The Department of Religious Studies, in the College of Arts and Sciences, offers an Undergraduate Major leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Religious Studies Majors must complete requirements from both the College of Arts and Sciences and from the Department of Religious Studies.
• General Education:
Religious Studies students must fulfill the General Education Requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences, which include 53-62 hours of course work in writing, foreign languages, history, mathematics or analytical reasoning, laboratory sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
They must also complete a Cognate or Minor (12-18 hours). Cognate courses are courses in other departments whose focus or content relates to the student's major program of study, in this case, to Religious Studies. Cognate courses must be approved by the Undergraduate Director in the student's major department. For a detailed explanation of these and other requirements, see College of Arts and Sciences.
• Religious Studies:
Religious Studies offers a General Major and an Intensive Major, which may be earned with Distinction. Most students choose the General Major; an Intensive Major is sometimes recommended for students who plan on further work in Religious Studies in graduate or professional school.
All Religious Studies Majors are required to complete an introductory course (RELG 110, “Introduction to Religious Studies”) and 8 to 10 courses at or above the 300 level.
RELG 110 "Introduction to Religious Studies" is designed to introduce students to the beliefs and spiritual practices of the world's major religions as well as to the methods of inquiry used by scholars of religion. It may be used in fulfilling 3 hours of the General Education requirement.
The general major must complete 8 Religious Studies courses, at or above the 300 level, with a grade of at least "C". At least two courses must be taken from Groups A and B and at least one course from Group C.
For a list of courses in each group see below.
The intensive major must complete 10 Religious Studies courses, at or above the 300 level, with a grade of at least "C". At least two courses must be taken from each of the three groups (A, B, and C). The intensive major will also complete a 498 Advanced Project.The 498 advanced project will satisfy one of the Group C required courses.
For a list of courses in each group and further information on the 498 Advanced project see below
B.A. with Distinction: Intensive Majors may also be awarded their degree "With Distinction in Religious Studies". Intensive Majors who graduate with a minimum GPA of 3.75 in their major courses and 3.5 overall GPA will receive their degree with this honor.
