Religious Studies Minor

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Location: Landrum Academic Center 217C
Telephone: 859-572-5259
Fax: 859-572-6086
Web Address: https://inside.nku.edu/artsci/departments/sapdept/philosophy/undergraduate-programs/religious-studies-minor.html
Director: Terry Pence

Available in traditional and fully-online formats.

NKU’s interdisciplinary religious studies program offers a 21-credit-hour minor designed for students who are especially interested in religious studies or who wish for career purposes to add to their general education background.

Religious studies is the scholarly examination of the widespread and diverse phenomena of human religious experiences, the expression of these experiences in systems of belief and in institutions, and their interaction with culture and society. Religion embodies some of humanity’s most profound and enduring attempts to answer perennial questions about the nature of ultimate reality and about human nature and destiny. An important dimension of religious studies at NKU is its incorporation of cognate courses from other disciplines, including philosophy, history, geography, sociology, psychology, literature, anthropology, and women’s and gender studies.

Religious studies provides a factual and analytical understanding of religion; sympathetic understanding of a wide range of religious traditions, cultures and values; and an introduction to the relevant literature, vocabulary, and methods used in the scholarly study of religion. This sort of an appreciation of religion is an important component in an individual’s education. It is also relevant to many professions and fields including education, law, medicine, nursing, ministry, and human services, and to students interested in graduate studies in religious studies.

Students must earn a C- or better in all courses chosen to meet a category requirement.

♦ Indicates prerequisite.

Requirements for Minor (21 credits)

Core Requirement

REL 200 World Religions and Cultures - AH (3 credits)

Category A: Religious Traditions and Sacred Texts (3 credits)

Select 3 credit hours from the following

Category B: Philosophical, Ethical, and Theological Perspectives (3 credits)

Select 3 credit hours from the following

REL 325 Celtic Christianity (3 credits) ♦ (B or C)
REL 352 Women and Religion (3 credits) ♦ (B or C)
REL 370 Religion and Science (3 credits) ♦
HIS 362 Women and Christianity (3 credits) ♦ (B or C)
PHI 305 Existentialism (3 credits) ♦
PHI 350 Philosophy of Religion (3 credits) ♦
PHI 370 Religion and Science (3 credits) ♦
PHI 371 Death and the Afterlife (3 credits) ♦
WGS 360 Gendered Spirituality (3 Credits) ♦
WGS 386 Women in the Bible (3 credits) ♦ (A or B)

Category C: Historical, Linguistic, Literary, and Scientific Perspectives (3 credits)

Select 3 credit hours from the following:

Select 9 additional credit hours from

Among all religious studies courses except those previously chosen to count for a category requirement.

Note:

At least 20 percent of the total required hours for the minor must be taken at NKU.

Topics courses (with numbers ending with -94) in disciplines such as REL, PHI, ANT, HIS, ENG, PSY, SOC, and WGS with topics bearing upon religious studies may also count toward the minor. Check with your advisor.

*Only 3 hours of an approved cognate language can count toward the minor.

Courses listed in more than one category may count in only one or the other. Students who want to have either a broader or deeper background in religious studies than the minor at NKU affords may take advantage of the Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection or the Cooperative Center for Study Aboard.

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