NEW RELIGIOUS STUDIES MAJOR

This is a long post but it's important: there is a new Religious Studies major, that will be effective for anyone who declares the major after September 1, 2007.
Here is the language that will go up on the Religious Studies website later this summer:

The Major in Religious Studies

Requirements for the major have changed and are effective for students declaring the major beginning September 1, 2007. Students who were officially declared majors prior to that date may elect to continue under the old requirements for the major or may fulfill the new distribution requirements.

The major in Religious Studies requires 10 courses (30 credits).

Important: The same course may not fulfill more than one distribution requirement. Requirements may be taken in any order. Students are encouraged to take the introductory courses early in the major.

Introductory Courses: 2 courses (6 credits)

Students take the following two overview courses:

0105 Religions of the West
0505 Religion in Asia

Methods Courses: 2 courses (6 credits)

All students select one course from each of the following two lists. These courses substantively treat major disciplinary approaches to the study of religion: historical, philosophical, ethnographic, social scientific and literary.

One course in which the historical approach to religion is emphasized:

0090 Myth in the Ancient Near East
0405 Religion in Early America
0415 Religion in Modern America
0455 Introduction to Islamic Civilization
1120 Origins of Christianity
1130 Varieties of Early Christianity
1220 Medieval Jewish Civilization
1250 Modern Jewry
1252 History of the Holocaust
1266 Israel: State & Society
1372 Catholicism in the New World
1500 Religion in India
1550 East Asian Buddhism
1552 Chan/Zen Buddhism
1560 Chinese Religious Traditions
1570 Japanese Religious Traditions
1680 Readings in Jewish Historiography

One course in which the philosophical, ethnographic, social scientific or literary approach to religion is emphasized:

0025 Major Biblical Themes
0115 Bible as Literature
0215 Ethics in the Jewish Tradition
0305 Classics of Christian Thought
0315 Ethics in the Christian Tradition
0435 Religious Themes in American
Literature
0525 Religion & Culture in East Asia
0705 Approaches to the Study of Religion
0715 Philosophy of Religion
0735 Wisdom
1554 Death & Beyond in Buddhist Cultures
1562 Confucianism: Basic Texts
1572 Popular Religion in a Changing Japan
1610 Myth, Symbol & Ritual
1620 Women & Religion
1630 Ritual Process
1650 Approaches to Antisemitism
1675 Reading the Hebrew Bible
1730 Problems in the Philosophy of Religion
1760 Religion & Rationality

Area Courses: 3 courses (9 credits)

Students select one course from each of the following three lists. These courses substantially treat three major area subfields: religion in the East, the premodern West, and the modern/contemporary West.

One course at the 1000 level on religion in the East:

1500 Religion in India 1
1516 Temple, Icon & Deity in India
1520 Buddhist Civilization
1530 Topics in Buddhist Civilization
1540 Saints East & West
1545 Mysticism East & East
1550 East Asian Buddhism
1552 Chan/Zen Buddhism
1554 Death & Beyond in Buddhist Cultures
1560 Chinese Religious Traditions
1562 Confucianism: Basic Texts
1570 Japanese Religious Traditions
1572 Popular Religion in a Changing Japan

One course at the 1000 level on religion in the premodern West:

1100 Israel in the Biblical Age
1110 Special Topics—Ancient
1112 Bible as Literature 2
1120 Origins of Christianity
1130 Varieties of Early Christianity
1132 Paul
1135 Orthodox Christianity
1140 Dualism in the Ancient World
1142 Construction of Evil
1145 Greco-Roman Religions
1150 Body & Society in Late Antiquity
1210 Classical Judaism
1220 Medieval Jewish Civilization
1222 Jewish Mysticism
1225 Jewish Culture in Medieval Spain
1454 Islamic Thought
1540 Saints East & West
1545 Mysticism East & East
1624 Women & Judaism
1640 Jews in the Islamic World
1642 Christian-Muslim Relations
1644 Jewish-Christian Relations
1675 Reading the Hebrew Bible
1680 Readings in Jewish Historiography

One course at the 1000 level on religion in the modern or contemporary West:[UP1]

1250 Modern Jewry
1252 History of the Holocaust
1254 After the Holocaust
1256 Modern Israel
1257 Russian Jewry
1266 Israel: State and Society
1370 Religion in the Modern Western World
1372 Catholicism in the New World
1400 Religion & Culture in America
1410 Religion in American Thought
1412 Ethnicity in American Religion
1425 Popular Religion in America
1760 Religion & Rationality

Elective Courses: 2 courses (6 credits):

Students select two additional religious studies courses, at least one of which must be at the 1000 level..

Students may use electives to form a clear area of specialization preparatory to graduate study or in line with their interests, or they may use electives to create a broader program in which they study as many traditions, ideologies, geographic areas, themes and so forth as possible. Students are encouraged to meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies to plan the best arrangement of courses for their long-term academic goals.

Capstone Seminar: 1 course (3 credits)

1903 Directed Research Seminar (W course)

Prerequisite: at least 6 religious studies courses

Each fall, all graduating majors come together as an intellectual community to participate in a special seminar to produce a capstone research paper. The overarching thematic orientation of the capstone seminar changes with the instructor. Students are encouraged to develop research topics in their area of interest within the broader outlines of the annual theme. Students work with the seminar instructor as well as with another faculty member with expertise in the particular area of research. Students have opportunities to share their work-in-progress with other seminar members throughout the term and to present their research to their peers at the conclusion of the seminar.

Important: Majors who plan to study abroad in the fall term of the academic year in which they anticipate graduation, should plan to complete six courses in the major by the fall term of their junior year and petition the Director of Undergraduate Studies to take RELGST 1903 in the fall term of their junior year. Juniors who will have completed six courses in the major by the fall term of their junior year may enroll in RELGST 1903 by petition.

Capstone Themes

2006-2007: Religion in Diaspora
2007-2008: TBA
2008-2009: TBA

Related Area Requirement

All A&S students must complete a related area requirement. We believe this offers our majors an important opportunity to enhance their understanding of the religious process or an area of specialization through the study of the literature, language, art, or history of a particular culture, or through the study of disciplines or processes that are related to religion, such as social change, mythology, symbolism, and literature.

There are two ways to meet the related area requirement. Students should consult with the Director of Undergraduate Studies for help with formulating their options.

• Students identify a cluster of four courses (12 credits) that support and reinforce their study of religion. Students may use foreign languages as their related area, but those languages must show some relationship to a primary religion or cultural context within the major.

• Students complete a second major, a minor, or a certificate program.

Important Regulations for Majors

All courses counted toward the major must be taken for a letter grade and completed with a C grade or above.

At least 5 courses and the capstone seminar (for a total of 6 courses) must be completed on the Oakland campus. Students transferring from other colleges or universities need to consult with the Director of Undergraduate Studies about transferring courses and credits to be applied to the major.

Department honors require a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.25 or higher in the major and a B+ or above in the capstone seminar.