Religious Studies Minor
Beginning fall term 2012, admissions to the Minor in Religious
Studies are suspended. Those students who have already completed RST 201 and RST 301 should consult with the program director, Thomas
Luckett (luckettt@pdx.edu) about the courses they will need to
complete the minor.
Religious Studies Minor Worksheet (includes instructions for how to run a DARS for Religious Studies Minor)
Portland State University offers a flexible undergraduate Minor Degree in Religious Studies. Students who complete the minor will be introduced to the academic study of religion and examine a variety of religious traditions. Specifically the program will investigate the relationship between religious beliefs and practices and the formation of culture, conceptions of human identity, and moral and ethical frameworks. It will offer students the opportunity to investigate academically the diverse meanings of religious practices in human experience from various disciplinary perspectives including those of history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, literature, women's studies, ethnic studies, international studies, and the arts. The objectives of the Religious Studies program are to broaden and deepen students' knowledge of religious traditions around the world, to foster an awareness of how religious discourses and practices affect the lives of individuals and societies and to expose students to various academic theories of religion and methodologies used to study religion.
To earn a minor in Religious Studies a student must complete 28 credits, at least 16 credits of which must be upper-division courses, and at least 12 credits of which must be taken in residence at PSU. These 28 credits must include the Religious Studies sequence (12 credits) and 16 elective credits as described below.
Religious Studies Sequence: All students are required to take the following 3 courses (12 credits):
RST 201 Introduction to Religious Studies I: Introduction to World Religions
RST 301 Introduction to Religious Studies II: The Study of Religions
RST 415 Contemporary Issues in Religion
Elective Credits: Students must take 16 elective credits, which meet the following criteria:
a. Students must take at least two courses from the same religious tradition. Traditions are dependent on current offerings and may include the following: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Native American Religions, Caribbean Religions, African Religions. Some courses may address more than one tradition. Advisor approval will be based on class syllabi.
b. Students must take at least two courses in the same area (note: an area is not the same as a discipline or department). Areas include:
(1) Religion and the Human Sciences
(2) Religion and the Humanities
(3) Historical Studies in Religion
Note: The same courses may be used to meet the tradition and area requirements. For example, if a student took Chinese Buddhist Art (ARH 411) and Japanese Buddhist Art (ARH 412), these courses would satisfy both the tradition requirement (Buddhism) and the area requirement (Religion and the Humanities).
The following is a partial list of courses that may be used to satisfy requirements:
Religion and the Human Sciences:
ANTH 317 Peoples and Cultures of South Asia
ANTH 430/530 Myth, Ritual and Symbol
ANTH 432 Gender in Cross Cultural Perspective
ANTH 447 Advanced Topics in South Asian Anthropology
SOC 410/510 Family and Identity through Film
Religion and the Humanities:
ARH 311 History of Asian Art I
ARH 312 History of Asian Art II
ARH 313 History of Asian Art III
ARH 411 Chinese Buddhist Art
ARH 412 Japanese Buddhist Art
ARH 407/507 Religion and American Art
ENG 308 Jewish Literature: Messiahs in Modern Jewish Literature
ENG 318 The Bible as Literature
ENG 330 Jewish and Israeli Literature
ENG 410 Cities of Modern Jewish Literature: Baghdad
ENG 410 Writing the Holy Land
ENG 410 Sages and Mystics: Post-biblical Jewish Literature
PHL 210 Philosophy of Religion
PHL 319 Introduction to Asian Philosophy
PHL 315 Existentialism
PHL 399 Medieval Philosophy
PHL 302 History of Philosophy
PHL 416/516 The Rationalists: Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza
PHL 417/517 The Empiricists
PHL 421 19th Century Philosophy
PHL 451 Classical Figures (when appropriate)
WS 410 Women Mystics
WS 410 Feminist Biblical Interpretation
Historical Studies in Religion:
HST 199/399 Introduction to Judaism
HST 314 History of the Ancient Near East
HST 320 East Asian Civilizations
HST 350 English History from 1066 to 1660
HST 399 Modern Jewish History: From the Enlightenment to Crisis
HST 399 The Holocaust
HST 424/524 Topics in Chinese Thought and Religions: Confucianism
HST 454/554 Topics in Medieval History: The Holy Land Before the Crusades
HST 454/554 Topics in Medieval History: The Holy Land in the Crusader Era
HST 454/554 Topics in Medieval History: History of Christianity to 1500
HST 454/554 Topics in Medieval History: The Holy and the Damned
HST 454 Jewish Life & Culture in the Middle Ages
HST 461 Topics in Jewish History: Eastern European Jewish Society & Culture
HST 495/595 Comparative World History: Islam and Modernity
INTL 317 Japanese Religious Traditions
INTL 410 Topics: Islamic Movements
For a complete list of approved area electives, including appropriate topics courses, contact the program advisor, Dr. Thomas Luckett
Other requirements:
Minimum 2.0 GPA in minor classes
Must take all minor classes for credit (no PASS credits accepted)
Minimum grade of C- for all minor classes.
The Minor Worksheet is designed to help those pursuing a minor keep track of requirements.
