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
| REL3110 | Beyond Conflict and Tolerance: Interreligious Encounter and Social Change | 4 sh |
Select two courses from the following: 8 sh
| REL1810 | Buddhist Traditions | 4 sh |
| REL1820 | Yoga, Karma, and Dharma: Hindu Traditions | 4 sh |
| REL1830 | Islamic Traditions | 4 sh |
| REL1840 | Christian Traditions | 4 sh |
| REL1850 | Jewish Traditions | 4 sh |
| REL1860 | Irreligious and Secular Traditions | 4 sh |
Select 12 sh from the following, with at least 8 sh at the 3000-4000 level
| ARH2100 | Art History of the Ancient World | 4 sh |
| ARH2110 | Art History of the Medieval and Premodern World | 4 sh |
| ARH3330 | Jewish, Christian, & Islamic Cultures: Contact & Conflict | 4 sh |
| ENG3820 | Postcolonial Asian Literature and Globalization | 4 sh |
| ENG3840 | Middle Eastern Literature | 4 sh |
| GBL2060 | Hawaii: Nation or State? In Search of Hawaiian Identity | 4 sh |
| GBL2320 | Ethiopia and Tanzania: An Exploration of History, Culture and the Natural World | 4 sh |
| GBL2440 | Spain and Morocco: Historical & Contemporary Encounters | 4 sh |
| GBL2860 | India's Identities: Religion, Caste and Gender in Contemporary South India | 4 sh |
| GEO3630 | Global Migration | 4 |
| GEO3640 | Middle East: People and Place | 4 |
| GER3040 | Germany in the New Millennium | 4 sh |
| HST3390 | A History of the Holocaust | 4 sh |
| HST3420 | Religion and Society in Latin America | 4 sh |
| POL3660 | Middle East Politics | 4 sh |
| REL1000 | Religion in a Global Context | 4 sh |
| REL1120 | Religion and Power | 4 sh |
| REL1200 | Magic | 4 sh |
| REL1310 | Jewish Biblical Literature in Context | 4 sh |
| REL1320 | Early Christian Literature in Context | 4 sh |
| REL1410 | African Gods | 4 sh |
| REL3120 | Religion Goes Global: Fanatics, Frauds, and Peacemakers | 4 sh |
| REL3230 | Satan and the Supernatural | 4 sh |
| REL3250 | The Apocalyptic Imagination, Ancient and Modern | 4 sh |
| REL3270 | Messiahs, Martyrs and Memory | 4 sh |
| REL3500 | Silk Road: Then and Now | 4 sh |
| REL3580 | Sites and Rites: Sacred Space and Ritual in World Religions | 4 sh |
| REL3360 | Religion and War in America | 4 sh |
| REL3820 | Jewish Ethics | 4 sh |
| REL3840 | Modern Jewish Thought | 4 sh |
| REL3850 | Jewish-Christian Dialog | 4 sh |
| REL3910 | Beyond Jihad: Encounters with Islam | 4 sh |
| REL3920 | Religion, Magic, and Science | 4 sh |
| REL4640 | War and Judaism, From the Bible to Zionism | 4 sh |
| REL4650 | Ghosts, Demons, and Ancestors in Asian Religions | 4 sh |
| SPN3590 | Colonial Encounters | 4 sh |
| SPN4550 | Religion, Idolatry and Conquest: From Medieval Spain to the New World | 4 sh |
| IRS4985 | Internship in Interreligious Studies | 1-4 sh |
| IRS4999 | 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