Minor
Religious Studies
Religious Studies Minor
The Religious Studies minor affords students the opportunity to explore the beliefs, practices, rituals, and values of human societies. The study of the phenomenon of religion and theology contributes to a broad liberal arts education and includes interdisciplinary courses. A grade of C or higher is required in all course for the successful completion of the minor.
Degrees and Certificates
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Religious Studies,
Courses
RS 111: Religion, Spirituality, and Healthcare
Credits 1The course fosters cultural sensibility from an interfaith perspective. It provides students with the knowledge, tools, and skills to navigate the complex situations they encounter in their training and profession at the intersection of religion and healthcare.
RS 224: Religion & Human Experience: Mystics, Mentors, & Warriors
Credits 3An exploration of the nature of religious experience among figures from the major faith traditions in the Middle Ages, examining similarities and differences between experiences then and now. Relations between faith and understanding in religion are seen as shaped by personal experience and social-historical contexts.
RS 226: Religion in America: Great Awakenings
Credits 3A study of the roots of American religious experience, from the American Indian and early immigrant experiments of Puritanism, through the significant impact of Protestantism and Catholicism on American culture, to the influence of the present plurality of religions on the American experience.
RS 227: Religion and Literature in the Far East
A study of the ways in which literature expresses and contributes to religious beliefs, social stratification, and gendered structures in Far Eastern culture. A variety of perspectives will be explored: indigenous writings, the Asian writer living in the West, and the introduction of western culture and worldviews in the East.
RS 331: Theology, Ethics, and Medicine
Credits 3An analysis of the broad spectrum of ethical principles which undergird biotechnology, medicine, and health care. Students will explore the implications of theology, diverse spiritualities, and secularism on complex topics in medicine and research.
RS 337: World Religions
Credits 3An encounter with the basic beliefs, values, and practices among major religious traditions originating in India, China, Japan and the Middle East, as well as their influence in the contemporary pluralistic world.
RS 443: Images of Christ and the Church
Credits 3A study of the role of imagination in relation to faith and knowledge of Christ and the Church, especially with regard to artistic and literary expression. Representations of the "holy" throughout history are examined, especially the medieval, renaissance, and baroque periods.