The Undergraduate Program

The program engages in the academic study of religious phenomena in many regions of the world and within many different religious cultures and traditions; and it studies literature, history, and society in relation to religion.

The hallmark of the program is its interdisciplinary and interdepartmental structure. Faculty from the departments of Anthropology, Ethnic Studies, History, Judaic Studies, Literature, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, and Visual Arts provide students with the opportunity to examine religious artifacts, texts, institutions, and communities within a particular cultural and historical context and in the context of comparable manifestations within the general history of religions.

A concentration in the Study of Religion fosters an understanding of religion as one of the primary expressions of the human condition and as an historically powerful force in the shaping of human cultures; and it fosters an understanding of multiple religious traditions. Faculty and students give primacy to humanistic and social scientific methods of study that have become established in the academic community during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

There are no lower-division requirements for the major; however, students are encouraged to prepare for the major by taking lower-division courses in which religion figures prominently, e.g. Introduction to Religion (RELI 1), The Making of the Modern World, or the Revelle College Humanities Program.

Study abroad experiences are strongly encouraged. Foreign language study (to read the languages of original sources) is highly recommended, especially for students planning to attend graduate school in religion.