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Bachelor's

Religious Studies, Comparative Religious Studies (BA)

The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts 128 courses 120 total credits

About This Program

This program is designed to give students a comprehensive training in the discipline of religious studies. It is intended for students who would plan to pursue career options in Religious Studies, including graduate programs in the study of religion and/or in a theological or seminary setting. The Plan of Study is a suggested four-year course sequence to support academic planning and serves as a helpful guide. Currently enrolled students should meet with their academic advisor to tailor their course selections and timelines to their individual goals and circumstances. All requirements are listed below, starting with the most specialized moving to the most general. Additional requirements may follow the table, so be sure to read the entire page. Some required courses listed below may also satisfy General Education requirements, including Core Curriculum.

Degree Requirements

Minor/Certificate course 3 credits
Minor/Certificate course 3 credits
Hours chosen from: Upper-division R S 3 credits
Minor/Certificate course 3 credits
Upper-division Minor/Certificate course 3 credits
Free Elective 3 credits
Upper-division Minor/Certificate course 3 credits
Free Elective 3 credits
Free Elective 3 credits
Free Elective 3 credits
Foreign Language other than English, Beginning Proficiency credits
College Requirements - Liberal Arts credits
General University Requirements credits
Three Hours chosen from: credits
Art history, music history, or history of theatre and dance credits
Upper-division classical civilization, humanities, literature, or philosophy credits
Sequence 2: Plan I International Relations and Global Studies credits
Free electives: Additional coursework to reach total hours required. credits
Sequence 3: Other Plan I credits
Hours chosen from: credits
Transcript-recognized minor or certificate credits
Liberal Arts multi-disciplinary minor in the Social and Behavioral Sciences credits
Liberal Arts multi-disciplinary minor in Cultural Expression, Human Experience, and Thought credits

1st Semester

Visual and Performing Arts (050)

Code Course Title Credits
RHE 306 Rhetoric and Writing 3
Total 1st Semester 3 credits

2nd Semester

Additional Social Science (may not also be counted toward Core Curriculum)

Code Course Title Credits
R S 310 Introduction to the Study of Religion 3
Total 2nd Semester 3 credits

5th Semester

AFR 345F may also be replaced by R S 337, R S 373E, R S 373T.

Code Course Title Credits
AFR 345F or ANT 340C Sex and Power in the African Diaspora or Ethnographic Research Methods 3
R S 320 Introduction to Research Methods in the Study of Religion 3

6th Semester

Hours chosen from: Upper-division R S

Code Course Title Credits
R S 375S Topics in Advanced Seminars in Religious Studies 3
Total 6th Semester 3 credits

Concentration

Hours chosen from: Comparative Themes (see course list tab)

Code Course Title Credits
R S 375S Topics in Advanced Seminars in Religious Studies 3
Total Concentration 6 credits

Degree

Literature and Writing

Code Course Title Credits
RHE 306 Rhetoric and Writing 3

Degree

Sequence 1: Plan II Honors (requires at least a C-; may also count toward Core Curriculum)

Code Course Title Credits
E 303C or T C 303C Plan II World Literature Part I or Plan II World Literature Part I 3

Degree

Sequence 2: Plan I E 316L may also be replaced by E 316N.

Code Course Title Credits
E 316L or E 316M British Literature or American Literature 3

Degree

Sequence 1: Plan II Honors (requires at least a C-; may also count toward Core Curriculum) S S 302C may also be replaced by S S 302E, S S 302E, S S 302F.

Code Course Title Credits
S S 302C or S S 302D Honors Social Science: Methods and Theory or Honors Social Science: Psychology 3

Degree

Sequence 1: Plan II Honors

Code Course Title Credits
M 310P Modern Mathematics: Plan II 3

Degree

Sequence 1: Plan II Honors

Code Course Title Credits
T C 310 or PHL 313Q Modes of Reasoning or Logic and Scientific Reasoning 3

Degree

Six Hours chosen from: Astronomy, biology, chemistry, geological sciences, physical science, or physics (may also count toward Core Curriculum)

Code Course Title Credits
BIO 301E Problems in Modern Biology 3
PHY 321 Modern Physics: Plan II 3

Religions of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, or the Mediterranean World

Code Course Title Credits
R S 302 History of the Religions of Asia 3
R S 304 Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: An Introduction 3
R S 310R Introduction to Middle East Religions 3
R S 312C Introduction to Buddhism 3
R S 313C Introduction to the Old Testament 3
R S 313M Jewish Civilization: Beginnings to 1492 3
R S 313N Jewish Civilization: 1492 to the Present 3
R S 314K Introduction to the Middle East: Religious, Cultural, and Historical Foundations 3
R S 315K Russian Icons and Propaganda 3
R S 315M Luther's World 3
R S 315N Introduction to the New Testament 3
R S 316E American Jews: The Yiddish Experience 3
R S 318 The Rise of Christianity 3
R S 319 Introduction to Islam 3
R S 321 History of Hindu Religious Traditions 3
R S 322 History of Indian Buddhism 3
R S 325 Prophet of Islam: His Life and Times 3
R S 325G The Qur'an 3
R S 335 Jesus in History and Tradition 3
R S 341E The Taj Mahal and the Diversity of Indian Art 3
R S 341P Indian Poetry and Religions 3
R S 341T Buddhist Art 3
R S 341U Devotional Literature of India 3
R S 344 The Age of Reformation 3
R S 352D Japanese Religion and Western Imagination 3
R S 352G Shamanism and the Primitive 3
R S 352R Ritual and Religion in Korea 3
R S 353D The Dead Sea Scrolls 3
R S 353E Beyond the New Testament 3
R S 353F Interpretation of Jesus' Death and Resurrection 3
R S 353G Abraham and Abrahamic Religions 3
R S 353J Revelation and Apocalyptic Literature 3
R S 353M Debating Genesis 3
R S 353P Paul and His Social World 3
R S 354D The Bible and History 3
R S 355 The Bible as Literature 3
R S 355K The Bible in British and American Literature 3
R S 356C Italian Renaissance, 1350-1550 3
R S 356F Twelfth-Century Renaissance: 1050-1200 3
R S 357D Heresy and the Inquisition 3
R S 357E Jews of Eastern Europe 3
R S 357F Heretics and Freedom Fighters, 1350-1650 3
R S 357G Geography of Religion in Eastern Europe and Russia 3
R S 357I Byzantine Art 3
R S 357J Northern Renaissance Art, 1350-1500 3
R S 357K Northern Renaissance Art, 1500-1600 3
R S 357L The Spanish Inquisition 3
R S 357M Spinoza and Modernity 3
R S 357N Northern Gods, Northern Faiths: The Conversion of Scandinavians, Finns, Northern Slavs and Shamans 3
R S 357O The Church and the Jews 3
R S 357P Jewish Folklore 3
R S 357Q Gothic Cathedral: Amiens 3
R S 357R The Age of Rembrandt and Rubens: Northern Baroque Art 3
R S 357T Introduction to Germanic Religion and Myth 3
R S 357U Medieval Women Mystics 3
R S 357V Holocaust Aftereffects 3
R S 357W Russian Orthodox Religion and Culture 3
R S 358C Islam and Politics 3
R S 358F French Empire: The West and Islam 3
R S 358G Gender Politics in the Islamic World 3
R S 358K Islamic Law 3
R S 358L Rule of Law in the Middle East 3
R S 358O Origins of Monotheism 3
R S 358P History of the Pilgrimage to Mecca, Hajj 3
R S 358U Islamic Theology 3
R S 358V Veiling in the Muslim World 3
R S 359C Graffiti and Poster Art in the Islamic World 3
R S 359D Islam in the Early Modern World: Religion and Culture 3
R S 359E Shia Islam 3
R S 359M Arts of Islam, 650-1500 3
R S 359N Arts of Islam 1500-Present 3
R S 365D Hermits, Monks, and Saints in Early Christianity 3
R S 365G Death and the Afterlife in Graeco-Roman Antiquity 3

Religions of Africa, African Diaspora, or the Americas

Code Course Title Credits
R S 313E Introduction to Jewish Latin America 3
R S 316C History of Religion in the United States 3
R S 317N Introduction to Modern North Africa 3
R S 326 History of Religion in America since 1800 3
R S 345 Islamic Spain and North Africa to 1492 3
R S 346D Native American Religions 3
R S 346F United States Catholic History 3
R S 346G Religion in the American West 3
R S 346J Evangelical Christianity 3
R S 346K The Black Church in African American Politics 3
R S 346L Representation of Jews in the American Public Sphere 3
R S 346N American Jewish Material Culture 3
R S 346U The History of Islam in the United States 3
R S 346V African American Religions 3
R S 360C African Religious Culture and Creativity 3
R S 366C The Bible in the Colonial Americas 3
R S 366D Religions of the Caribbean 3
R S 366E Jewish Cuba 3
R S 368C When Christ was King 3
R S 368D Church and State in Latin America 3

Comparative Themes

Code Course Title Credits
R S 346C Religion and Visual Culture in the United States 3
R S 346M Music and Religious Identities in the US 3
R S 346P Religion in American Political Thought 3
R S 346S Debating the Bible in the Twenty-First Century 3
R S 352S Japanese Concepts of Body and Self 3
R S 353C Angels, Demons, and Magic in Early Christianity 3
R S 353L The Sacred and the Secular in Contemporary Jewish Literature 3
R S 356D Satan and the Idea of Evil 3
R S 358S Saints and Shrines in Islam 3
R S 357S The Sacred and the Secular in Modern European Thought 3
R S 358W Gender and Art in the Muslim World 3
R S 368F Religion, Conquest, and Conversion in Colonial Latin America 3
R S 373D The History of Christmas 3
R S 373G Goddesses in World Religions and Cultures 3
R S 373J Creation and Evolution: Human Origins in Scientific and Religious Discourses 3
R S 373K Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Culture, Religion, and Imagination 3
R S 373N Religions in Contact 3
R S 373S Sport, Religion, and Society 3

Click a course code or title to read the full course description.

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Program and course information is reproduced from each university's published academic catalog for informational purposes and may change. Always confirm current requirements with your university. We are an independent academic support service and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the universities listed.

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