Major
The Comparative Religion major is a flexible, interdisciplinary program of study, designed to work well as a second major. The major builds your cross-cultural skills; it also prepares you to address, professionally, the religious dimension of people's identities and social issues involving religion. Such issues intersect with a wide range of fields, including law, government, education, health services, business, and nonprofit work.
Most of our department's graduates are double-majors who decide to pursue a second major in religion because they recognize its relevance to their first major. Because our department is relatively small, our double-majors often find they can receive more individualized attention from faculty in Comparative Religion than they can from faculty in their other major.
Read more: "I study religion AND..."
Overview
What does the religion major give you for the job market?
- Exposes you to a diversity of religious traditions that may inform the identities of your future colleagues or clients.
- Introduces you more deeply to your choice of two religious traditions, or religions from two regions of the world.
- Teaches you theories and methods that you can apply to addressing issues, challenges, or opportunities in your field of work that arise from religion.
- Prepares you for work and leadership in a diverse world by giving you practice at engaging empathetically with beliefs, values, and cultural practices different from your own.
- Provides you 27 credit hours of coursework designed to develop your skills in writing, critical reading, critical thinking, inquiry & analysis, and intercultural competence. (You will complete additional courses, beyond those 27 hours, which may be designed to help you develop different skills.)
- Expands your intellectual toolkit across disciplines, by having you take courses in multiple fields.
- Offers you a mentored senior research experience, in which you produce a paper suitable for presentation in a professional setting.
Other options to consider
How does the major compare with a minor or Thematic Sequence in the study of religion? Compare them side by side.
Course requirements
I. Foundational knowledge and skills (12 hours)
A. Foundation in theory and method
REL 201 - Methods for the Study of Religion
You are formally introduced to major theories and methods that have been used in the academic study of religion. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
B. Foundations in traditions or regions
You take introductory courses on two religious traditions of your choice, or on religions in two world regions of your choice.
Choose one tradition or region associated with the global West
- REL 233 - History of Christianity
- REL 241 - Religions of the American People
- REL 275 - Introduction to the Critical Study of Biblical Literature
- REL 286 - Global Jewish Civilization
Choose one tradition or region from beyond the global West
- REL 203 - Global Religions of India
- REL 223 - Introduction to Buddhism
- REL 226 - Introduction to Islam
C. Additional foundation
You take one more course to further expand your foundational skills and knowledge.
Take one of these
- Another introductory course on a tradition or region of the global West
- Another introductory course on a tradition or region from beyond the global West
- REL 101 - Introduction to the Study of Religion
II. Upper-level topics in the study of religion (12 hours)
You take (typically) four 300-level courses of your choice, in which you apply academic theories and methods to questions or problems having to do with religion in society.
Choose from these courses
- REL 312 - Religions of the Hebrew Bible
- REL 313 - Marriage Across Cultures
- REL 314 - Social and Religious History of the Jewish People
- REL 316 - The Age of the Reformation
- REL 331 - Paul and the Beginnings of Christianity
- REL 332 - The Development of Christianity, 100-451
- REL 333 - Religion, Dress, and Status
- REL 334 - Women's Religious Experiences in the Ancient Mediterranean World
- REL 335 - Women in the Bible
- REL 336 - Jesus and the Gospels
- REL 337 - Religions of Russia and Eurasia
- REL 338 - Eastern Christianity
- REL 341 - Protestantism and the Development of American Culture
- REL 342 - Religious Pluralism in Modern America
- REL 343 - African American Religions
- REL 345 - Women, Religion, and Social Change in America
- REL 346 - Issues in the Study of Native American Religions
- REL 355 - Religion and Law
- REL 360 - Interdisciplinary Special Topics
- REL 365 - Arab Gulf Economies in Social Transition
- REL 376 - Global Militant Islamisms
- REL 385 - The Religious Roots of Anti-Semitism
- REL 392 - Philosophy of Religion
III. Connections across disciplines (15 hours)
The study of religion is an interdisciplinary endeavor, drawing on methods from various disciplines and addressing issues that intersect with various other fields of study. You will therefore complete 15 "related hours"—courses in other departments that are pertinent to understanding religion in society.
You are able to "double-dip," meaning that courses you're taking for a minor or second major may count also as related hours for your religion major.
The following qualify as related hours
- Any course in AMS, ATH, BWS, CLS, HST, LAT, PHL, POL, WGS
- Any advanced language course
- Selected courses in ART, CMS, COM, ENG, GEO, MUS, PSY, or SOC, with approval of the Chief Departmental Advisor
Important! At least 9 of your 15 related hours must be 300-level or above.
IV. Senior research experience (3 hours or more)
You will complete a 400-level research seminar, in which you work with a faculty member to develop and carry out a semester-long research project, culminating in a paper suitable for presentation in a professional setting. If you have a second major that has a similar requirement, you may be able to "double-dip."
Choose from the following
- REL 402 - Basic Structures in the History of Religions (MPF)
- REL 430 - Early Christian Literature and Religion (MPF)
- REL 470A - Havighurst Colloquium
- REL 480 - Independent Reading for Departmental Honors
- An approved 400-level CAS writing course in a related department
Note: The courses with the designation (MPF) also satisfy the senior capstone requirement in the Global Miami Plan.
Total: 42 hours
Photo credits
PATHWAYS Negotiation Education Summer2018 by Flickr user U.S. Embassy Jerusalem, licensed under CC BY 2.0; cropped from original.
Medical clown Hilary Chaplain at Shaare Zedek hospital_No.094 by Flickr user U.S. Embassy Jerusalem, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0; rotated and cropped from original.
Governor Phil Murphy signs a proclamation designating April of every year as "Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month" on Monday April 9, 2018. Edwin J. Torres /Governor's Office by Flickr user Phil Murphy, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0; cropped from original.
Satyanarayan Puja at home by Flickr user Sadasiv Swain, licensed under CC BY 2.0; cropped from original.
Kosher McDonald's by Flickr user zeevveez, licensed under CC BY 2.0; cropped from original.