Major
The
undergraduate major in religion is
designed to develop an understanding
of several major religions through
study of their historical
development, sacred literature, and
social manifestations. An honors
program is available. The department
offers opportunities for informal
departmental get-togethers and field
trips for enrichment. Majors and
minors are allowed to pre-register
for up to two courses per quarter.
The
departmental major consists of 12
courses in the department:
- Religion
170: Religion and Human
Experience
- Religion
395: Theories of Religion
- Ten
other religion courses. Of
these 10 courses, at least 6
must be at the 300 or 400
level. Further, of these 10,
at least 2 must be in Eastern
religions and at least 2 in
Western religions
(Christianity, Islam,
Judaism). In satisfying the
requirement for these 10,
students may substitute as
many as two courses on
religion from outside the
department. These must be
taken from the list of
approved courses below or
approved in advance by the
department's director of
undergraduate studies.
Anthro 350: Anthropology of
Religion
Hist 270: Islam in History
Hist 355: Islam in Africa
Hist 371: Islamic
Institutions
Hist 374: Historical
Background of Jewish-Muslim
Relations
Phil 266: Philosophy of
Religion
Soc 314: Sociology of
Religion and Ideology
To declare a major, please make an appointment with the DUS, Prof. Sarbacker, s-sarbacker@northwestern.edu.
For more information contact the Department of Religion, Prof. Stuart Sarbacker, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Crowe Hall 4-140, 1860 Campus Drive, 847.491.2615 or s-sarbacker@northwestern.edu.
Senior
Thesis and Honors
In the
fall and winter terms of the senior year, majors may enroll
for 396-1,2 and will write a senior thesis of approximately
30-50 pages. Students
who wish to take 396-1,2 must take these courses in addition
to the 12 courses normally required for the major.
The
fall quarter will be devoted to:
1. Formulating a question or problem
that can lead appropriately into a
research project, and identifying a
text through which to explore that
question.
2. Compiling a substantial
bibliography
3. Reading as much material as
possible
4. Discussing the material regularly
with a faculty member. Discussion
should focus on the relevance of each
work to the question or problem at
hand. Meeting as a group throughout
the term to discuss research methods
and writing strategies.
5. Writing a 15-20-page paper on the
thesis topic.
Work
in the winter quarter will be
dedicated mainly to writing the
thesis.
1. 5th week: complete draft
2. 6th and 7th weeks: students read
each other's work and analyze it in
an instructor-led group discussion
with advisers and other students.
3. 8th and 9th weeks: revise and
submit papers
The
department may nominate for WCAS
honors those students whose senior
theses are of particularly high
quality and whose grade point
averages within the major are above
3.2.
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