Religious Studies and the Arts & Sciences Curriculum

Distribution Area

Religious Studies is part of the Textual and Historical Studies distribution area. This means that all courses that are home based in Religious Studies are assigned to Textual and Historical Studies, and a major or minor in Religious Studies automatically fulfills your distribution and cluster requirement in this area.

Course Clusters

Many Religious Studies courses participate in distribution clusters. Remember, however, that the major and minor automatically fulfill the cluster requirement for Textual and Historical Studies. For a full listing of clusters (and their Religious Studies components), consult The Discovery Book: A Guide to the ArtSci Curriculum.

Quantitative Analysis

Religious Studies does not offer any quantitative analysis courses within the major. We recommend that students consider taking one of the quantitative analysis courses offered by Economics, Mathematics, or Political Science. Possibe courses include: Econ 103B (Intro to Political Economy: Microeconomics), Econ 104B (Intro to Political Economy: Macroeconomics), Math 1001 (Introduction to Statistics), Math 121 (Survey of Calculus I), Math 122 (Survey of Calculus II), Poli Sci 2221 (Intro to Quantitative Analysis of Behavior and Public Policy), and Psych 300 (Introduction to Psychological Statistics).

Writing Intensive Courses

You may satisfy the writing intensive course requirement through a variety of Religious Studies courses. Among these are the following: 309 Chinese Thought, 38C8 Religion and Politics in South Asia, 390 Lyrics of Mystical Love East & West, 39T8 Sufism: Mystics in Islamic History, and 4020 Jerusalem, the Holy City.

Cultural Diversity Courses

Not surprisingly, many Religious Studies courses satisfy the Cultural Diversity requirement. Among these are: Introduction to 210C Islamic Civilization, 303 The Taoist Tradition, 309 Chinese Thought, 312 South Asian Traditions, 348 Hindu Traditions, 366 Approaches to the Qur’an, 392 South Asian Traditions in Practice, 418 Gender and Sexuality in East Asian Religions, 444 The Mystical Tradition in Judaism, and more. For an up-to-date listing, consult The Discovery Book: A Guide to the ArtSci Curriculum.

Social Differentiation Courses

Religious Studies courses that satisfy the Social Differentiation requirement are: 343C Europe in the Age of the Reformation, 348 Hindu Traditions, 4020 Jerusalem, the Holy City, 418 Gender and Sexuality in East Asian Religions, and 479 Senior Seminar in Religious Studies (ReSt 479).

Capstone Experience

In their senior year, all Religious Studies majors (with the exception of those students who have qualifed for and elected to write an honor’s thesis) are required take L23 479 Religious Studies Senior Seminar. The topic of this seminar varies from year to year, but in each case is designed to provide students an opportunity to make use of the knowledge and understanding they have gained in the process of filling their major requirements to approach an issue or group of issues central to the contemporary academic study of religion.