Religious Studies
Full Description and Degree Requirements (PDF)
The study of religion is crucial in our attempt to understand the world!
Religion acts as a hub around which other disciplines, including politics, art, history, culture, philosophy, linguistics, ethics, and history, turn. Students learn how the sacred develops over time (history) and is expressed in culture (in art and literature). By helping and encouraging each student to understand this interconnectedness, we work to inspire, not only an engaged and caring citizen who serves his/her community, but a citizen who understands, at least in part, a world whose complexity increases daily.
The Department of Religious Studies at Lynchburg College focuses on three aspects that are integral to the academic study of religion:
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the idea of God as the sacred or the ultimate reality
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the world, and
- the self
A broad curriculum is provided including courses in both western and eastern religious traditions. Courses can be taken from:
- the introductory level - focuses on the historical foundations of each religion, key terms and concepts, and how and where the religion is practiced.
- to mid-level courses - encourages the student to think critically about the religion and to find interdisciplinary connections.
- to the upper-level seminar - encourages the student to think critically and go deeper into the material. Seminar topics range from the reading of a single text to the study of contemporary theological issues.
The human experience of the sacred is central to the study of religion. To this end, and by reading primary texts, emphasis is placed on a firm understanding of world traditions (including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism) in which the experience of the sacred is expressed through myth, argument, ritual, and belief. It is also necessary to study belief systems in which the idea of the ultimate is denied (atheism).
The last goal is most certainly not the least: to lead the student towards greater self-knowledge, self-awareness, and ultimately self-expression. In the classroom, through lecture, debate, and discussion, as well as outside the classroom, through community service and travel abroad, all facets of the study of religion come together to tell us more about who we are and who we want to be.
Our department is unique because we are large enough to offer a wide range of courses, but small enough to know, care about, and hopefully assist each of our majors and minors to a career in which they can put their religious studies degree to its best use.
What Can I Do With This Degree?
- Archaeology
- Linguistics
- Translations
- Teaching
- Ministry
- Youth ministry
- Graduate School
- Law school
- Mission work
- Social work
Contact Us
For more information about LC Religious Studies programs and course offerings, contact Dr. Annette Evans at evans.a@lynchburg.edu or 434.544.8385.
