Religious Studies Requirements

Colby’s Religious Studies Department trains students to critically analyze the ways in which individuals and communities conceptualize the transcendent, that which they regard as vitally significant. Its courses explore diverse religious traditions, regions, and time periods through three analytical frameworks:

Identity: How ideas about the transcendent interact with societal norms regarding hierarchical conceptions of human difference, including those associated with gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class.
Interpretation: How individuals and communities express ideas about the transcendent in literary and artistic works, and how they engage ideas expressed within their religious traditions.
Practice: How individuals and communities seek to actualize their ideas about the transcendent through rituals, material culture, and daily life.

Faculty

Chair, Professor Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh

Professors David Freidenreich and Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh; Assistant Professor Kerry Sonia and Joshua Urich

Requirements

Requirements for the Major in Religious Studies

A minimum of nine courses, to include the following:

RE core course: “Introduction to the Study of Religion”
At least one 100-level course related to one or more Eastern religious traditions
At least one 100-level course related to one or more Western religious traditions
At least two 300-level courses taught by members of the Religious Studies Department; majors are strongly encouraged to take at least one seminar before their senior year
At least two designated courses in each of the analytical frameworks (Identity, Interpretation, Practice). A single course may count simultaneously toward the framework requirement and the survey or seminar requirement.
RE470, “Senior Capstone” (fall and spring semester, two credits each unless taken as part of the honors program)

Honors Program in Religious Studies

Students majoring in religious studies may apply at the start of their senior year for admission to the honors program, in which case they enroll in RE470 for four credits each semester and write a more substantial thesis than is otherwise required. Students are expected to submit their proposal to the department chair by the deadline for adding fall courses. Admission is contingent on a GPA of 3.65 or higher in the major at the completion of the junior year. On successful completion of the work for the honors program, students will graduate from the College with “Honors in Religious Studies.”

Requirements for the Minor in Religious Studies

A minimum of six courses, to include the following:

RE core course: “Introduction to the Study of Religion”
At least one 100-level course related to one or more Eastern religious traditions
At least one 100-level course related to one or more Western religious traditions
At least one 300-level course taught by a member of the Religious Studies Department;
At least one designated course in each of the analytical frameworks (Identity, Interpretation, Practice). A single course may count simultaneously toward the framework requirement and the survey or seminar requirement.

Students may petition to count off-campus study courses toward fulfillment of an appropriate analytical framework requirement; courses taught at Colby may only count toward the single framework designated by the instructor.

Courses by Analytical Framework

Identity

RE 117: India and the Western Imagination
RE 143: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
RE 144: Introduction to the New Testament
RE 182: Jews, Judaism, and the Modern World
RE 218: Global South Asia
RE 237: Cults in America
RE 297: Gender, Sexuality, and the Bible
RE 298: Religion, Technology, and the Human Self
RE2XX: The Bible in American Cinema
RE298: American Buddhism
RE 342: War and the Bible
RE3XX: Race and Religion in the United States
RE 387: Anti-Judaism and Islamophobia in Christian/Western Thought

Interpretation

RE 117: India and the Western Imagination
RE 128: Introduction to the Study of Religion
RE 143: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
RE 144: Introduction to the New Testament
RE 181: Conceptions of Jews and Judaism
RE 111: Religions of India
RE2XX: The Bible in American Cinema
RE 211: Religions of China, Japan, and Tibet
RE 226: American Christianity, American Capitalism
RE227: The War Between Science and Religion
RE 248: Gender, Sexuality, and the Bible
RE 297: Who Owns the Bible
RE298: American Buddhism
RE 298: Religion, Technology, and the Human Self
RE 319: Bollywood and Beyond
RE 326: Sensuous Religions
RE 342: War and the Bible

Practice

RE 111: Religions of India
RE 211: Religions of China, Japan, and Tibet
RE 218: Global South Asia
RE227: The War Between Science and Religion
RE 232: American Spirituality and the Environment
RE 237: Cults in America
RE 242: The Good Life
RE 226: American Christianity, American Capitalism
RE 285: Faith, Class, and Community
RE 297: Who Owns the Bible
RE 297: Religion and Politics in the United States
RE 319: Bollywood and Beyond
RE 322: Food and Religious Identity
RE 326: Sensuous Religions
RE3XX: Race and Religion in the United States

Students may petition the chair to consider other courses toward the major.