Religious Studies
College of Arts and Humanities
Dean: Paul Sherwin
Religious Studies Program
HUM 388
Phone: 415-338-1596
Coordinator: Michael Sudduth
Undergraduate Advisors: Mohammad Azadpur, Pamela Hood, Fred Astren
Programs
Program Scope
The religious studies minor 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 adviser, 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
Courses are 3 units unless otherwise indicated. On-line course descriptions are available.
Introduction to Religious Traditions
| Course | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 502 | World Religions (3) (or a comparable course taken at another institution) |
3 |
The Nature of Religious Experience
| Course | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 525/ RELS 300 or PHIL 500 |
The Nature of Religious Experience Philosophy of Religion |
3 |
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
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ART 202 | Western Art History II |
| ART 205 | Asian Art History |
| ENG 503 | Arthurian Romance |
| ENG 525 | Modern American Mystics |
| ENG 580 | William Blake |
| ENG 589 | Milton |
| DANC 415 | Dance in Religion |
| DANC 430 | Historical Survey of Dance in the Western World: 1300-Present |
| DANC 657 | Dance Ethnology |
| MUS 505 | Music of the World's People |
| THA 401 | Theatre Backgrounds: 500 B.C.-1642 |
| WCL 260 | Myths of the World |
The Study of Particular Religious Traditions
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| AFRS 326 | Black Religion |
| AIS 310 | American Indian Religion and Philosophy |
| AIS 450 | American Indian Science |
| CLAS 330 | Myth in Ancient Epic |
| CLAS 360 | Greek and Roman Mythology |
| ENG 501 | Age of Chaucer |
| ENG 509 | Age of Humanism |
| 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 |
| HIST 635 | Recent History of the Jewish People |
| HUM 403 | The Early Middle Ages |
| HUM 404 | The High Middle Ages |
| JS 410 / PHIL 514 | Kabbalah and Mysticism in the Jewish Tradition |
| JS 425 | Judaism: Religion and Text |
| JS / PHIL 501 | Judaism, Christianity, and Islam |
| PHIL 302 | Medieval Philosophy |
| PHIL 436 | Islamic Political Philosophy |
| PHIL 504 | History of Christian Thought I |
| PHIL 509 | The Buddhist Tradition |
| PHIL 511 | Chinese Philosophy and Religion |
| PHIL 515 | Semitic Religious Thought |
| PHIL 516 | Islamic Philosophy |
| PHIL 520 | Modern Religious Thought |
| PHIL 530 | Selected Religious Thinkers |
| WOMS 565 | Women in the Muslim and Arab Worlds |
The Study of Religious Phenomena: Disciplinary Perspectives
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ANTH 570 | Anthropology of Religion |
| HUM 345 | Humanism and Mysticism |
| PHIL 500 | Philosophy of Religion |
The Senior Experience
| Course | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| RELS 696 | Directed Reading in Religious Studies | 3 |
Total for Minor in Religious Studies: 21 units
