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Religious Studies

Program Mission Statement

Religious Studies is the multidisciplinary hub at UNF for discovering the roles and functions of religions in human life and culture. Students investigate religion in ways that foster intellectual, civic, and global engagement; gain cross-cultural awareness by describing and analyzing religious systems as they exist in historical and social contexts in an impartial, academic manner; develop clear thinking and writing skills; and learn to see the world through the eyes of others. Internationally recognized faculty mentor students and handcraft individualized programs of study. Faculty conduct scholarly research that contributes to the understanding of religions and regularly engage in public scholarship.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will:

Content/Discipline-Specific Knowledge/Skills

  • apply religious studies theories and methods in order to situate religions as products of particular social, historical, and cultural contexts.

Communication Skills

  • communicate complex ideas coherently through written and/or oral presentations.

Critical Thinking Skills

  • excavate religious systems to recognize the embedded assumptions on which they are based through comparison and analysis, through either ethnographic or historical analysis.
  • analyze religious systems to recognize the embedded assumptions on which they are based through comparison and analysis, through either ethnographic or historical methods.

Assessment Approaches

The religious studies major will be assessed in a 3-year cycle through a capstone paper and a senior exit survey. Majors will be assessed through a capstone paper, employing original research, that require them to bring together the theoretical and methodological skills developed in the major and apply them to a specific area of data. These papers require that students use disciplinary specific knowledge and skills, demonstrate clear communication skills, and also demonstrate critical thinking within the discipline. Finally, students will participate in a group senior exit survey. Each student will have questions in advance, and they will be asked to complete the survey on their own. Then, students will bring their answers to a focus group session, conducted by a recent grad of the program. The session will be recorded and transcribed. These surveys and transcript will be evaluated to assess how well students could explain the field of religious studies, how they were connecting it with their career goals, and as a means to collect suggestions for the respective programs’ improvement.