Religious Studies
College of Liberal & Creative Arts
Interim Dean: Daniel Bernardi
Religious Studies Program
HUM 388
Phone: 415-338-1596
Coordinator: Michael Sudduth
Undergraduate Advisors: Mohammad Azadpur, Pamela Hood, Fred Astren
Programs
Program Scope
The Minor in Religious Studies program offers students the opportunity to study the full spectrum of humankind’s religious heritage from an interdisciplinary perspective. Religion is an individual as well as a social phenomenon and the curriculum takes the students through both realms. Basic value questions are investigated from the viewpoint of religion, of disciplines looking at religion and of the individual in a pluralistic, unsettled world. More than half the minor is individually selected in consultation with an advisor, though the courses must represent the different dimensions of the religious experience as listed below. Students may focus their course combination in the minor on a specific religious tradition such as Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism; on a particular issue common to different religions; or on a particular culture or historical period.
As an interdisciplinary minor, religious studies can be taken in conjunction with any major.
Career Outlook
The religious studies minor provides an excellent background for those considering the ministry, social work, counseling, politics, law, or teaching at any level. As a help in shaping a person's own view of the meaning and purpose of life, it can be of lasting value whatever one's career.
Minor in Religious Studies
Religious Studies, Minor — 21 units
Courses are 3 units unless otherwise indicated.
Introduction to Religious Traditions (3 units)
-
PHIL 502 World Religions
or
a comparable course taken at another institution
The Nature of Religious Experience (3 units)
- PHIL 525/ The Nature of Religious Experience
- RELS 300 The Nature of Religious Experience
- or
- PHIL 500 Philosophy of Religion
The Dimensions of Religious Experience (12 units)
One course from each of the following categories; no more than two courses from a single discipline.
The Expressive Dimensions of Religious Experience
- ART 202 Western Art History II
- ART 205 Asian Art History
- ENG 503 Medieval Rebel Writing
- ENG 525 Studies in American Literature
- ENG 580 William Blake
- ENG 589 Milton
- DANC 430 Historical Survey of Dance in the Western World: 1300-Present
- DANC 657 Ethnology of Dance
- MUS 505 Music of the World's People
- THA 401 Theatre Backgrounds: 500 B.C.-1642
- CWL 260 Myths of the World
The Study of Particular Religious Traditions
- AFRS 326 Black Religion
- AIS 310 American Indian Religion and Philosophy
- AIS 450 American Indian Science
- CLAS 230 Ancient Epic Tales
- CLAS 360 Greek and Roman Mythology
- ENG 501 Age of Chaucer
- ENG 630 Selected Studies: Bible and English/American Literary Tradition
- HIST 110 History of Western Civilization I
- HIST 111 History of Western Civilization II
- HIST 321 Hellenistic Greece
- HIST 326 The Byzantine Empire
- HIST 328 Early Christian Church to 313
- HIST 329 Early Christian Church: 313-787
- HIST 331 The High Middle Ages
- HIST 336 The Reformation
- HIST 480 Thought and Culture in America to 1880
- HUM 403 The Early Middle Ages
- HUM 404 The High Middle Ages
- JS 410/ Kabbalah and Mysticism in the Jewish Tradition
- PHIL 514 Kabbalah and Mysticism in the Jewish Tradition
- JS 425 Judaism: Religion and Text
- JS 501/ Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
- PHIL 501 Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
- PHIL 302 Medieval Philosophy
- PHIL 436 Islamic Political Philosophy
- PHIL 509 The Buddhist Tradition
- PHIL 511 Chinese Philosophy and Religion
- PHIL 516 Islamic Philosophy
- PHIL 530 Selected Religious Thinkers
- WGS 565 Muslim Feminisms
The Study of Religious Phenomena: Disciplinary Perspectives
- ANTH 570 Anthropology of Religion
- HUM 345 Humanism and Mysticism
- PHIL 500 Philosophy of Religion
The Senior Experience (3 units)
- RELS 696 Directed Reading in Religious Studies
