COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Interdisciplinary Minor PDF Print E-mail
Religious Studies is the scholarly examination of the widespread and diverse phenomena of human religious experience. It is an important component in liberal education and relevant to many professions, including ministry, education, law, medicine and human services.

As an interdisciplinary minor, religious studies incorporates courses from  philosophy, anthropology, sociology, history, geography and literature.

The minor requires 21 semester hours of coursework from three areas:

Religious Traditions and Sacred Texts
(minimum of 6 credit hours)

  • PHI 160 World Religions
  • REL 181 Survey of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
  • REL 182 Survey of the New Testament
  • REL 185 Survey of Christianity
  • REL 186 Introduction to Judaism
  • PHI 201 Ideas in Philosophy (when topic applies)
  • REL 201 Ideas in Religious Studies (when topic applies)
  • PHI 250 Eastern Philosophy
  • PHI 304 Zen
  • REL 305 Islam
  • PHI 394 Topics in Philosophy (when topics apply)
  • REL 394 Topics in Religious Studies (when topic applies)

Philosophical, Theological and Ethical Perspectives
(minimum of 3 credit hours)

  • PHI 201 Ideas in Philosophy (when topic applies)
  • REL 201 Ideas in Religious Studies (when topic applies)
  • REL 250 World Religions and Ethics
  • REL 260 Human Religious Experience
  • PHI 323 Peace and War
  • PHI 325 Philosophy of Non-Violence
  • REL 330 Contemporary Religious Thought
  • PHI 350 Philosophy of Religion
  • REL 370 Religion and Science
  • PHI 394 Topics in Philosophy (when topic applies)
  • REL 394 Topics in Religious Studies (when topic applies) 

Historical, Literary and Scientific Perspectives
(minimum of 3 credit hours)


  • PHI 201 Ideas in Philosophy (when topic applies)
  • REL 201 Ideas in Religious Studies (when topic applies)
  • ENG 215 Greek and Roman Mythology
  • HIS 300 The Ancient Near East and Greece
    to the Macedonian Conquest
  • HIS 301 The Hellenistic World and Rome to the Death
    of Constantine
  • HIS 305 Reformation Europe
  • ENG 315 The Bible as Literature
  • ANT 320 Religion and Culture
  • REL 320 Religion in America
  • REL 325 African American Religious Experience in America
  • GEO 330 Geography of Religion
  • PHI 394 Topics in Philosophy (when topic applies)
  • REL 394 Topics in Religious Studies (when topic applies)
  • SOC 430 Sociology of Religion
  • PSY 494 Psychology of Religion