Religious Studies, BA Major
Religious studies is an interdisciplinary major that draws on courses from multiple departments to give students a broad understanding of the historical, cultural and philosophical principles of the world's religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Classical Greek and Roman religions, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, African and Native-American religions. These diverse belief systems are studied not just for their influence over past generations but also to better understand their role in modern issues.
Religious Studies is not just for students planning to go on to become a priest, rabbi or minister. The program provides excellent preparation for all careers that require critical thinking, logic, analysis and writing skills. Because of the breadth of the subject matter, students graduate with a global perspective, an appreciation for different viewpoints and substantive knowledge about ethics and core belief systems of the past and present.
UWM students in Religious Studies take courses in history, anthropology, philosophy, political science, classics, art history, literature, and more. Many students also complement their major with studies in the foreign language since many religions have traditions and foundations in another language.
Students will also find a very active student organization - the Religious Studies Student Organization. The group brings in speakers and engages with the local community on scholarly topics of interest.
Double Major
It often is possible to complete a double major in Religious Studies and another subject. This is the case particularly when a student already has undertaken the major in the other field but has credits in religion courses as well. The student often can take courses that count for both Religious Studies and the other major. Interested students should consult with the Program Director.
Career Resources and Job Outcomes
Program Type
Major
Program Format
On Campus
Listed below are the requirements for the Religious Studies major. In addition to the requirements for the major, students must also satisfy all university and college general degree requirements. Degree requirements will vary depending on when you took your first college class. We encourage you to consult your advisor regularly to ensure you stay on track towards earning your degree. You can read more about the degree requirements on the L&S Degree Requirements web pages.
Religious Studies Major Requirements
The religious studies major requires completion of at least 33 credits, including at least 18 in upper-division courses (numbered 300 and above) of which at least 15 must be taken in residence at UWM. In satisfying these requirements, students must select courses from at least three different curricular areas. The College requires that students attain at least a 2.0 GPA on all major credits attempted at UWM. In addition, students must attain a 2.0 GPA on all major credits attempted, including any transfer work. The required 33 credits must be distributed as follows:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core | ||
| Recommended | ||
| The following is recommended: | ||
| Introduction to World Religions | ||
| Required Methods | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Seminar in the Study of Religion: Theories of Religion (or equivalent) | ||
| Methods and Theory in the Historical Study of Religion: (or equivalent) | ||
| Required Capstone Experience 1 | ||
| Select one of the following research options: | 3 | |
| Seminar in History: (with research conducted on a religion-related topic) | ||
For students with additional major(s), upper-level research seminar in the additional major that focuses on a religion-related topic | ||
A 3-credit independent study on a religion-related topic | ||
Senior thesis in another program/department on a religion-related topic | ||
Research paper focused on a religion-related topic as approved by the director | ||
| Electives | ||
| Select 27 credits (see below) | 27 | |
| Total Credits | 33 | |
- 1
In all cases, the religious studies director must approve the topic to satisfy the research requirement. Majors are required to file the appropriate research/capstone approval form prior to completion of their research/capstone course.
Electives
All majors are required to complete at least 27 additional credits beyond the core courses. Nine elective credits must be distributed among three different religious traditions. A religious tradition course must focus primarily (more than 50%) on one specific religion. Twelve of these 27 credits must be numbered 300 or above.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AFRIC 311 | African Religious Thought and Social Organizations (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| AFRIC 312 | The Church in African-American Life (Christianity) | 3 |
| AIS 106 | Anishinaabe Ethnobotany: Plants in Anishinaabe Philosophy | 3 |
| AMLLC 240 | Vampires: From Slavic Village to Hollywood (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ANTHRO 203 | Indigenous Religions (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ANTHRO 305 | The Celtic World | 3 |
| ANTHRO 314 | American Indian Societies and Cultures (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ANTHRO 326 | Peoples and Cultures of South Asia | 3 |
| ANTHRO 351 | Anthropological Theories of Religion | 3 |
| ANTHRO 543 | Cross-Cultural Study of Religion | 3 |
| ANTHRO 544 | Religious Giving in Anthropological Perspective | 3 |
| ARABIC 111 | Cultures and Civilizations of the Muslim Middle East (Islam) | 3 |
| ARABIC 390 | Islam: Religion and Culture (Islam) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 101 | Ancient and Medieval Art and Architecture | 3 |
| ARTHIST 102 | Renaissance to Modern Art and Architecture | 3 |
| ARTHIST 104 | African, New World and Oceanic Art and Architecture | 3 |
| ARTHIST 105 | Asian Art and Architecture | 3 |
| ARTHIST 237 | Northern Renaissance Art | 3 |
| ARTHIST 241 | Introduction to Baroque Art | 3 |
| ARTHIST 251 | Introduction to the Art and Architecture of Latin America | 3 |
| ARTHIST 255 | Survey of Italian Renaissance Painting and Sculpture | 3 |
| ARTHIST 270 | Pre-Columbian Art, Myth, and Legacy (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 281 | Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art | 3 |
| ARTHIST 312 | Minoan and Mycenaean Art and Archaeology | 3 |
| ARTHIST 314 | Art and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East | 3 |
| ARTHIST 315 | Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 316 | Roman Art and Archaeology (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 323 | Age of Apocalypse: Western European Art after the First Millennium | 3 |
| ARTHIST 324 | Early Christian and Byzantine Art and Architecture (Christianity) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 325 | Early Medieval Art in the West | 3 |
| ARTHIST 326 | Chivalry and Spirituality: French Gothic Art and Architecture | 3 |
| ARTHIST 327 | Caliphs, Emirs, & Kings: Art & Architecture of Medieval Spain (Islam) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 333 | High Renaissance Art in Italy | 3 |
| ARTHIST 371 | African Art (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 372 | Art of the Inca and their Ancestors (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 373 | Art of Ancient Mexico and Central America (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 375 | Art of the Aztec Empire (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 380 | Chinese Painting | 3 |
| ARTHIST 382 | Chinese Art and Architecture | 3 |
| ARTHIST 383 | Japanese Art and Architecture | 3 |
| ARTHIST 386 | Art, Ritual, and Ethnicity of China | 3 |
| ARTHIST 387 | Buddhist Art and Architecture (Buddhism) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 412 | Cities and Sanctuaries of Ancient Greece (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| ARTHIST 431 | Renaissance Architecture in Italy | 3 |
| ARTHIST 474 | Maya Art (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| CELTIC 133 | Celtic Crossings: Overview of the History and Cultures of the Celtic World | 3 |
| CLASSIC 170 | Classical Mythology (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| CLASSIC 201 | Introduction to Greek Life and Literature | 3 |
| CLASSIC 202 | Introduction to Roman Life and Literature | 3 |
| CLASSIC 274 | Ancient Egyptian Civilization (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| CLASSIC 301 | The Life and Literature of Classical Athens: Herodotus and Dramatists | 3 |
| CLASSIC 302 | War and Politics in Ancient Greece | 3 |
| CLASSIC 303 | The Life and Literature of the Roman Empire | 3 |
| CLASSIC 351 | Ancient Greek Religion (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| CLASSIC 370 | Hittite Myth and History (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| CLASSIC 390 | Egyptian Mythology (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| COMPLIT 231 | Literature and Religion: | 3 |
| ENGLISH 454 | Milton (Christianity) | 3 |
| GEOG 333 | Muslim Geographies: Identities and Politics (Islam) | 3 |
| GLOBAL 371 | Rethinking Global Security | 3 |
| HEBREW 201 | Third-Semester Hebrew (Judaism) | 4 |
| HEBREW 202 | Fourth-Semester Hebrew (Judaism) | 4 |
| HEBREW 301 | Modern Hebrew Literature I in Hebrew (Judaism) | 3 |
| HEBREW 302 | Modern Hebrew Literature II in Hebrew (Judaism) | 3 |
| HIST 131 | World History to 1500 | 3 |
| HIST 175 | East Asian Civilization to 1600 | 3 |
| HIST 201 | The Ancient World: The Near East and Greece (Buddhism) | 3 |
| HIST 202 | The Ancient World: The Roman Republic and Empire | 3 |
| HIST 274 | Ancient Egyptian Civilization (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| HIST 280 | Islamic Civilization: The Formative Period, ca. 500-1258 (Islam) | 3 |
| HIST 282 | The Modern Middle East in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries | 3 |
| HIST 284 | Buddhism Across Asia (Buddhism) | 3 |
| HIST 303 | A History of Greek Civilization: The Greek City-State | 3 |
| HIST 304 | A History of Greek Civilization: The Age of Alexander the Great (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| HIST 307 | A History of Rome: The Republic (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| HIST 308 | A History of Rome: The Empire (Indigenous religions) | 3 |
| HIST 318 | Medieval Civilization: The High Middle Ages | 3 |
| HIST 319 | The Era of the Crusades (Christianity) | 3 |
| HIST 329 | The Roman Catholic Church, 1500 to the Present (Christianity) | 3 |
| HIST 330 | The Papacy in History (Christianity) | 3 |
| HIST 358 | The Jews of Modern Europe: History and Culture | 3 |
| HIST 364 | The Holocaust: Anti-Semitism & the Fate of Jewish People in Europe, 1933-45 | 3 |
| HIST 370 | Topics in the History of Religious Thought: | 3 |
| HIST 379 | Introduction to Jewish History | 3 |
| HIST 380 | Buddhism: A Cultural History (Buddhism) | 3 |
| HIST 386 | Africans in World History: Communities, Cultures, and Ideas | 3 |
| HIST 393 | History of Mexico | 3 |
| HIST 452 | History of Religion in American Life to 1870 | 3 |
| HIST 453 | History of Religion in American Life Since 1870 | 3 |
| HIST 454 | God at the Movies: American Religion in Fiction and Film | 3 |
| HIST 594 | Methods and Theory in the Historical Study of Religion: | 3 |
| ITALIAN 333 | Dante's Divine Comedy in Translation (Christianity) | 3 |
| JEWISH 100 | Introduction to Judaism (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 101 | Jewish Culture in America: History, Literature, Film (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 230 | Bible Stories (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 231 | Introduction to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 235 | The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 261 | Representing the Holocaust in Words and Images (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 331 | Topics in Biblical Literature: | 3 |
| JEWISH 332 | Women in the Bible (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 358 | The Jews of Modern Europe: History and Culture (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 368 | Jewish and Christian Responses to the Holocaust (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 379 | Introduction to Jewish History (Judaism) | 3 |
| JEWISH 411 | Old Testament Texts: | 3 |
| JEWISH 449 | Modern Jewish Thought (Judaism) | 3 |
| LATIN 306 | Readings in Latin Literature: | 3 |
| PHILOS 204 | Introduction to Asian Religions | 3 |
| PHILOS 207 | Religion and Science | 3 |
| PHILOS 250 | God, Faith and Reason | 3 |
| PHILOS 304 | Buddhist Philosophy (Buddhism) | 3 |
| PHILOS 350 | Introduction to the Comparative Study of Religion | 3 |
| PHILOS 431 | History of Medieval Philosophy (Christianity) | 3 |
| PHILOS 461 | Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism (Islam) | 3 |
| PHILOS 474 | Contemporary Religious Thought: | 3 |
| PHILOS 475 | Special Topics in Indian Religious Thought: | 3 |
| POL SCI 215 | Ethnicity, Religion and Race in American Politics | 3 |
| RUSSIAN 361 | Russian and Slavic Folklore | 3 |
Relevant language courses above the second semester will be counted as electives toward the Religious Studies major with approval of the coordinator. Students can take up to 10 credit hours of foreign language beyond the second semester if the language chosen is related to their future goals or research interests. Again, the use of such language courses as electives requires approval of the coordinator.
Optional Concentration
Religious Studies majors have the option of focusing their programs of studies on one or more religious traditions. To discuss this option, please contact Program Director David Divalerio at divaleri@uwm.edu.
Letters & Science Advising
During your time at UWM, you may have multiple members of your success team, including advisors, peer mentors and success coaches. Letters & Science students typically work with at least two different types of advisors as they pursue their degrees: professional college advisors and faculty advisors. L&S college advisors advise across your entire degree program while departmental faculty advisors focus on the major.
College advisors are located in Holton Hall (or virtually for online students) and serve as your primary advisor. They are your point person for your questions about navigating college and completing your degree. College advisors will:
- Assist you in defining your academic and life goals.
- Help you create an educational plan that is consistent with those goals.
- Assist you in understanding curriculum, major and degree requirements for graduation, as well as university policies and procedures.
- Provide you with information about campus and community resources and refer you to those resources as appropriate.
- Monitor your progress toward graduation and completion of requirements.
Faculty advisors mentor students in the major and assist them in maximizing their development in the program. You will begin working with a faculty advisor when you declare your major. Faculty advisors are an important partner and will:
- Help you understand major requirements and course offerings in the department.
- Explain opportunities for internships and undergraduate research and guide you in obtaining those experiences.
- Serve as an excellent resource as you consider potential graduate programs and career paths in your field.
Students are encouraged to meet with both their college advisor and faculty advisor at least once each semester. Appointments are available in-person, by phone or by video.
Currently enrolled students should use the Navigate360 website to make an appointment with your assigned advisor or call (414) 229-4654 if you do not currently have an assigned Letters & Science advisor. Prospective students who haven't enrolled in classes yet should call (414) 229-7711 or email let-sci@uwm.edu.
We encourage you to begin exploring career options when you declare your major or at the start of your sophomore year, whichever comes first.