Requirements and worksheet (download Acrobat)
See also Religious Studies Minor. The Religous Studies major will be in effect beginning Autumn 2012 and will have two areas of concentration, "Religions and Cultures" and "Study of Religions." The Religions and Cultures concentration is identical to the Religious Studies concentration within the Comparative Studies major. The Study of Religions concentration will focus more on specific traditions and historical perspectives.
The Religions and Cultures concentration requires a total of 36 credits, including Comparative Studies 3990 and 4990 and at least two “foundation courses.” Remaining courses fulfill interdisciplinary/thematic/comparative and distribution requirements. All Religious Studies students should work with their advisers to develop a strong, coherent, individualized program.
The concentration in Religious Studies requires the following:
Foundation courses (6 credits):
- Comp St 2370 Introduction to Comparative Religion
- Comp St 4970 Theory and Method in the Study of Religion
Interdisciplinary/thematic/comparative Requirement (18-21 credits)
- Comp St 3990 Approaches to Comparative Studies
- Comp St 4990 Senior Seminar
- Comp St 3678 Religion and American Culture
- Comp St 4871 Religion and American Politics
- Comp St 4875 Gender, Sexuality, and Religion
- Comp St 4873 Contemporary Religious Movements in Global Context
- Comp St 4874 New Age and New Religious Movements
- Comp St 4877 Myth and Ritual
- Comp St 4878 Rites, Ritual, and Ceremony
- Comp St 5691 Topics in Comparative Studies (topic to be approved by the student's adviser; course is repeatable)
- Phil 5850 Philosophy of Religion
- Anthro 5625 Anthropology of Religion
Distribution requirement (Electives) (9-12 credits):
Additional courses are to be chosen from Comparative Studies courses and from the list of courses offered by other departments and approved for major credit; courses that satisfy this requirement are listed below. Additional courses not listed below may, given appropriate content, be substituted at the discretion of the Comparative Studies adviser. (Note: Courses previously listed as "Religious Studies" courses are now listed as "Comparative Studies" courses.) No more than five credits at the 200-level may count toward fulfillment of the Distribution Requirement.
Comparative Studies Courses: click "concentration course schedule"
- Comparative Studies electives
- African American and African Studies electives
- Anthropology electives
- Arabic electives
- Classics electives
- English electives
- Hebrew electives
- History electives
- History of Art electives
- Japanese electives
- Jewish Studies electives
- Medieval and Renaissance Studies electives
- Near Eastern electives
- Persian electives
- Philosophy electives
- Political Science electives
- Rural Sociology electives
- Sociology electives
- Scandinavian electives
- Sociology electives
- Yiddish electives
Coursework selected for this requirement should include at least one course in Comparative Studies chosen from the following:
Comparative Studies
- 3671 The Religions of India
- 3672 Native American Religions
- 3673 The Buddhist Traditions
- 3674 African Religions
- 3675 Religions of Mesoamerica
- 3677 South Asian American Religion & Culture
- 3676 The Jewish Mystical Tradition
- 4822 Native American Identity
- 5871 The Japanese Religious Tradition
- Comp St 5691 Topics in Comparative Studies (when topic is focused on a specific tradition, e.g., "Reformation Culture," "Zen Philosophy")
Additional electives in Comparative Studies
- 3671 The Religions of India
- 3672 Native American Religions
- 3673 The Buddhist Traditions
- 3674 African Religions
- 3675 Religions of Mesoamerica
- 3677 South Asian American Religion & Culture
- 3676 The Jewish Mystical Tradition
- 3678 Religion and American Culture
- 3990 Approaches to Comparative Studies
- 4655 Studies in Ethnography
- 4875 Gender, Sexuality, and Religion
- 4972 Theory and Method in the Study of Religion
- 4873 Contemporary Religious Movements in Global Context
- 4874 New Age and New Religious Movements
- 4877 Myth and Ritual
- 4878 Rites, Ritual, and Ceremony
- 4822 Native American Identity
- 4990 Senior Seminar
- 5871 The Japanese Religious Tradition
- 5691 Topics in Comparative Studies
- 5957.02 Folklore in Circulation
Anthropology
African American and African Studies
Arabic
- 5703 Common Heritage: Biblical Figures in the Qur’an
- *4626 Intro to the Arabic Qur'an
- 5701 The Qur'an in Translation
- 5703 Common Heritage: Biblical FIgures in the Qur'an
Classics
- 2203 Byzantine Civilization: Constantinople and the Empire of New Rome
- 2401 Introduction to the New Testament
- 3401 Ancient Greek Religion
- 3402 Ancient Gods, Changing Identities
- 3403 The Hero in Classical Mythology
- 3404 Magic in the Ancient World
- 3405 Christians in the Graeco‑Roman World
- 4031 Sacred Texts of the Ancient World
- 5401 Methodologies for the Study of Ancient Religions
- 5402 Jesus and the Gospels
English
- 2280 The English Bible
Hebrew
- 2205 Art and Ancient Judaism
- 2209 The World of the Rabbis
- 2210 The Jewish Mystical Tradition
- 2216 The Medieval Jewish Experience
- 2241 Culture of Contemporary Israel
- 2700 Biblical & Post‑Biblical Hebrew Lit in Translation
- 2701 Medieval Hebrew Literature in Translation
- 2702 Modern Hebrew Lit in Translation
- 2703 Prophecy in the Bible and Post‑Biblical Literature
- 2704 Women in Biblical and Post‑Biblical Hebrew Lit
- 2705 The Holocaust in Literature and Film
- 2708 Biblical and Post-Biblical Wisdom Literature
- *4605 Readings in the Mishnah
- *5601 Intro to Hebrew Literary and Cultural Texts
- *5602 The Bible as Literature: Selected Readings
- *5603 Readings in Rabbinic Literature
- 5801 Biblio & Ref Tools: Hebraica, Judaica, & Semitics
- 5802 Problem of Evil: Biblical & Post‑Biblical Lit
- 5806 Studies in Biblical Law
History
- 2045 History of American Religion to the Civil War
- 2070 Intro to Native American History
- 2111 Intro to Native American People of the Andes
- 2201 Ancient Greece and Rome
- 2202 Intro to Medieval History
- 2211 The Ancient Near East
- 2220 Intro to the History of Christianity
- 2230 Decoding the Middle Ages
- 2231 The Crusades
- 2350 Islam, Politics, and Society in History
- 2351 Early Islamic Society, 610-1258
- 2352 Ottoman Empire, 1300-1800
- 2353 Middle East in the 20th Century
- 2375 Islamic Central Asia
- 2390 History of India: Ancient India
- 2391 Islamic India
- 2392 Colonial India
- 2450 Ancient and Medieval ewish History, 300 BCE-1100CE
- 2451 Medieval and Early Modern Jewish History, 700-1700 CE
- 2452 Modern Jewish History, 1700-Present
- 2453 History of Zionism and Modern Israel
- 2454 History of Antisemitism
- 2455 Jews in American Film
- 2475 History of the Holocaust
- 3045 American Religious History
- 3070 Native American History from European Contact to Removal, 1560-1820
- 3071 Native American History from Removal to the Present
- 3100 Colonial Latin America
- 3110 The Jewish Experience in Latin America
- 3220 The Rise of the Roman Republic
- 3221 Rome from the Gracchi to Nero
- 3223 The Later Roman Empire
- 3225 Early Byzantine Empire
- 3226 Later Byzantine Empire
- 3229 History of Early Christianity
- 3230 History of Medieval Christianity
- 3235 Medieval Europe I: 300-1100
- 3236 Medieval Europe II: 1100-1500
- 3239 Medieval England
- 3245 The Age of Reformation
- 3350 The Middle East in 19th Century
- 3351 Intellectual and Social Movements in the Muslim World
- 3354 Islamic Spain and North Africa
- 3360 History of Iran
- 3401 Foundations of Chinese Civilization
- 3425 History of Japan before 1800
- 3450 History of Ancient Israel (BCE)
- 3455 Jewish Life from the Renaissance to the Early Enlightenment
- 3460 European Jewish History 1789-1989
- 3465 American Jewish History
- 3470 Messiahs and Messianism in Jewish History
- 3640 Medieval Women: Power, Piety, and Production
History of Art
- 2001 Western Art I: Ancient and Medieval Worlds
- 2003 Asian Art
- 2101 Intro to African Art and Archeology
- 3005 Christian Art
- 3101 Philosophy of African Art
- 3211 Art and Civilization in the Near East
- 3521 Renaissance Art in Italy
- 4401 Architecture of the Middle Ages
- 4411 Early Christian and Byzantine Art
- 4421 Medieval Art
- 4510 Northern Renaissance Art
- 4521 Early Renaissance Art in Italy
- 4701 An Introduction to Buddhist Art and Iconography
- 4810 The Arts of China
- 4820 Arts of Japan
- 5111 African Art and Archeology I
- 5112 African Art and Archeology II
- 5221 Early Islamic Art
- 5222 Later Islamic Art
- 5420 Romanesque and Gothic Art
- 5421 Romanesque and Gothic Sculpture
- 5430 The Age of Giotto
- 5701 Buddhist Art: Theory and History
- 5702 Hindu Iconography
- 5711 Art of India I
- 5712 Art of India II
- 5724 The Buddhist Art of Gandhara and Kashmir
- 5720 Art of Central Asia
- 5723 Art of Nepal and Tibet
- 5727 The Art of Newar Buddhism
- 5812 Chinese Art: Buddhist
- 5821 Japanese Art: Proto‑Historic and Buddhist
Japanese
Jewish Studies
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
- 2211 Medieval Kyoto: Portraits and Landscapes
- 2212 Culture of a City-State in the Renaissance
- 2215 Gothic Paris: 1100-1300
- 2510 Court of Charlemagne
- 2513 Medieval Moscow
- 2514 Golden Age of Islamic Civilization
- 2516 The Medieval Jewish Experience
- 2520 Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Mediterranean World
- 2526 Byzantine Civilization: Constantinople and the Empire of New Rome
- 2666Magic & Witchcraft in the Middle Ages & Renaissance
Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
- 3201 Islam in the U.S.
- 3230 Introduction to Shi’I Beliefs and History
- 3501 Introduction to Islam
- 3502 Islamic Civilization through the Ages
- 3508 Sufism
- 3700 Mythology of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
- 3702 Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World
- 4601 Israeli and Palestinian Literature
- 5571 Canons and Communities in the Near East
- 5578 Islamic Law and Society
Persian
Philosophy
Political Science
Rural Sociology
Scandinavian
Sociology
- 3467 Sociology of Religion