Undergraduate Religious Studies
Undergraduate Religious Studies
2026 Spring Term
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INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN RELIGIONS
RELIGST 111
An introduction to major Asian religious traditions and the power dynamics that shape stereotypes and misconceptions about them in the United States.
BUDDHISM: THE MIDDLE WAY
RELIGST 232
This course introduces the wide range of Buddhist ideas and practices, with a focus on how traditional forms of Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana) differ from the exotified stereotype of Buddhism as "more a philosophy than a religion" that is common in the United States.
THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE
RELIGST 252
This course will survey the Bible and some other related Near Eastern literature, focusing on the development of genres, motifs, and other literary forms that have influenced the form and content of Western literature, including the parable, the proverb, the loss of Eden, exile and return, origin stories, and hero stories.
ISLAM
RELIGST 272
This course introduces students to the study of Islam as an everyday lived religion. It uses interdisciplinary approaches to understand Muslim beliefs, traditions, and institutional practices. Students will develop skills in analyzing Islamic texts and material culture. Students will also have an opportunity to explore the religious identities of racial and ethnic minority Muslims within the United States to broaden the understanding of Islamic diversity and to correct historically misunderstood concepts about the religion.
ASIAN RELIGIOUS THOUGHT
RELIGST 303
A study of selected texts and religious thought from India, China, and Japan in relation to their impact on personal spiritual development and cultural integration.
RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON DEATH AND DYING
RELIGST 365
A critical examination of philosophical and religious materials dealing with death and dying. Issues such as the nature of death, the fear of death, the possibility of an afterlife, the concept of immortality, ethical and legal problems raised in the dying process, the ethics of hospice care, and the morality of euthanasia will be considered.