Area Goal: This Core Area of Inquiry will invite students to explore a range of theological and religious questions and traditions, taking into account the roles these questions and traditions can play in human life and quests for meaning.
Area Objectives: Through these two courses, students will engage in critical thinking and informed reflection on theology and religion. Students will gain familiarity with the basic content of, and modes of scholarly inquiry into, selected religious and theological systems.
CURRICULUM
Foundational/Tier I
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Hours |
| 3 |
| Christian Theology | |
| Introduction to Religious Studies D | |
Tier II
Requirement for all Tier II Courses: THEO 100 Christian Theology or THEO 107 Introduction to Religious Studies
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Hours |
| 3 |
| Social Justice and Injustice D | |
| Religious Ethics and the Ecological Crisis D | |
| Hebrew Bible/Old Testament | |
| New Testament | |
| Sacraments and the Christian Imagination | |
| Church & Global Cultures | |
| Jesus Christ | |
| Judaism D | |
| Black World Religion D | |
| Religion & Gender D | |
| Roman Catholicism | |
| Christianity Through Time | |
| Hinduism D | |
| Christian Marriage | |
| Islam D | |
| Buddhism D | |
| Religions of Asia D | |
AREA LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing the two courses in this Area, students will be able to:
- compare and contrast multiple answers to these questions that have been offered within the respective fields of Religious Studies and Theology: “What is religion?” and “What is the academic study of religion?”
- demonstrate knowledge, with attention to historical development, of the texts, beliefs, ethical understandings, and practices of at least one religious tradition, including the diversity of perspectives within that tradition.
- analyze the interdisciplinary intersections between religion and selected contemporary issues (e.g., ethical, social, political, economic, cultural issues, or other academic disciplines).
- explain some of the ways in which religious thought and practices can both reinforce oppressive structures and also enable possibilities for resistance, paying particular attention to various perspectives of marginalized and oppressed groups.
- critically reflect on religious perspectives, their own and those of others, and the implications of those perspectives.
