Program Overview

Course Overview

The World's Religions—RELI 108 is a course that introduces students to the stories, rituals, beliefs, and spiritualities that shape diverse traditions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. The course also considers less prominent traditions, such as Vodou and Indigenous spiritualities, to help students understand the landscape of religion today.

Course Details

• Dates: 23 February 2026 to 21 June 2026
• Starts: Trimester 1
• Fees:
  • NZ$1,156.00 for domestic students
  • NZ$5,893.60 for international students
• Lecture Start Times:
  • Tuesday 1.10pm
  • Thursday 1.10pm
• Campus: Kelburn
• Estimated Workload: Approximately 200 hours or 11.8 hours per week for 17 weeks
• Points: 20

Entry Restrictions

• Prerequisites: None
• Corequisites: None
• Restrictions: None

Taught By

The course is taught by the School of Social and Cultural Studies — Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Disclaimer

This course outline may be subject to change.

Key Dates

Important dates, including mid-trimester teaching breaks, can be found on the University's key dates calendar. Assessment dates will be announced once the course has begun.

About This Course

This course aims to teach students to think, argue, and write about religion and issues in the study of religion in a critical, creative, and theoretically informed manner. The course uses a mixture of lectures, online resources, and small-group discussions to make connections between theory and lived religious experience.

Course Learning Objectives

Students who pass this course will be able to:

1. Engage with significant features of a range of religious traditions and demonstrate knowledge of the range, variety, and complexity of religions worldwide.
2. Approach the study of religion and various religious phenomena in a critical manner, based on the evaluation of primary evidence and scholarly resources.
3. Understand the study of religion as a critical discipline, examining the political, economic, social, historical, conceptual, and cultural dimensions of religious activity.
4. Make and defend arguments in a manner that demonstrates key research and writing skills and critical awareness.

How This Course Is Taught

• Lectures are in-person, on campus, and selected lectures are pre-recorded and available online.
• Teaching consists of two 50-minute in-person lectures per week and nine tutorials (weeks 2-10), with both on-campus and Zoom options.

Assessment

• 10 weekly online quizzes (3% each)
• 3 journal exercises (1 x 500 words, worth 10%; 2 x 800 words, worth 20% each)
• End of class online test (60 minutes), during a 24-hour period

Mandatory Requirements

To pass this course, students must:

1. Participate in at least 7 out of 9 tutorials to demonstrate the achievement of all course learning objectives.

Lecture Times and Rooms

Lecture times and rooms will be announced at the start of the course.

What You'll Need to Get

No specific texts or equipment are required for this course.

Past Versions of This Course

Older versions of this course may be accessible through the course archive.