Religion Major (established 2020)

A new Religion major was approved by the Denison faculty in 2020.  All students majoring in Religion from the class of 2024 forward will follow the curriculum below. It has the following components:

A Religion major requires 9 courses, including:
REL 200Thinking about Religion ( to be taken before the senior year.)
Majors elect at least two courses at the 300 level.
REL 450Religion Senior Research Colloquium ( to be taken in the first semester of senior year.)

Majors take at least one course whose intellectual center, and the majority of the content (75%), lie outside the Euro-American Christian historical and cultural tradition. The following courses will fulfill this requirement: 

REL 103World Religions
REL 104Religions in India
REL 105Buddhism
REL 215Hinduism
REL 218Islam
REL 327Women and Social Ethics: In the Global Context

Ordinarily, no more than one course at the 100-level may count. By the middle of the student’s junior year, each Religion major, in consultation with a member of the department, shall submit for departmental approval a proposal for a self-designed thematic concentration of 3-4 courses.

Religion Minor

A new Religion minor was approved by the Denison faculty in 2020. All students minoring in Religion from the class of 2024 forward will follow the curriculum below. It has the following components: 

A minor requires 6 courses. 

Minors take REL 200 - Thinking about Religion before the senior year. 

Minors must elect at least one course at a 300 level.

No more than one 100-level course may be taken to fulfill the requirements. 

All minor students must take at least one course whose intellectual center, and the majority of the content (at least 75%), lie outside the Euro-American Christian historical and cultural tradition. The following courses will fulfill this requirement: 

REL 103World Religions
REL 104Religions in India
REL 105Buddhism
REL 215Hinduism
REL 218Islam
REL 327Women and Social Ethics: In the Global Context

Additional Points of Interest

Off Campus Study

Denison University works to make study abroad and other off-campus study possible for all students, typically during their junior year. Most students who major in Religion transfer one or two courses for the concentration within the Religion major, satisfy a GE requirement or two, and gain general credits towards graduation. Quite a few do independent research or internships as part of their study abroad experience. We encourage students to visit the Off-Campus Study office to explore options and to meet with a faculty advisor in the Religion Department to discuss how study abroad can best be integrated into the student's major.