender and Religion
• RELG 334 - Asian Religious Philosophy
• RELG 335 - Christian Ethics
• RELG 336 - Liberation Theology
• RELG 337 - Religion and Politics
• RELG 338 - Sociology of Religion
• RELG 340 - God and the Gods
• RELG 343 - Religions of the African Diaspora
• RELG 344 - Hindu Devotional Traditions
• RELG 349 - Tantra: Sex, Power, and Bliss in South Asian Religions
• RELG 350 - Buddhist Stories, Poetry, and Films
• RELG 351 - Yoga: The Art of Spiritual Transformation
• RELG 352 - Religions of East Asia
• RELG 354 - Islamic Institutions and Traditions
• RELG 358 - The Qur’an and Hadith
• RELG 359 - Islamic Theology and Philosophical Thought
• RELG 360 - Anthropology of Magic and Religion
• RELG 361 - Psychology of Religion
• RELG 362 - Science, Magic and Religion
• RELG 367 - Sufism
• RELG 368 - Messiahs, Mystics and Rebels in the Islamic World
• RELG 369 - Islamic Law
• RELG 370 - Spiritual Autobiography
• RELG 371 - Visions of Apocalypse
• RELG 372 - Religion and Existentialism
• RELG 373 - Literature and Film of the Holocaust
• RELG 374 - Religion in the South
• RELG 376 - Holy Women
• RELG 377 - Religion and Literature
• RELG 381 - Jewish History I: Late Antiquity to 1500
• RELG 382 - Jewish History II: 1500 to the Present
• RELG 387 - Jews and Muslims
• RELG 399 - Independent Study
• RELG 410 - Origins of Western Morality
• RELG 412 - Faith, Doubt, and God
• RELG 471 - Interfaith Dialogues in the 21st Century
• RELG 472 - Religion and Science: Human Questions
• RELG 473 - Religions, Medicines, and Healing
• RELG 488 - Perspective in Religious Studies
• RELG 491 - Advanced Special Topics in Religious Studies
• RELG 492 - Special Topics in Research in Religious Studies
• RELG 498 - Advanced Project
• RELG 514 - The Quest of the Historical Jesus
• RELG 551 - Tradition and Transformations in Islamic Cultures
• RELG 552 - Buddhist Studies Seminar