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Undergraduate Catalog 2024-2025
Religious Studies Minor
Description
Religions are at the core of cultures, and the study of religions is integral to the understanding of any human society. A deeper understanding of religious phenomena is thus a useful and enabling complement to virtually any course of study or career path. At the same time, however, due to the multi-traditional scope and multi-disciplinary nature of religious studies, a major in Religious Studies can seem very challenging. The minor in Religious Studies, by contrast, is comprised of only 18 credits (six courses) and is easily attainable since students at Áù¾ÅÉ«Ìà are already taking one to two courses in the fulfillment of their core curriculum requirements.
Given the multi-disciplinary and multicultural nature of Religious Studies, students who minor in Religious Studies will enjoy much flexibility in terms of course selection. Students can easily tailor the minor to suit their individual interests and complement their majors.
Requirements for the Religious Studies Minor (18 credits)
This minor requires 18 credits (six courses). Three courses must be at the 3000 or 4000 level. In addition to the one required course (RELS 2001 The Study of Religions), students must take at least one course in each of the three focus areas: social justice, intercultural studies and comparative theology.
Required
- RELS 2001 The Study of Religions (3 credits)
Focus Areas
Social Justice (select at least one)
- RELS 2195 Geographies of Religions (3 credits)
- RELS 2230 Prophets and Visionaries (3 credits
- RELS 2340 Introduction to Christian Ethics (3 credits)
- RELS 2400 Social Ethics (3 credits)
- RELS 2480 The Holocaust (3 credits)
- RELS 2490 Violence, Nonviolence and Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 3055 Islam in America (3 credits)
- RELS 3240 Feminist Biblical Interpretation (3 credits)
- RELS 3400 Class, Race, and Gender (3 credits)
- RELS 3430 Ethics and Economic Theories (3 credits)
- RELS 3470 Catholic Social Thought (3 credits)
- RELS 3480 Justice: Contemporary Issues and Theories (3 credits)
- RELS 3610 Religions and Sci-Fi (3 credits)
- RELS 4320 Classical and Contemporary Catholicism (3 credits)
- RELS 4140 Gender and Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 4141 Gender in Asian Traditions (3 credits)
- RELS 4340 Christian Ethics (3 credits)
- RELS 4680 Catholic Health Care Ethics (3 credits)
Intercultural Studies (select at least one)
- RELS 2020 Asian Religions (3 credits)
- RELS 2030 Western Religions (3 credits)
- RELS 2050 Introduction to Islam (3 credits)
- RELS 2120 Introduction to Judaism (3 credits)
- RELS 2170 Religion in the United States of America (3 credits)
- RELS 2180 Black Religion in America (3 credits)
- RELS 2185 Hip-Hop and Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 2195 Geographies of Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 2350 Christ in Faith Fiction and Film (3 credits)
- RELS 2360 Religion and Film (3 credits)
- RELS 3051 Creative Islam (3 credits)
- RELS 3060 Buddhism (3 credits)
- RELS 3061 Buddhisms in America (3 credits)
- RELS 3375 Afrofuturism and Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 3510 Anthropology of Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 3610 Religions and Sci-Fi (3 credits)
- RELS 4112 Contemporary Islam (3 credits)
- RELS 4132 Religions and Global Wellbeing (3 credits)
- RELS 4140 Gender and Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 4141 Gender in Asian Traditions (3 credits)
Comparative Theology (select at least one)
- RELS 2000 Catholicism: Spirit and Methods (3 credits)
- RELS 2150 The Rise of Christianity (3 credits) / CAS 2150 Rise of Christianity (3 credits)
- RELS 2160 Reformation Era (3 credits)
- RELS 2200 Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) (3 credits)
- RELS 2230 Prophets and Visionaries (3 credits)
- RELS 2240 Jesus and Gospels (3 credits)
- RELS 2245 Introduction to the New Testament (3 credits)
- RELS 2290 The Bible as Religious Literature (3 credits)
- RELS 2300 Catholic Theology Today (3 credits)
- RELS 2310 Introduction to Theology (3 credits)
- RELS 2420 Religion and Science in the West (3 credits)
- RELS 2440 Love and Sexuality in Modern Christian Thought (3 credits)
- RELS 2480 The Holocaust (3 credits)
- RELS 2500 The Quest for God Today (3 credits) / CAS 2500 The Quest for God Today (3 credits)
- RELS 2510 Theology and Literature (3 credits)
- RELS 2550 Theology of Christian Marriage (3 credits)
- RELS 2560 God and The Human Condition (3 credits) / CAS 2560 God and The Human Condition (3 credits)
- RELS 2580 Issues in Christian Love (3 credits)
- RELS 3000 Philosophy of Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 3052 Modern Debates in Islam (3 credits)
- RELS 3060 Buddhism (3 credits)
- RELS 3220 Wisdom Literature (3 credits)
- RELS 3310 The Christian God (3 credits)
- RELS 3320 Modern Christian Theologians (3 credits)
- RELS 3330 Theology of Karl Rahner (3 credits)
- RELS 3340 Theology of Death and Resurrection (3 credits)
- RELS 3370 Black Theologies (3 credits)
- RELS 3500 Religion and Psychology (3 credits) / PYC 3500 Psychology of Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 3530 Dynamics of Spiritual Growth (3 credits)
- RELS 3550 Poets, Mystics and God (3 credits)
- RELS 3570 Spiritual Autobiographies (3 credits)
- RELS 3580 Theology of the Imagination (3 credits)
- RELS 3590 Religion, Health and Healing (3 credits)
- RELS 3755 On the Divine (3 credits)
- RELS 3800 Sport and Spiritual Traditions (3 credits)
- RELS 3810 The Soul of Sport: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry (3 credits) / CAS 3810 The Soul of Sport: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry (3 credits)
- RELS 4100 Classical Islam (3 credits)
- RELS 4130 Christianity and World Religions (3 credits)
- RELS 4140 Gender and Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 4141 Gender in Asian Traditions(3 credits)
- RELS 4140 Gender and Religion (3 credits)
- RELS 4230 Prophets, Wisdom and Apocalyptic (3 credits)
- RELS 4240 The Four Gospels (3 credits)
- RELS 4320 Classical and Contemporary Catholicism (3 credits)
- RELS 4440 Sexuality and Love in Contemporary Christian Thought (3 credits)
- RELS 4510 Theology and Literature (3 credits)
Program Contact Information
Todd Hibbard, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Religious Studies
Briggs Building, Room 332
McNichols Campus
Email: hibbarja@udmercy.edu
Telephone: 313-993-1088
Fax: 313-993-1166