Resources for Religion and Culture Students
Students of religion and culture study formative human values in a wide variety of geographical areas, historical periods, and cultural contexts. Courses explore the large, multinational religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as indigenous traditions, global movements, and new religions.
Topics important to the academic study of religion include: symbol, myth, ritual, religious and ethnic identity, cosmology, sacred space and time, revelation, religious experience, sacred texts, and religious institutions.
Classes examine both ancient and contemporary religious experience using various kinds of data such as sacred texts, oral narratives, and works of visual or performing art.
The department encourages the development of strong communication and writing skills. Professors use lectures, seminars and discussions, as well as workshops, films, debates and exercises, to broaden studentsí experience. The faculty members in the department are committed to creative teaching and strive to foster in their students the spirit of free inquiry, the determination to pose probing questions, and the critical skills and knowledge needed to study religion.
Graduates of the department have become professors, teachers, social workers, counsellors, writers, editors, government workers, film makers, artists, religious leaders, and librarians.
The undergraduate and graduate officers, the director of the PhD, and the chair are responsible for academic counselling. Students are also encouraged to consult with other Religion and Culture faculty members.
Announcement: a new student theological journal, Epektasis, is being started by students from the Laurier-Waterloo PhD Program.