World Religions, Bachelor of Arts
World Religions Major Requirements
Degree Requirements
Requirements List
Ten courses, plus a one-credit Independent Study
- One course concentrating on Judaism and / or Christianity 3-4 credits
- One course concentrating on Islam
- Once course concentration on Hindu, Buddhist, and/or Chinese religious traditions
- Five additional electives that strengthen the breadth and depth of a student’s knowledge of world religions. These include any World Religions courses and may include courses from other departments chosen in consultation with a departmental advisor and approved by the chair. 13-14 credits
- WREL 4495 1 credit (usually taken in Spring of junior year for developing Senior Evaluation proposal)
- WREL 3998 (Senior Evaluation Project (may be an independent research paper, an internship with a reflection paper, an example of artistic creation or performance with analysis, or a longer paper in a seminar)
World Religions Senior Evaluation
The Senior Evaluation is designed to insure that students develop their capacity for original, integrative thinking and research. Projects undertaken for the Senior Evaluation may take many forms, such as: a standard research paper in a field such as American religion; comparative religion including cross-cultural issues; key religious figures; arts, literature and religion; ethics, gender and sexuality; new religious movements; philosophy of religion; religion and violence, etc.; an internship at a religious organization or social agency on which the student reflects in a shorter research paper; or an artistic project entailing both performance and scholarly commentary on religious themes. In all cases, grading of the Senior Evaluation must involve at least two faculty members (one must be the current department Chair) and a conference with the student.
Students are required to register for a one credit independent study for World Religions majors in the second term of junior year or one semester before they intend to do their Senior Evaluation. A proposal with a description of the project and an annotated bibliography should be submitted to the student’s faculty advisor and the Chair of the department by the end of the required one credit independent study. The Senior evaluation project may be undertaken in connection with a 3000 – level course that the student is taking or as a separate independent study or internship. Throughout the semester in which the project is done, the student and faculty advisor meet regularly; another faculty member then confers with the student and advisor to provide another perspective and to assign a grade (one of these two faculty members must be the current department Chair).
The department encourages the study of foreign languages, although there is no requirement for the major