Courses in the Religious Dimensions domain offer students the opportunity to explore the explicitly religious dimensions of life and culture. These dimensions are found in the culturally embedded narratives, beliefs and practices of particular religions, as well as in encounters with realities perceived to be ultimate or sacred. Through myth, symbol, ritual and doctrine, these religions not only provide order and meaning, they also carry capacities to challenge and transform individuals and societies. Intellectual and social maturity requires understanding the unique contributions, both positive and negative, of the religious traditions of the world to culture and consciousness as well as coming to terms with ultimacy. This Learning Domain offers courses with a comparative, thematic, or ethical focus, as well as courses in specific traditions.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Explain beliefs and practices of one or more religious traditions in their specific social and cultural contexts.
- In courses in which the focus is on one religious tradition, describe the diversity of strands within the tradition and explain with significant depth the modes of interpretation of the world the tradition offers both to adherents and to others.
- Identify religious modes of thinking, acting, and feeling such as: myth and narrative, symbol, ritual, law, doctrine, ethics, religious experience.
- Analyze the impact of religion on personal as well as communal dimensions of human life, including for example the relationship between religion and power, social integration, social transformation, and social justice.
Courses
Below please find examples of courses previously offered for religious dimensions credit. For information on current offerings, please consult campus connection.
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| American Studies | ||
| AMS 220 | AMERICAN BUDDHISMS: RACE AND RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY | 4 |
| Asian Studies, Global | ||
| AAS 242 | LITERATURE AND RELIGION IN CHINA | 4 |
| Catholic Studies | ||
| CTH 110 | THE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE | 4 |
| CTH 180 | INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLICISM | 4 |
| CTH 181 | INTRODUCTION TO WORLD CATHOLICISM | 4 |
| CTH 182 | THE LATINO RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES | 4 |
| CTH 183 | THEMES IN CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT | 4 |
| CTH 190 | METHODS OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION | 4 |
| CTH 202 | CATHOLICS AND SCRIPTURE | 4 |
| CTH 203 | WHAT CATHOLICS BELIEVE | 4 |
| CTH 205 | CATHOLICISM IN WORLD HISTORY I: JESUS TO 1500 | 4 |
| CTH 206 | CATHOLICISM IN WORLD HISTORY II:MODERN & POST-MODERN TIMES | 4 |
| CTH 209 | THEORIES OF THE CHURCH: CONCEPTS AND CONTROVERSIES | 4 |
| CTH 212 | ANCIENT ISRAEL: HISTORY, LITERATURE AND RELIGION | 4 |
| CTH 213 | THE NEW TESTAMENT | 4 |
| CTH 214 | THE HISTORICAL JESUS | 4 |
| CTH 215 | VARIETIES OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY | 4 |
| CTH 226 | ROMAN CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL LITERATURE | 4 |
| CTH 231 | ROMAN CATHOLIC LITURGY | 4 |
| CTH 233 | LA MORENITA DE CHICAGO: FAITH, CULTURE AND IDENTITY IN MEXICAN CATHOLICISM | 4 |
| CTH 241 | VIRTUE ETHICS | 4 |
| CTH 243 | ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL THINKING | 4 |
| CTH 244 | DEBATES ABOUT GOD | 4 |
| CTH 247 | ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT IN CONTEXT | 4 |
| CTH 248 | CONTEMPORARY MORAL ISSUES | 4 |
| CTH 249 | NATURE, COSMOS AND GOD: CATHOLICISM AND SCIENCE | 4 |
| CTH 265 | LITERATURE AND THE SACRED | 4 |
| CTH 270 | JESUS ACROSS CULTURES | 4 |
| CTH 271 | ROMAN CATHOLICISM'S ENCOUNTER WITH OTHER RELIGIONS | 4 |
| CTH 274 | IRELAND: RELIGION AND THE CONTEMPORARY "TROUBLES | 4 |
| CTH 276 | CATHOLICISM IN AFRICA | 4 |
| CTH 279 | CATHOLICISM AND THE FAMILY | 4 |
| CTH 290 | THE LIFE AND TIMES OF VINCENT DE PAUL | 4 |
| CTH 292 | WOMEN AND SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL | 4 |
| CTH 293 | NOTABLE VINCENTIAN WOMEN | 4 |
| CTH 295 | OZANAM: A VINCENTIAN LIFE | 4 |
| Geography | ||
| GEO 204 | RELIGIOUS GEOGRAPHY | 4 |
| History of Art and Architecture | ||
| HAA 220 | BUDDHIST ART | 4 |
| HAA 222 | ISLAMIC ART | 4 |
| HAA 234 | BYZANTINE ART | 4 |
| HAA 302 | AFRICAN ISLAM: ISLAMIC ART & ARCHITECTURE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA | 4 |
| Irish Studies | ||
| IRE 103 | IRELAND: RELIGION AND THE CONTEMPORARY "TROUBLES | 4 |
| IRE 107 | RELIGIOUS GEOGRAPHY | 4 |
| Islamic World Studies | ||
| IWS 171 | INTRODUCTION TO THE QUR'AN | 4 |
| IWS 192 | ISLAMIC WORLD STUDIES | 4 |
| IWS 203 | RELIGIOUS GEOGRAPHY | 4 |
| IWS 251 | ISLAMIC ART | 4 |
| IWS 263 | RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST | 4 |
| IWS 278 | HADITH: TRADITIONS OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD | 4 |
| IWS 295 | SHI'ITE ISLAM | 4 |
| Management | ||
| MGT 228 | BUSINESS, ETHICS, AND SOCIETY | 4 |
| Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies | ||
| PAX 252 | FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION | 4 |
| PAX 253 | DESPAIR AND HOPE | 4 |
| Religious Studies | ||
| REL 103 | RELIGIOUS WORLDS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE | 4 |
| REL 107 | JUDAISM IN HISTORY: FROM THE BIBLE TO 1492 | 4 |
| REL 108 | JUDAISM IN HISTORY: FROM 1492 TO PRESENT | 4 |
| REL 109 | JEWISH RELIGIOUS WORLDS | 4 |
| REL 110 | CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS WORLDS | 4 |
| REL 113 | THE LATINX RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES | 4 |
| REL 115 | THE AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE | 4 |
| REL 116 | INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM | 4 |
| REL 142 | HINDU RELIGIOUS WORLDS | 4 |
| REL 143 | BUDDHIST RELIGIOUS WORLDS | 4 |
| REL 161 | NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS | 4 |
| REL 180 | INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLICISM | 4 |
| REL 183 | THEMES IN CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT | 4 |
| REL 190 | SACRED TEXTS | 4 |
| REL 200 | DEBATES ABOUT GOD | 4 |
| REL 202 | ATOM BOMB DISCOURSE | 4 |
| REL 205 | COMPARATIVE ETHICS | 4 |
| REL 212 | RELIGION AND POPULAR CULTURE | 4 |
| REL 215 | NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS | 4 |
| REL 217 | ISLAMIC CULTURES AND SOCIETIES | 4 |
| REL 218 | BLACK INTELLECTUAL TRADITIONS | 4 |
| REL 219 | SLAVERY, RACE AND RELIGION | 4 |
| REL 220 | PSYCHOLOGY AND RELIGION | 4 |
| REL 221 | RELIGION IN SOCIETY IN SOUTH ASIA | 4 |
| REL 223 | LITERATURE AND THE SACRED | 4 |
| REL 224 | RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE UNITED STATES | 4 |
| REL 225 | RELIGION AND THE ARTS | 4 |
| REL 226 | TECHNOLOGY, ETHICS AND SOCIETY | 4 |
| REL 227 | RELIGIOUS ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE | 4 |
| REL 228 | BUSINESS, ETHICS AND SOCIETY | 4 |
| REL 229 | MEDICINE, ETHICS AND SOCIETY | 4 |
| REL 232 | ANCIENT ISRAEL: HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION | 4 |
| REL 233 | THE NEW TESTAMENT | 4 |
| REL 236 | VARIETIES OF JUDAISM IN THE GREEK AND ROMAN WORLD | 4 |
| REL 237 | GODS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE | 4 |
| REL 238 | THE HISTORICAL JESUS | 4 |
| REL 239 | RELIGION AND FILM | 4 |
| REL 241 | RELIGION IN CHINESE HISTORY, SOCIETY AND CULTURE | 4 |
| REL 243 | BUDDHIST THOUGHT IN CULTURAL CONTEXT | 4 |
| REL 244 | RELIGION AND ETHICS IN JAPANESE FOODSCAPES | 4 |
| REL 245 | RELIGION IN JAPANESE HISTORY, SOCIETY, AND CULTURE | 4 |
| REL 246 | TRADITIONS OF CHINESE POPULAR CULTURE | 4 |
| REL 247 | LITERATURE AND RELIGION IN JAPAN | 4 |
| REL 248 | LITERATURE AND RELIGION IN CHINA | 4 |
| REL 249 | RELIGION IN MANGA AND ANIME | 4 |
| REL 250 | MYSTICISM IN RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS | 4 |
| REL 251 | THE IDEA OF "EVIL | 4 |
| REL 252 | FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION | 4 |
| REL 253 | DESPAIR AND HOPE | 4 |
| REL 257 | DEATH AND ITS BEYOND: EXPERIENCE, MYTH AND RITUALS | 4 |
| REL 260 | RELIGION AND POLITICAL CONFLICT | 4 |
| REL 261 | RELIGION AND CONFLICT IN SOUTH ASIA | 4 |
| REL 262 | RELIGION AND GLOBALIZATION | 4 |
| REL 263 | RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST | 4 |
| REL 264 | COLONIZATION, RELIGION AND RESISTANCE | 4 |
| REL 265 | ISLAMIST POLITICAL MOVEMENTS | 4 |
| REL 266 | ISLAM IN THE UNITED STATES | 4 |
| REL 268 | MODERN JUDAISM | 4 |
| REL 270 | WOMEN IN THE BIBLE | 4 |
| REL 272 | GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN MUSLIM CULTURES | 4 |
| REL 273 | JESUS ACROSS CULTURES | 4 |
| REL 278 | GENDER IDENTITIES, SEXUALITY AND RELIGION | 4 |
| REL 280 | ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL THINKING | 4 |
| REL 281 | ROMAN CATHOLIC LITURGY | 4 |
| REL 283 | ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT IN CONTEXT | 4 |
| REL 287 | ROMAN CATHOLIC MORAL THOUGHT | 4 |
| REL 291 | LIBERATION THEOLOGIES | 4 |
| REL 295 | SHI'ITE ISLAM | 4 |
| REL 298 | THEORY AND METHOD IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION | 4 |