Students in religious studies are trained in the critical study of religious thought, practice, institutions, and communities throughout the world and across time periods. The subject of religion is by its very nature interdisciplinary, attracting interest from many perspectives, including textual and literary studies, history, sociology, anthropology, the arts, and philosophy.
Students in the religious studies program select one of two tracks. The religion, culture, and society track is designed for students who seek to study religious traditions broadly or comparatively. The texts and traditions track is for students who seek to study a single tradition deeply, reading its foundational texts in their original language. Both tracks examine religion as a social and cultural force affecting fundamental issues of our world. All majors take courses in at least two religious traditions and develop an interdisciplinary concentration area consisting of four courses, selected from a variety of departments and focused on a theme, tradition, time period, location, practice, or set of questions. The concentration area must be approved by the major adviser.
The College of Liberal Arts Advantage: More Than a Major
When you study Religious Studies at the University of Minnesota, you gain the added advantage of a College of Liberal Arts education. At CLA, the liberal arts mean you get more than just a degree in one major or another; it means you will be exposed to different areas of study, to different ways of thinking and learning. In fact, the liberal arts teach you how to learn—how to ask the right questions, how to problem solve, and how to innovate. The liberal arts prepare students for the complexities of our world, because here at CLA you will study not just, say, politics or art but also where politics and art intersect, where science and ethics intersect, where economics and the environment intersect.
