Interreligious Studies Minor
Coordinator: Dr. Pennington
The Interreligious Studies minor is a multi-disciplinary minor located within the Religious Studies department that focuses on historical and contemporary encounters between and interactions among distinct religious communities and/or traditions. It provides students the background to analyze the character of interreligious encounter, to think critically about interfaith dialogue, and to function effectively in multi-religious and multi-cultural contexts. Students majoring or minoring in Religious Studies are not eligible for this minor.
Minor Requirements
Required course: 4 sh
| REL 3110 | BEYOND CONFLICT AND TOLERANCE: INTERRELIGIOUS ENCOUNTER AND SOCIAL CHANGE | 4 sh |
Select two courses from the following: 8 sh
Select 12 sh from the following, with at least 8 sh at the 3000-4000 level
| ARH 2100 | Art History of the Ancient World | 4 sh |
| ARH 2110 | Art History of the Medieval and Premodern World | 4 sh |
| ARH 3330 | Jewish, Christian, & Islamic Cultures: Contact & Conflict | 4 sh |
| ENG 3820 | Postcolonial Asian Literature and Globalization | 4 sh |
| ENG 3840 | Middle Eastern Literature | 4 sh |
| GBL 2060 | HAWAII: NATION OR STATE? IN SEARCH OF HAWAIIAN IDENTITY | 4 sh |
| GBL 2320 | ETHIOPIA AND TANZANIA: AN EXPLORATION OF HISTORY, CULTURE AND THE NATURAL WORLD | 4 sh |
| GBL 2440 | SPAIN AND MOROCCO: HISTORICAL & CONTEMPORARY ENCOUNTERS | 4 sh |
| GBL 2860 | INDIA'S IDENTITIES: RELIGION, CASTE AND GENDER IN CONTEMPORARY SOUTH INDIA | 4 sh |
| GEO 3630 | GLOBAL MIGRATION | 4 |
| GEO 3640 | MIDDLE EAST: PEOPLE AND PLACE | 4 |
| GER 3040 | GERMANY IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM | 4 sh |
| HST 3390 | A HISTORY OF THE HOLOCAUST | 4 sh |
| HST 3420 | RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN LATIN AMERICA | 4 sh |
| POL 3660 | Middle East Politics | 4 sh |
| REL 1000 | RELIGION IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT | 4 sh |
| REL 1120 | RELIGION AND POWER | 4 sh |
| REL 1200 | MAGIC | 4 sh |
| REL 1310 | JEWISH BIBLICAL LITERATURE IN CONTEXT | 4 sh |
| REL 1320 | EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE IN CONTEXT | 4 sh |
| REL 1410 | AFRICAN GODS | 4 sh |
| REL 3120 | RELIGION GOES GLOBAL: FANATICS, FRAUDS, AND PEACEMAKERS | 4 sh |
| REL 3230 | SATAN AND THE SUPERNATURAL | 4 sh |
| REL 3250 | THE APOCALYPTIC IMAGINATION, ANCIENT AND MODERN | 4 sh |
| REL 3270 | MESSIAHS, MARTYRS AND MEMORY | 4 sh |
| REL 3500 | SILK ROAD: THEN AND NOW | 4 sh |
| REL 3580 | SITES AND RITES: SACRED SPACE AND RITUAL IN WORLD RELIGIONS | 4 sh |
| REL 3360 | RELIGION AND WAR IN AMERICA | 4 sh |
| REL 3820 | JEWISH ETHICS | 4 sh |
| REL 3840 | MODERN JEWISH THOUGHT | 4 sh |
| REL 3850 | JEWISH-CHRISTIAN DIALOG | 4 sh |
| REL 3910 | BEYOND JIHAD: ENCOUNTERS WITH ISLAM | 4 sh |
| REL 3920 | RELIGION, MAGIC, AND SCIENCE | 4 sh |
| REL 4640 | WAR AND JUDAISM, FROM THE BIBLE TO ZIONISM | 4 sh |
| REL 4650 | GHOSTS, DEMONS, AND ANCESTORS IN ASIAN RELIGIONS | 4 sh |
| SPN 3590 | COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS | 4 sh |
| SPN 4550 | RELIGION, IDOLATRY AND CONQUEST: FROM MEDIEVAL SPAIN TO THE NEW WORLD | 4 sh |
| IRS 4985 | INTERNSHIP IN INTERRELIGIOUS STUDIES | 1-4 sh |
| IRS 4999 | RESEARCH IN INTERRELIGIOUS STUDIES | 1-4 sh |
Other courses may be submitted for approval by the Department Chair.
Program Outcomes
Students will analyze the category of religion and the field of interreligious studies, including the histories and theoretical models that inform them.
Students will recognize and appreciate the contours of religious difference both within and between particular traditions.
Students will interact with communities and hear from practitioners, gaining first hand-experience of worship, ritual practice, gender dynamics, the use of sacred texts, political dynamics, and/or interreligious encounters.
Students will recognize and explain ways in which “religion” and interreligious encounters have cultural, political, and/or economic significance and/or ways in which cultural, political, and/or economic phenomena have significance for “religion" and interreligious encounters.
Students will produce nuanced reflections on ways that religious traditions and religious communities have interacted with other religious traditions and communities.
Students will critique existing models for understanding and facilitating interreligious encounter and offer constructive suggestions for improving these models.
Total Credit Hours: 24