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Dec 05, 2025
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[DRAFT] Course Catalog 2026-2027 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Religion Major
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The major consists of a minimum of 9 full courses (or the equivalent).
Note: Students must earn minimum grades of C- or P for all courses that apply toward the major.
 View the catalog page for the religion department.
The religion department curriculum embodies the balanced breadth and depth of a multidisciplinary liberal arts education. As such, the flexible pathways through the religion major complement well a variety of other disciplinary pursuits. The transferable skills and knowledge gained through the religion major prepare students for a range of career and educational pursuits, including law, medicine, environmental advocacy, and publishing industries.
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Note(s) on Requirements
- At least one elective course must be above the 100-level.
- In consultation with a major advisor and with approval from the department chair, up to two courses from outside the department may count toward the major.
- Examples include courses engaging religion from other disciplinary perspectives, language courses related to study within the major, courses topically or methodologically related to study within the major, and study away courses.
Transfer of Credit Toward the Major
Students wishing to transfer credit toward the religion major are advised to provide the department with as much information about the transferred course as possible (including the syllabus, papers, and exams). The department will not normally count more than two full courses of transfer credit toward the major and does not normally accept transferred courses to satisfy distribution requirements in the major. Students should seek preapproval from the chair for coursework they intend to take elsewhere and transfer to Oberlin. Detailed Major Requirements
Religion Major Course Lists
200-Level Religion Distribution Courses
Return to the summary of requirements. Majors must complete at least one 200-level course from each of the three categories below, and at least two courses from one category. Note: Courses cannot be counted toward multiple categories. Arts, Literature, and Performance
Return to the summary of requirements. Courses within this category study religious traditions in relation to various media and performative traditions, past and present, including literature, the performing and visual arts, music, and film. Ethics and Society
Return to the summary of requirements. The exploration of religion(s) in relationship to broad and overlapping social issues including gender, race, health, the environment, and nationalism. This includes considerations of cultural, theological, and ethical values that help to shape societies, past and present. Texts and Contexts
Return to the summary of requirements. Courses within this category study religious traditions past and present in relationship to their historical and cultural contexts. This includes critical analysis of material-cultural artifacts and religious texts as well as their reception over time and in different social contexts. Religion Major Elective Courses
Return to the summary of requirements. Note: At least one elective course must be above the 100-level. - AAST 131 - Traditional African Cosmology and Religions: Shifting Contours and Contested Terrains ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 281
- EAST 133 - Haunted Archipelago: Ghosts, Spirits, and the Occult in Japanese Religion ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 233
- EAST 137 - Introduction to Religion: Buddhism in East Asia ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 137
- EAST 153 - Religious Rituals in East Asia ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 229
- EAST 154 - Religious Objects in East Asian Religions ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 240
- EAST 335 - Buddhism, Healing, and the Body in East Asia ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 335
- FYSP 008 - On Time
- FYSP 070 - Should We Eat Meat? The History of the Debate
- FYSP 144 - Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
- FYSP 174 - Is Another World Possible? Utopianism and its Discontents
- GSFS 135 - Introduction to Religion: Devotion and Dissent in South Asian Performance ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 135
- GSFS 230 - Religion, Wellness, and the Commodification of Yoga ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 230
- GSFS 232 - Religion and Culture in Indian Epics ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 232
- GSFS 330 - Religion, Gender, and Sexuality in India ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 330
- GSFS 370 - Beloved Bodies: Gender and the Erotic in Islamic Literature ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 370
- JWST 100 - Introduction to Jewish Studies: Sacred Spaces and Promised Lands ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 100
- JWST 203 - The Garden of Eden in Literature, Art, and Film ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 203
- JWST 204 - Biblical Prophets and Prophecy ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 204
- JWST 205 - Hebrew Bible in its Ancient Near Eastern Context ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 205
- JWST 206 - The Apostle Paul within Judaism ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 206
- JWST 208 - New Testament and Christian Origins ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 208
- JWST 231 - The Nature of Suffering: The Book of Job and its History of Interpretation ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 202
- JWST 253 - Jewish Pilgrimage ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 253
- JWST 254 - Judaism and the Body ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 254
- JWST 256 - Jews and Food ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 256
- JWST 258 - Religious Outsiders and the American State ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 258
- JWST 259 - Jewish Conversions: Transforming the Self ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 259
- JWST 303 - Jews and Greeks in Ancient Egypt ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 303
- JWST 306 - Biblical Biographies Told and Retold ⇒ cross-listed with RELG 306
- RELG 100 - Introduction to Jewish Studies: Sacred Spaces and Promised Lands ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 100
- RELG 103 - Religion and Violence
- RELG 115 - Death and the Afterlife
- RELG 135 - Introduction to Religion: Devotion and Dissent in South Asian Performance ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 135
- RELG 137 - Introduction to Religion: Buddhism in East Asia ⇒ cross-listed with EAST 137
- RELG 151 - Religion in America
- RELG 175 - Modern Mysticisms: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam
- RELG 191 - Religion and Social Change
- RELG 202 - The Nature of Suffering: The Book of Job and its History of Interpretation ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 231
- RELG 203 - The Garden of Eden in Literature, Art, and Film ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 203
- RELG 204 - Biblical Prophets and Prophecy ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 204
- RELG 205 - Hebrew Bible in its Ancient Near Eastern Context ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 205
- RELG 206 - The Apostle Paul within Judaism ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 206
- RELG 208 - New Testament and Christian Origins ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 208
- RELG 209 - The Bible in American Politics
- RELG 215 - A History of Sin
- RELG 216 - Apocalyptic
- RELG 218 - Authority and Dissent in Medieval Christianity
- RELG 224 - Business Ethics
- RELG 229 - Religious Rituals in East Asia ⇒ cross-listed with EAST 153
- RELG 230 - Religion, Wellness, and the Commodification of Yoga ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 230
- RELG 231 - Introduction to Hindu Traditions
- RELG 232 - Religion and Culture in Indian Epics ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 232
- RELG 233 - Haunted Archipelago: Ghosts, Spirits, and the Occult in Japanese Religion ⇒ cross-listed with EAST 133
- RELG 240 - Religious Objects in East Asian Religions ⇒ cross-listed with EAST 154
- RELG 241 - Literature and Ethics: British Novels
- RELG 242 - Literature and Ethics: American Novels
- RELG 243 - Roman Catholic Popes and Their Social Teaching
- RELG 249 - Medical Ethics
- RELG 253 - Jewish Pilgrimage ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 253
- RELG 254 - Judaism and the Body ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 254
- RELG 256 - Jews and Food ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 256
- RELG 258 - Religious Outsiders and the American State ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 258
- RELG 259 - Jewish Conversions: Transforming the Self ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 259
- RELG 270 - Introduction to Islamic Traditions
- RELG 271 - American Islam
- RELG 273 - Drinking With God: An Introduction to Sufism
- RELG 276 - Religion in Bollywood Film
- RELG 281 - Traditional African Cosmology and Religions: Shifting Contours and Contested Terrains ⇒ cross-listed with AAST 131
- RELG 290 - Religion, Reason, and Empire
- RELG 293 - Religion and Abolition: from Slavery to the Prison-Industrial-Complex
- RELG 303 - Jews and Greeks in Ancient Egypt ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 303
- RELG 306 - Biblical Biographies Told and Retold ⇒ cross-listed with JWST 306
- RELG 330 - Religion, Gender, and Sexuality in India ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 330
- RELG 335 - Buddhism, Healing, and the Body in East Asia ⇒ cross-listed with EAST 335
- RELG 336 - Embodied Mysticism and Negative Theology
- RELG 351 - American Sacred Spaces
- RELG 370 - Beloved Bodies: Gender and the Erotic in Islamic Literature ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 370
- RELG 392 - Ethics After Nihilism
- RELG 402 - Capstone Colloquium
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