Undergraduate Program
Undergraduate courses on religion at Penn span three of the General Requirement sectors: (I) Society, (II) History and Tradition, and (III) Arts and Letters. Society courses investigate the diverse roles religion plays in modem society and the critical analysis of competing methods for understanding those roles. History & Tradition courses explore a great variety of religions individually and comparatively. Arts & Letters courses deal with the interpretation of religious concepts, symbols, myths and rituals as they appear in texts, art and architecture, music, theatre, and film. Each of the sectors is represented by two of the Department's half dozen courses that are introductory to the field and also fulfill the General Requirement for that sector:
RelS 001 Religions of Asia (History & Tradition)
RelS 002 Religions of the West (History & Tradition)
RelS 003 Religion and Literature (Arts & Letters)
RelS 005 Women and Religion (Society)
RelS 006 Understanding the Cult Controversy (Society)
A brochure of course offerings for each semester is available at the Department office prior to preregistration for that semester. Courses are also posted online on this site.