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Go to: Division of Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, and Linguistics  

Faculty

Michael E. Foat
Christianity.

Kambiz GhaneaBassiri
Islam. On leave 2023-24.

Chauncey Diego Francisco Handy
Judaism, Christianity.

Candace Mixon
Islam.

Kristin Scheible
Buddhism, Hinduism.

Steven M. Wasserstrom
Judaism. On sabbatical fall 2023.

Curriculum

The academic study of religion is an integral part of the liberal arts. The aims of the curriculum are twofold: to introduce students to various religious traditions of the world-Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist, for example-and to acquaint students with a variety of recognized methodologies employed in the study of religion-philosophical, social-scientific, and historical. The department’s courses serve both to develop in students the capacity for critical assessment of religious thought and action, and to provide an adequate grounding for independent, analytic inquiry into the history of religious traditions.

The curriculum of the department reflects the staff’s commitment to a diversity of approaches in religious studies. Students majoring or minoring in religion are expected to be familiar with this methodological and theoretical spectrum, and to concentrate upon particular approaches in their research.

While the study of religion is an independent academic field, the department encourages the pursuit of interdisciplinary work in philosophy, literature, history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and other fields. The department offers standing interdisciplinary majors in Religion/Ancient Mediterranean Studies , Religion/Political Science , and Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies with a Concentration in Religion . Students who wish to pursue an ad hoc program outside of the standing interdisciplinary majors should inquire with faculty advisers and departments regarding an Religion/Ad Hoc Interdisciplinary Major .

Programs

• Religion
• Religion/Ad Hoc Interdisciplinary Major

• Religion Minor

Courses

• REL 121 - The Rise and Formation of Islam
• REL 123 - Islam in the Modern World
• REL 131 - Introduction to Hinduism
• REL 132 - Introduction to South Asian Buddhism
• REL 141 - Christianity: The First Seven Centuries
• REL 151 - Introduction to Judaism
• REL 152 - Introduction to the Hebrew Bible
• REL 201 - Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion
• REL 215 - Religion, Race, and Ethnicity
• REL 226 - Islam in America
• REL 259 - American Studies Seminar: Jews Across the Americas
• REL 321 - Modern Islamic Political Thought
• REL 327 - Erasure and Location of Muslims in Western Humanities
• REL 328 - Muhammad and the Qur’an
• REL 331 - Lives of the Buddha
• REL 333 - Arousing Faith in Hinduism and Buddhism
• REL 334 - Gender and Buddhism
• REL 335 - South Asian Religious Nationalisms
• REL 336 - Buddhist Ethics
• REL 341 - Ascesis in the Benedictine and Orthodox Monastic Traditions
• REL 345 - The New Testament
• REL 348 - Works of Mercy in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Christian Traditions
• REL 351 - Bible and Ethnicity: Deuteronomy and Mestizaje
• REL 352 - Moses in Abrahamic Religions
• REL 354 - Bible, Race, and Empire
• REL 356 - Modern Jewish Thought
• REL 358 - Classical Jewish Mysticism
• REL 362 - Religion and Media
• REL 363 - Holy Sh*t: Religious Things
• REL 365 - Understanding Religion
• REL 382 - Special Topics in Jewish History
• REL 402 - The Junior Seminar in Religion
• REL 470 - Thesis
• REL 481 - Individual Work in Special Fields

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