Program Overview

Introduction to the Religion and Culture BA Program

The BA in Religion and Culture provides scholarly, critical, nonsectarian study of religions. Students study religious beliefs, practices, identities and organizations, and how they have influenced and been influenced by other aspects of society and culture. The degree program includes a broad survey of several world civilizations as a basis for understanding their religious traditions, both as they developed historically and with their modern interactions and transformations. Students study the origin, history, and methods of the academic study of religion. They are introduced to methodological issues in the study of religion, and learn to use methods appropriate to different kinds of problems.

Why Consider a Religion and Culture Major?

Students in this major acquire skills broadly applicable to professional careers. These include problem solving, critical thinking, research skills, integrative skills, and written and oral communication skills. While preparing students for knowledgeable participation in civic life, these also provide a solid foundation for careers in both public and private settings. Graduates have gone on to a variety of professional graduate schools and fields of work, including teaching, law, library science, archive administration, and research and administrative positions with business and non-profit organizations. The major has also proved to be excellent preparation for graduate academic programs in the study of religion, as well as literature and history.

Student Resources

• Department Website: Global Humanities and Religions
• Major Advisor: Holly Folk
• Academic Department Manager: Maureen Christman
• Degree Works: Current students should also log on to Degree Works to check student-specific program progress.
• Career Services Center: Connect major to a career
• Sample Careers:
  • Attorney
  • Teacher
  • Professor
  • Librarian
  • Writer
  • Business Administrator
  • Historian
  • Non-Profit Organization Administrator
  • Congressional Aide
  • Research Assistant
  • Editor
  • Lobbyist

How to Declare (Admission and Declaration Process)

Students interested in the Religion and Culture degree should contact the Major Advisor as soon as possible. There are no prerequisites for declaring the major.

Additional Advising Information

At a minimum, students should have successfully completed at least two lower division (100 or 200 level) HUMA (Humanities) or REL (Religion) courses by the middle of their junior year, and before taking HUMA 302, which is ordinarily offered only in spring quarter. REL 231 should be taken as soon as possible. And REL 303 should ideally be taken before the end of the junior year, and is, generally offered in winter quarter only. HUMA 302 is prerequisite to the department’s senior seminars (HUMA 421, HUMA 422, HUMA 423, REL 424, HUMA 425, REL 426, HUMA 427, REL 428, HUMA 490, and REL 490). It is also recommended that students undertake study of a language other than English concurrently with the major.

Grade Requirements

A grade of C- or better is required for a student’s major or minor courses, and supporting courses for majors and minors.

Requirements (60-66 credits)

• Four courses (18-20 credits) from the following, under advisement, distributed over at least two different regions of the world:
  • HUMA 121 - Ancient Mediterranean (5 credits)
  • HUMA 122 - Medieval and Early Modern Europe (5 credits)
  • HUMA 123 - Modern Europe (5 credits)
  • REL 232 - Myth and Folklore (5 credits)
  • REL 233 - Women and Religion (5 credits)
  • REL 234 - Religion and the Environment (5 credits)
  • HUMA 243 - Art and Ideas (5 credits)
  • REL 265 - Science and Religion in American Culture (5 credits)
  • HUMA 271 - Humanities of India (5 credits)
  • HUMA 273 - Art and Society in China and Japan (5 credits)
  • HUMA 275 - Humanities of Japan (5 credits)
  • HUMA 277 - Humanities of China (5 credits)
  • HUMA 278 - Islamic Civilization (5 credits)
  • REL 283 - Religion and Globalization (5 credits)
  • REL 290 - Religion, Culture, and Society (5 credits)
  • A maximum of two courses from the following may also be counted toward the 18-20 credit lower-division course requirement:
    • HIST 232 - History of the Jews before the Modern Era (5 credits)
    • HIST 233 - Modern Jewish History (5 credits)
    • HIST 289 - Islam in France (5 credits)
    • HNRS 103 - Navigating the Human Experience - Pre-modernity (4 credits)
    • HNRS 104 - Navigating the Human Experience - Modernity (4 credits)
    • HNRS 105 - Navigating the Human Experience - Post-modernity A (4 credits)
    • HNRS 106 - Navigating the Human Experience - Post-modernity B (4 credits)
• REL 231 - Introduction to the Study of Religion (5 credits) (HNRS 219 may be taken in place of REL 231)
• HUMA 302 - Methods of Interdisciplinary Study (5 credits)
• REL 303 - Methods in the Study of Religion (5 credits)
• Three courses (12-15 credits) under advisement from:
  • HUMA 321 - Between Renaissance and Inquisition: Censorship and Religious Conflict in Spain’s Golden Age (5 credits)
  • HUMA 322 - Religion, Reading, and Power (5 credits)
  • REL 330 - Religion and Disability (5 credits)
  • REL 331 - Religious Communes in America (5 credits)
  • REL 332 - World Religions (5 credits)
  • REL 333 - Religion in America (5 credits)
  • REL 334 - Hebrew Bible and the Religion of Ancient Israel (5 credits)
  • REL 336 - New Testament and Early Christianity (5 credits)
  • REL 338 - Mystical Traditions (5 credits)
  • REL 340 - Sufism: The Islamic Mystical Tradition (5 credits)
  • REL 341 - Women in Islam (5 credits)
  • REL 342 - Islam and Muslim Societies in Africa (5 credits)
  • REL 345 - Fierce Goddesses of India (5 credits)
  • HUMA 362 - Islam in the Indian Ocean World (5 credits)
  • REL 375 - Buddhism (5 credits)
  • or EAST 375 - Buddhism (5 credits)
  • REL 378 - Religion and Society in India (5 credits)
  • REL 380 - Religion and Society in China (5 credits)
  • or EAST 380 - Religion and Society in China (5 credits)
  • REL 382 - Religion and Society in Japan (5 credits)
  • or EAST 382 - Religion and Society in Japan (5 credits)
  • REL 390 - Topics in Religion (5 credits)
  • These three courses may include one of the following (or a maximum of one other relevant upper-division course from outside the department, selected under advisement). Please note that Religion and Culture students will not be given priority in registration in courses outside the department, and must meet any prerequisites established by other departments in order to register for these courses:
    • A/HI 370 - Islamic Visual Cultures (5 credits)
    • ANTH 330 - Religion and Culture (5 credits)
    • ENG 336 - Scriptural Literatures (5 credits)
    • HIST 321 - Reformation Europe and the Age of Religious Wars (5 credits)
    • HIST 335 - Women and Gender in Judaism (5 credits)
    • HIST 360 - History of Religion in Early America (5 credits)
    • HIST 361 - History of Religion in Modern America (5 credits)
    • HIST 486 - Religion in Japanese History (5 credits)
    • PHIL 335 - Philosophy of Religion (3 credits)
    • PLSC 480 - Politics, Government and Religion (4 credits)
    • SOC 342 - Sociology of Religion (5 credits)

Thesis or Non-Thesis Options

There are two options (thesis or non-thesis) for completing the Religion and Culture BA. Students should choose which option they will pursue by the end of their junior year.

Non-Thesis Option (15 credits)

• Three courses from:
  • HUMA 421 - Traditional Indian Medicine (5 credits)
  • HUMA 422 - The Pursuit of Happiness: Philosophy, Literature, and the Good Life (5 credits)
  • HUMA 423 - Relations between Jewish and Christian Cultures in Europe, c. 1100-c. 1650 (5 credits)
  • REL 424 - Exploring Apocalypticism (5 credits)
  • HUMA 425 - The City and the Early Modern Iberian World (5 credits)
  • REL 426 - Seminar in East Asian Religions (5 credits)
  • HUMA 427 - Seminar in East Asian Cultural History (5 credits)
  • REL 428 - Revival and Reform in the Islamic World (5 credits)
  • HUMA 429 - Respectable Citizens and Radical Subcultures: Conformity and Dissent in 19th Century America (5 credits)
  • HUMA 490 - Seminar in Cultural History (5 credits)
  • REL 490 - Seminar in Religion (5 credits)

Thesis Option (16 credits)

• Two courses from:
  • HUMA 421 - Traditional Indian Medicine (5 credits)
  • HUMA 422 - The Pursuit of Happiness: Philosophy, Literature, and the Good Life (5 credits)
  • HUMA 423 - Relations between Jewish and Christian Cultures in Europe, c. 1100-c. 1650 (5 credits)
  • REL 424 - Exploring Apocalypticism (5 credits)
  • HUMA 425 - The City and the Early Modern Iberian World (5 credits)
  • REL 426 - Seminar in East Asian Religions (5 credits)
  • HUMA 427 - Seminar in East Asian Cultural History (5 credits)
  • REL 428 - Revival and Reform in the Islamic World (5 credits)
  • HUMA 429 - Respectable Citizens and Radical Subcultures: Conformity and Dissent in 19th Century America (5 credits)
  • HUMA 490 - Seminar in Cultural History (5 credits)
  • REL 490 - Seminar in Religion (5 credits)
• REL 498 - Research in Religion (3 credits)
• REL 499 - Senior Thesis (3 credits)

Departmental Honors

Students must choose the Thesis Option to be considered for departmental honors. BA students who have completed REL 498 and REL 499, have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 in their major courses and receive a grade of ‘B’ or higher for their Senior Thesis (in REL 499) will graduate with departmental honors.

University Graduation Requirements

• General University Requirements
• Writing Proficiency Requirement (WP)
• 180 Minimum Total Credits
• 60 Minimum Upper Division Credits
• Residency Requirement
• Minimum Grade Requirements
• Final Quarter Requirement