The department offers a variety of courses in five main areas. Students may choose to concentrate in one of these areas, or to pursue a broader program by sampling from various areas.

Biblical Studies
The goal of the Biblical area is to study the origin and development of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, the theology of the writers of the various books, and the historical circumstances out of which these books emerged in becoming the normative documents for Judaism and Christianity. This area will familiarize students with the tools of biblical criticism and introduce hermeneutical issues.

Modern Religious Thought
The modern period in the West has confronted Western religious thinkers with a wide range of challenges and opportunities: natural science and the technology to which it gives birth are modern phenomena; modern philosophy has produced thinkers such as Kant, Hegel and Heidegger, and it has launched movements such as existentialism, phenomenology and linguistic analysis; modernity has witnessed an unprecedented debate about what constitutes social and political justice; it is in the modern period that our society has become "secularized." To study Modern Religious Thought is to examine how religious thinkers have articulated their beliefs within this modern context.

Religion and Society
Religion shapes society, and society shapes religion. Whether religion and society are fused as in theocratic or tribal cultures, or highly differentiated as in modern secular democracies, they are interrelated in significant, ever changing ways. This area examines those interrelationships through the lens of the social sciences: how religion influences social institutions such as government, politics, economics, or gender and family; how religion responds to social change, including science and technology and liberation movements; and how religious people create different types of social organizations, including churches, sects, and cults.

Ethics
This area explores the relationship between religion and ethics. All religious traditions try to guide the personal and social lives of their adherents in accordance with moral values. This area examines both the content of these ethical teachings (descriptive ethics) and the methods for analyzing contemporary problems using those teachings (normative ethics). Representative topics are the history of Christian ethics, religious attitudes toward war and peace, economic justice, environmental ethics, and bioethics.

The History of Religions
Students investigate the various world religions as well as other smaller traditions. Attention is given to their historical development, their texts, their symbols and rituals, and their social roles.