Religion and Culture Minor

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Description

The minor in Religion and Culture allows students to construct a program of study in Religion that will be appropriate to their individual interests and prospective careers. The minor is an excellent supplement to a major in the humanities or social sciences, or to professional preparation in fields such as social work, where religious institutions continue to play a significant role. Students will take courses examining the phenomenon of religion from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, for example philosophy, anthropology, literary studies, history, or sociology. They may opt to take classes that critically examine their own religious traditions, or they may learn about religions unfamiliar to them.

Admission to the Program

Any undergraduate student can declare this minor.

Program Requirements (18 credits)

  • ENG/HST elective (3 credits)
  • PHL 103 Philosophy of Religion (3 credits)
  • A minimum of two elective courses in Religion to be taken in English and/or History (6 credits)
  • Additional electives in Religion, at least one course to be taken outside English and History (6 credits)

* Up to nine credits of English or History courses taken for this minor would also apply to the respective majors and minors in each of those departments.

Elective Courses

  • AAS 322 Gospel Music I (B) Cross-listed as MUS 322
  • AAS 359 Black Church (A) Cross-listed as SOC 359
  • ANT 363 Anthropology of Religion (A,I,W)
  • ANT/HST 367 Gender in the Islamic World (A,O,W)
  • ENG 221 Who Wrote the Bible (A,H,O)
  • ENG/HST 318: Approaching Religion
  • ENG 311 Bible as Literature (A)
  • ENG 320 Myths and Sagas of the Viking Age (A)
  • ENG 365 Confronting Death (A,I)
  • ENG 366 Literature and Forgiveness (A,I)
  • ENG 371 Religion in Early English Literature (A)
  • ENG 401 Ancient Christian Literature (A)
  • ENG 402 Faith and World Literature (A)
  • ENG 403 New Testament Literature (A)
  • HST 332 Witchcraft & Witch-hunting in Early Modern Europe, 1450-1750 (A,W)
  • HST 313 Slavery in the Antebellum South (A)
  • HST 336 Medieval Europe (A)
  • HST 346 Renaissance and Reformation (A)
  • HST 363 Islam (A)
  • HST 365 Medieval Islamic Civilization (A)
  • HST 414 The Salem Witch Crisis (A)
  • HST 419 Civil War and Reconstruction (A)
  • HST 452 Religion in American Civilization (A)
  • HST 472 Jihad (A)
  • PHL 103 Introduction to Philosophy of Religion (A,H)
  • PHL 333 God, Self and World (A)
  • PLS 383 Mid-East in World Politics (A)

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

  1. Understand how and why “religion” emerges as a critical category and define it from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
  2. Analyze the relationships between religion and other cultural artifacts or social phenomena.
  3. Describe, compare, and interpret religious phenomena and artifacts situated within diverse historical, social, and cultural contexts.