The religious studies major requires a total of 10 courses from the department (30 s.h.) divided into 3 categories:
1)5 courses (15 s.h.) in Foundation Studies: courses without prerequisites designed to introduce you to various traditions and the methods for studying them.
2)4 courses (12 s.h.) in Continuing Studies (Area of Concentration): courses related by virtue of falling into either the Western, Asian, or Cultural areas of study. These courses may have prerequisites and are meant to be more advanced courses.
3)The Senior Seminar(3 s.h.): a course designed to allow advanced and interdisciplinary investigation of a set theme.
As a part of our flexible component, a Religious Studies major may take 3 s.h. of an Individual Study course (32:195) and have it apply toward the Continuing Studies area of concentration requirement. (More than 3 s.h. would fall into the “electives” category and cannot be applied to the major).
List of Coursework
Foundation Studies courses
A.Western Religious Traditions (6 hours)
32:001 Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
32:011 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
32:012 Introduction to the New Testament
32:025 Medieval Religion and Culture (16:035)
32:026 Modern Religion and Culture (16:036)
32:030 Introduction to Islamic Civilization
32:034 Introduction to African-American Religions (125:050)
B.Asian Religious Traditions (6 hours)
32:004 Living Religions of the East (39:64)
32:006 Introduction to Buddhism (39:006)
32:010 Gods, Buddhas, & Ghostly Officials: The Past & Present of Chinese Religions (39:007)
32:014 Introduction to Indian Religions
32:017 Japanese Religions (39J:017)
C.Theoretical and Comparative Studies in Religion (3 hours)
32:002 Religion and Society
32:003 Quest for Human Destiny
32:016 Religion and Liberation
32:020 War and Peace in Religious Thought and Practice
Please note: Some courses are not offered every year and some, no matter how interesting they appear, may not be offered during your time at the UI. Nevertheless, many are regularly available, if not as part of the standard CLAS Program then through the Saturday and Evening Program of Continuing Education or the Winter and Summer Programs.
Continuing Studies Courses
The following courses constituted the most recent form of the tracks in each of the three upper-level offerings by our department. In planning your own program, it is best to use these lists for guidance, being aware that courses come and go from year to year and those offerings that may appeal to you the most might not be available during your time here.
Western Religious Traditions
32:051 Religious Thinkers of the West
32:054 Introduction to Catholicism
32:056 Christianity and the Enduring Human Experience
32:058 Liturgy and Devotion in Christian Tradition (16E:058)
32:061 Middle East and Mediterranean Alexander-Suleiman (016:045, 20E:071)
32:069 Kabbalah in the Marketplace: Jewish Mysticism & the American Religious Environment
32:082 Ancient Mediterranean Religions (CLSA 2482)
32:085 Early Modern Catholicism (16E:085)
32:089 Jerusalem from the Bronze to Digital Age (CLSA 2489)
32:090 Women and the Bible
32:092 Messianic & Apocalyptic Bible Prophecy
32:094 Jesus & His Interpreters
32:095 The Apostle Paul
32:103 Biblical Archeology
32:105 The World of The Old Testament
32:107 In Search of the Good Life
32:109 The Development of the Afterlife in Judaism and Christianity
32:121 The Bible and the Sacrifice of Animals
32:122 Classical & Hellenistic Periods I (20G:122)
32:132 Medieval & Reformation Religious Thought
32:137 Modern Religious Thought: 19th Century
32:142 Banned from the Bible: Intro to Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha (CLSA 3247)
32:143 Early Christianity: From Jesus to the Rise of Islam
32:145 Mythology of Other Worldly Journeys (20E:145)
32:154 Religious Conflict/Early Modern Period (16E:123)
32:157 Religion and Politics
32:160 Religious Identity in the Modern Secular State (39:160)
32:181 Special Topics in Western Religion
32:192 Traditions of Religious Reform
Asian Religious Traditions
32:081 Hindu Religion and Art
32:116 Japanese Religion & Thought
32:131 Gender & Sexuality in East Asia (131:131)
32:156 The Karma of Words
32:163 Turning East (39:162)
32:166 The History of Religious and Spiritual Practice: Yoga in Asia and Beyond (CLSA 4452)
32:170 Topics in Asian Religions
32:172 Comparative Ritual (39:172)
32:175 Buddhist Philosophy (26:145)
32:177 Indian Literature (39:136)
32:180 Religion and Healing (113:145)
32:182 Enlightenment: Cross-Cultural Experiments in Religious Realization (39:183)
32:186 The Literature of Daoism
32:188 Zen Buddhism (39:170)
Religion, Culture, and Society
32:052 Women in Islam and the Middle East (131:060)
32:060 Sacred World of Native Americans (149:060)
32:063 African American Islam
32:066 Introduction to Religion and the Arts
32:071 Sexual Ethics (154:071)
32:076 American Indian Environmentalism (149:076)
32:078 American Indian Women: Myth, Ritual & Sacred Power (149:082)
32:080 Religion & Contemporary Popular Culture+
32:103 Biblical Archeology
32:104 Egyptian Art (01H:110)
32:108 Malcolm X, King & Human Rights (129:108)
32:111 Religion and Women
32:112 The Bible in Film: Hollywood and Moses
32:126 20th Century African-Amer Religion: Civil Rights to Hip-Hop (129:123)
32:127 Non-Profit Organizational Effectiveness I (06J:147)
32:128 Non-Profit Organizational Effectiveness II (06J:148)
32:130 Religion & Environmental Ethics
32:133 Special Topics: Islamic and Middle Eastern Societies
32:139 Religion and Violence in America
32:141 Varieties of American Religion (16A:122)
32:146 Philosophy of Religion (26:134)
32:147 Quest II: Sex, Love & Death
32:150 The Bible and the Holocaust
32:152 Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (CLSA 4452)
32:153 Religion & The Arts
32:155 Human Rights and Islam
32:158 Native American Women and Religious Change ( 149:158)
32:159 Comparative Islamic Law
32:164 Greek Religion & Society (20E:115)
32:165 Anthropology of Religion (113:142)
32:169 Quest III: Heroes, Lovers, & Knaves
32:178 East Meets West: Western Reception of Eastern Religion (39:188)
32:179 Islamic Cultural Presence in Spain (35:179)