Requirements for the Religious Studies Major (36 semester hours)

Three Required Courses (12 semester hours)

  • REL 115W Introduction to the Study of Religion (4)
  • REL 490 Senior Directed Study (4)
  • REL 496W Directed Senior Thesis (4)

Six additional electives, at least two of which must be at the 300-level, and at least two of which must carry a REL prefix (24)

  • REL 113 Scripting God: A Critical Introduction to the Bible (4)
  • REL 135 Religions of Asia (4)
  • REL 199 Topics in Religion (1-4)
  • REL 214 Religion in America (4)
  • REL 215 How Christianity Began: The History and Literature of Early Christianity (4)
  • REL 225 Forgotten Scriptures: Apocryphal Literature and the Origins of Christianity (4)
  • REL 227 Paganism: The Religions of Greece and Rome (4)
  • REL 299 Topics in Religion (1-4)
  • REL 322 In Search of the Historical Jesus (4)
  • REL 323 The Bible and American Culture (4)
  • REL 335W Race, Class, and Gender in the Life and Letters of Paul (4)
  • REL 390 Independent Study (2 or 4)
  • REL 399 Topics in Religion (1-4)
  • ARTH 107 Introduction to Art History from the Roman to the Byzantine Empire (2)
  • ARTH 108 Introduction to Art History of the Western Middle Ages and Islam (2)
  • ARTH 112 Introduction to South Asian Art History (4)
  • ARTH 259 Medieval Art and Architecture (4)
  • CHNSE 352 Rites of Passage in Chinese Societies (4)
  • CLAS 231W Myth and Cult in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean (4)
  • GREEK 331W Myth and Cult in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean: Readings in Ancient Greek (4)
  • HIST 171 History of the Modern Middle East (4)
  • HIST 240 Ancient to Early Medieval European Ideas (4)
  • HIST 259 American Jewish History (4)
  • HIST 374 Love and Reason in the Middle Ages: European Intellectual History 400-1500 (4)
  • IDS 230 Rites of Passage in Japan and the United States (4)
  • IDS 353 Inner Life of Activism (4)
  • PHIL 112 Philosophy of Religion (4)
  • PHIL 235W Philosophical Ethics (4)
  • PHIL 325 Kierkegaard, Meaning and the Self (4)
  • PPLE 314 Politics and Religion in the United States (4)

Note:

At the end of their Junior year, Religious Studies majors will interview with the Religious Studies Faculty to determine the focus for their Senior Experience. The Senior Experience will consist of 2 courses: 1) a Senior Directed Study (REL 490) with an advisor whose expertise most closely matches the interests of the student; 2) a Senior Directed Thesis (REL 496W), normally directed by the same advisor with whom the student has completed his/her Senior Directed Study. In REL 490: Senior Directed Study the student will a) acquire a knowledge base adequate to undertaking a Senior Thesis in an area of interest to him/her, b) survey a variety of methods and theories of religion, and c) develop a theoretical framework and method adequate to pursuing a thesis in his/her area. At the conclusion of the Senior Directed Study the student will complete a thesis proposal. In REL 496W: Senior Directed Thesis the student will write his/her thesis under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Normally the Senior Directed Study and the Senior Directed Thesis will be completed in consecutive semesters. Both of these courses will be offered as multiple sections, each with a different Religious Studies professor enrolling one student. All sections of these courses will include a colloquium meeting bi-weekly for 2 hours with other students engaged in the senior experience and their faculty advisors, where they will present their work to peers and faculty and mark their progress toward the completion of the Senior Experience.

Requirements for the Religious Studies Minor (20 semester hours)

  • REL 115W Introduction to the Study of Religion (4)
  • 4 additional electives, at least one of which must be at the 300-level, and at least one of which must carry a REL prefix (16)
    • REL 113 Scripting God: A Critical Introduction to the Bible (4)
    • REL 135 Religions of Asia (4)
    • REL 199 Topics in Religion (1-4)
    • REL 214 Religion in America (4)
    • REL 215 How Christianity Began: The History and Literature of Early Christianity (4)
    • REL 225 Forgotten Scriptures: Apocryphal Literature and the Origins of Christianity (4)
    • REL 227 Paganism: The Religions of Greece and Rome (4)
    • REL 299 Topics in Religion (1-4)
    • REL 322 In Search of the Historical Jesus (4)
    • REL 323 The Bible and American Culture (4)
    • REL 335W Race, Class, and Gender in the Life and Letters of Paul (4)
    • REL 390 Independent Study (2 or 4)
    • REL 399 Topics in Religion (1-4)
    • ARTH 107 Introduction to Art History from the Roman to the Byzantine Empire (2)
    • ARTH 108 Introduction to Art History of the Western Middle Ages and Islam (2)
    • ARTH 112 Introduction to South Asian Art History (4)
    • ARTH 259 Medieval Art and Architecture (4)
    • CHNSE 352 Rites of Passage in Chinese Societies (4)
    • CLAS 231W Myth and Cult in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean (4)
    • GREEK 331W Myth and Cult in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean: Readings in Ancient Greek (4)
    • HIST 171 History of the Modern Middle East (4)
    • HIST 240 Ancient to Early Medieval European Ideas (4)
    • HIST 259 American Jewish History (4)
    • HIST 374 Love and Reason in the Middle Ages: European Intellectual History 400-1500 (4)
    • IDS 230 Rites of Passage in Japan and the United States (4)
    • IDS 353 Inner Life of Activism (4)
    • PHIL 112 Philosophy of Religion (4)
    • PHIL 235W Philosophical Ethics (4)
    • PHIL 325 Kierkegaard, Meaning and the Self (4)
    • PPLE 314 Politics and Religion in the United States (4)
Willamette University

Religious Studies Department

Address
900 State Street
Salem Oregon 97301 U.S.A.
Phone
503-370-6061

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