Curriculum - Religious Studies

The curriculum in religious studies offers a wide variety of courses that focus on the study of religion as an academic discipline. Most courses are open to any student with no prerequisites. RELS 144: Death and the Afterlife, RELS 145: Sensing Religion, RELS 215: Judaism and Christianity in the Ancient World, and RELS 280: Asian Religious Traditions, are specially designed to be introductory courses. Entering students may wish to take a Religious Studies course as their First-Year Seminar (178) course.

Required Courses

Because religion encompasses such a wide variety of phenomena that can be approached from so many methodological perspectives such as history, philosophy, literature, or the social sciences, there are only three required courses within the thirty-six hours of course work expected of majors. All majors and minors should take RELS 144, 145 or 146 as one of their first RELS courses. Majors are also required to take two capstone courses: RELS 398: Theory and Method in the Study of Religion, which fulfills the knowledge of the major student learning outcomes and prepares them for RELS 492: Senior Seminar in Religious Studies. Both capstone courses are open to any students meeting the prerequisites and/or by permission of the instructor.

Distribution Requirements

Students majoring or minoring in Religious Studies may take a variety of departmental offerings or even take courses outside of the department designated as “approved electives” for Religious Studies credit. The only requirement is that three additional hours of course work must come from each of the three distribution areas: Category I, II, and III. See the menu item below for more specific information, including a list of the departmental courses and approved electives that fulfill these distribution requirements.

Schools and universities must take religion seriously if students are to be liberally educated. If students are to think critically about the world and about the other subjects they study…they must study religions in some depth, [and] acquire an understanding of them from the inside…in critical and comparative perspective. -Warren A. Nord, Does God Make a Difference? Taking Religion Seriously in Our Schools and Universities

Major Course Requirements

Review UNC Asheville’s course catalog for official major requirements and course descriptions.

Major in Religious Studies

I. Required courses in the major —at least 36 hours, including: One introductory course (RELS 144, 145, or 146), capstone courses RELS 398 and 492; one course from each of the three distribution categories listed below (no single course may count for more than one category), and 12 hours of electives chosen from other RELS courses or from the list of approved courses. No more than 8 hours of approved courses may come from a single department outside of Religious Studies, and at least 20 of the required 36 hours must be at the 300-400 level. A maximum of 8 hours from 100-level courses may be counted toward the major. The department chair may approve additional courses when the subject matter is appropriate to Religious Studies.

Introductory Courses

RELS 144 Religion, Death, and Afterlife (4)
RELS 145 Sensing Religion: Body, Desire, and Emotion (4)
RELS 146 Religion and Horror (4)

II. Required courses outside the major – None.

III. Other departmental requirements – Completion of RELS 398 with a C or better demonstrates major competencies.

Category II

AFST 317 Africana Philosophy (4) same as PHIL 317
ASIA 313 Asian Philosophy (4) same as PHIL 313
PHIL 313 Asian Philosophy (4) same as ASIA 313
PHIL 317 Africana Philosophy (4) same as AFST 317
RELS 280 Asian Religious Traditions (4)
RELS 326 Religion and Dance in South Asia (4)
RELS 342 African Religions in the Americas and the Caribbean (4)
RELS 381 Religions of South Asia (4)
RELS 386 Buddhism (4)

Approved Electives

ASIA 100 Elementary Chinese I (4)
CHER 110 Cherokee I (4)
LAT 101 Latin I (4)
GRK 103 Greek I (4)
CLAS 105 Hebrew I (3)

Minor Course Requirements

Review UNC Asheville’s course catalog for official minor requirements and course descriptions.

Minor in Religious Studies

At least 20 hours distributed as follows: One introductory course (RELS 144, 145, or 146), one course from each of the three distribution categories listed above (no single course may count for more than one category), and 8 hours of electives chosen from other RELS courses or from the list of approved courses. No more than 4 hours of approved courses may come from a single department outside of Religious Studies, and at least 12 hours must be at the 300-400 level. The department chair may approve additional courses when the subject matter is appropriate to Religious Studies.

Student Learning Outcomes

Religious Literacy & Knowledge of the Major

Students will develop a foundational competence in religious literacy
Students will differentiate between the academic study of religion and the theological or confessional study of religion
Students will demonstrate their abilities to analyze and apply key concepts and methods utilized in the academic study of religion

Critical Thinking

Students will demonstrate ability to identify and articulate the thesis and/or method of materials
Students will be able to analyze , synthesize and interrogate the use of evidence and/or criteria/parameters for method within materials
Students will develop their abilities to analyze the perspective/interpretation/method of materials and are able to articulate their own position in response

Written Communication

Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate ideas and arguments effectively in the various writing styles and genres appropriate to the interdisciplinary study of religion

Declaration of Major or Minor

Students can declare their major or minor online.