Mission Statement
The work of the department of religion studies at Muhlenberg College is the academic investigation of religious traditions in their thought and practice. Faculty and students study cultural and intellectual responses to basic questions of life and meaning. Our discipline, exploring essential aspects of human experience, is inherently cross-cultural, multidisciplinary, and analytical. Its geography is global; its chronology extends from antiquity to the present. We analyze texts, beliefs, rituals, arts, communities, cultures, and their integration into coherent worldviews. Our methodologies as well as our content interact with disciplines spanning the liberal arts curriculum from the humanities to the social sciences to the sciences.
Learning Goals
Departmental goals for all students completing a General Academic Requirement “HU” in religion studies:
- Be inspired to continue exploration of religious traditions
- Understand the roles of religions for individuals and in cultures and societies
- Recognize the academic investigation of religious traditions as a multidisciplinary endeavour distinct from the practice or profession of religion
- Recognize the variety of beliefs and practices within each religious tradition
- Recognize the internal coherence of diverse worldviews
- Demonstrate knowledge of at least one religious tradition or thematic issue in the study of religion
Departmental goals for majors and minors in religion studies:
- Demonstrate knowledge of religions in at least 3 traditions or geographic areas
- Be conversant with the history and methods of religion studies and their interdisciplinary connections
- Use the critical methods of religion studies competently
- Engage in comparative study of thematic issues in religion
- Produce creative scholarship that engages primary and secondary materials and displays methodological sophistication
