Program Overview

Introduction to the Religious Studies Program

The Religious Studies program at IU Indianapolis explores the diversity and history of the world's religions from the perspectives of the academic study of religion. Courses help students discover the many ways that religious people express personal meaning, perform and contest identities, create and sustain communities with social values, norms, and conflicts, answer big philosophical and ethical questions, and interact with politics, law, economics, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, the arts, the environment, and other aspects of culture and society.

Program Description

Through this curriculum, students develop their skills of critical thinking, cultural analysis, moral imagination, and persuasive writing and oral communication, along with an ability to understand and work with people from different backgrounds. Religious Studies majors have gone into careers in a variety of fields, including counseling, health care, social services, teaching, higher education, ministry, nonprofits, fundraising, government, community organizing, publishing, and business.

Program Outcomes

Students completing the Religious Studies B.A. program will achieve the following:

• Know the basic worldviews and practices of a variety of religious traditions and explain their significance for practitioners.
• Know the concepts and methods of religious studies as a nonsectarian, interdisciplinary field for engaging a diverse world.
• Understand how to apply the dimensions of religion and other critical concepts as tools for cultural understanding.
• Understand how religions change over time in response to both internal and external circumstances.
• Be able to read and analyze religious sources, both textual and non-textual, in social and historical context.
• Be able to speak and write about competing religious claims in a fair-minded and informed manner.
• Be able to appreciate religious diversity and deal comfortably with complexity and diversity for future careers and civic life.

Degree Requirements

The Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Religious Studies (REL) requires satisfactory completion of the following:

• A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a B.A. degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts.
• A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (C) is required for graduation.
• A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed after formal admission to IU Indianapolis.
• A minimum of 21 credit hours of major coursework must be completed in residence in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis.
• A minimum grade of C (2.0) is required in each major course.
• Once a course has been applied toward one requirement, it cannot be used to satisfy a second requirement, except where explicitly stated otherwise.

General Education Core

The IU Indianapolis General Education Core includes:

• Core Communication (6 credits)
  • ENG-W 131: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I (3 credits) or ENG-W 140: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry: Honors (3 credits) completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher
  • COMM-R 110: Fundamentals of Speech Communication (3 credits)
• Analytical Reasoning (6 credits)
  • College math from List A (3 credits)
  • List A or List B (3 credits)
• Cultural Understanding (3 credits)
  • A world language course is recommended
• Life and Physical Sciences (6 credits)
  • A laboratory science component is required
• Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences (9 credits)
  • Arts & Humanities (3 credits)
  • Social Science (3 credits)
  • Additional Arts & Humanities or Social Science (3 credits)

Liberal Arts Baccalaureate Competencies

• First-Year Experience (1-3 credits)
  • SLA-S 100: First Year Success Seminar
  • Other: First Year Seminar from another school at IU Indianapolis
• Writing Proficiency (3 credits), completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher
  • ENG-W 230: Writing in the Sciences
  • ENG-W 231: Professional Writing Skills
  • ENG-W 270: Argumentative Writing
• Methods of Inquiry and Evidence (3 credits)
  • ECON-E 270: Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics and Business
  • PHIL-P 208: Causality and Evidence
  • PHIL-P 262: Practical Logic
  • PHIL-P 265: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
  • POLS-Y 205: Analyzing Politics
  • SOC-R 359: Introduction to Sociological Stats
• Life and Physical Sciences Laboratory
  • One laboratory science course is required
• Arts and Humanities (3 credits)
  • Courses in one's first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
• Social Sciences (3 credits)
  • Courses in one's first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
• World Language and Perspectives (0-14 credits)
  • Completion of second-year proficiency in a single world language
  • Completion of third-semester proficiency in a single world language and one course in History
  • Completion of first-year proficiency in a single world language; one history course; and one course selected from the Global History and Perspectives list

Major Requirements

• At least 9 credit hours at the 100-200 level, including one of the following:
  • REL-R 101: Religion and Culture
  • REL-R 133: Introduction to Religion
  • REL-R 212: Comparative Religions
• At least 18 credit hours at the 300-400 level, including the 3-credit senior capstone
• 3 credit hours in the departmental Senior Capstone:
  • REL-R 433: Theories of Religion (only offered fall semesters)

Advanced Courses

• Students are required to have 42 credit hours in 300-400 level coursework, including courses in their major
• Of the 42 advanced credits, 9 credit hours must be 300-400 level coursework outside the first Liberal Arts major field of study and from the School of Liberal Arts

Dual Degree Advantage

• The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are waived for IU Indianapolis undergraduate students whose first major is outside the School of Liberal Arts and whose second major is a Bachelor of Arts degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis
• Students are only required to complete the courses in their major of choice in Liberal Arts
• The IU Indianapolis General Education Core or the Indiana transferable general education core must be successfully completed
• Students must complete the degree outside Liberal Arts in order to have the Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies waived for degree completion
• The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are only waived for students who actively pursue and complete another degree program outside of Liberal Arts
• Both degrees must be completed at the same time