A study of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, including both ancient and modern developments in their cultural contexts.
The architecture, manuscript illumination, painting and other visual arts of Christianity explored within the contexts of contemporary history.
This course is an introduction to multiple concepts of the divine in South Asia. We will explore the different ways that the religious traditions of South Asia understand supernatural beings and forces. In order to do this we will read portions of primary texts in translation, examine iconography, and watch rituals as they unfold. In addition to learning about the South Asia traditions, we will put those conceptions of the divine in conversation with those rooted in a European context, forcing you to learn to think critically about the ways people from different cultures view the world around them.
This course introduces the study of religion and popular culture. It explores how religion is represented in popular cultural forms, and how social conceptions of "religion" and "popular culture" change over time. Students will examine how differing definitions of religion, culture, and taste intersect with historical and contemporary categories of class, gender, ethnicity, and race.
Major trends and traditions in the arts, literatures and languages, religions and philosophies of China.
The course surveys six religious traditions founded and developed in Asian including two from India: Hinduism and Buddhism, two from China: Confucianism and Taoism, and two from Japan: Shinto and Japanese New Religions. The survey of each religion includes: 1. a primary or sacred text, 2. contemporary practices in Asia, 3. contemporary practices in America, and 4. depictions in modern media. The course studies how the central tenets and teachings of Asian religions create the cultural roots of contemporary Asian cultures and how these teachings have influenced America's religious diversity.
Submit strong applications!
Prof. Daisy Vargas is offering an opportunity to students in the Department of Religious Studies and Classics to get feedback and tips on writing their personal statements for scholarship applications.
This is a great opportunity to polish up your application for these upcoming Religious Studies scholarships:
Majors with significant financial need can apply for our Need-Based Scholarship at any time.
Questions? Contact Prof. Karen Seat at kkseat@arizona.edu
Connect with Religious Studies!
SWEETS | COFFEE | ICE BREAKERS | GAMES
Stop by for refreshments and connect with students and faculty in the U of A Religious Studies Program!
Thursday, February 27
4:00-6:00pm
Main Library Rm 112
Hosted by the Department of Religious Studies & Classics and the student club RELIC.
Connect with Religious Studies!
SWEETS | COFFEE | ICE BREAKERS | GAMES
Stop by for refreshments and connect with students and faculty in the U of A Religious Studies Program!
Thursday, February 27
4:00-6:00pm
Main Library Rm 112
Hosted by the Department of Religious Studies & Classics and the student club RELIC.
The Department of Religious Studies & Classics is happy to announce the winners of the Fall 2024 Lionel Rombach and Ora Bretall Scholarship Awards.
Ora Bretall Scholarship Awardee: Melissa Baker
Lionel Rombach Scholarship Awardee: Annika Rasmussen
Congratulations to our outstanding Religious Studies majors!
Read (in their words) how majoring in Religious Studies has enriched their lives and studies:
For me, studying religious studies has meant peace and understanding. It helped me grow beyond the dogmas and religious abuse of my fundamentalist upbringing. It gave me tools from different faiths to draw from while I suffered extreme hardships in my personal life. I think everyone should do some studies in religious studies as it can increase your resilience in your life and increase your cultural competency and awareness to better function in an increasingly interconnected world where the distances that once separated our nations and ideologies melt into the past.
I’m an atheist who believes in religion. At least, in what religion could be. We humans are meaning-making creatures, finding and creating patterns and stories and communities. We need these things to be whole, individually and collectively. Without shared meaning-making systems we are fractured from one another. The increasing secularization of Western society has created a need to reimagine new approaches to religion for modern, non-theistic communities. Religion is among the most powerful forces in human civilization, and it is not going anywhere. For good and for ill, religion continues to shape the worldviews of individuals and societies. By studying religion we can better understand humanity. And maybe even create circles within circles of connection we all so desperately need.