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2024-2025 University Catalog
Religious Studies, BA
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About the Program
The religious studies program at Purdue offers students the opportunity to investigate how the different religious traditions of the world seek and understand ultimate reality, how this understanding influences human action and belief about the world, and how historical contexts influence religious thought and practice. By learning about the different religious traditions of the world and their historical contexts, students will cultivate a critical appreciation of diverse religious traditions. Students will have the opportunity to study this major from the perspective of different departments at Purdue, such as English, history, philosophy, sociology, and anthropology. Such an interdepartmental approach is designed to help students tailor the program to their special interests. Please visit Religious Studies for more information. Degree Requirements
120 Credits RequiredLiberal Arts Curriculum
Each liberal arts major is designed as a four-year plan of study and includes three types of courses: Major, Core, and Elective. Most students take five courses per semester, with some of each type.
Professional academic advisors meet individually with each of our students on a regular basis to help with course selection, academic planning, and career development, as well as to help students find additional resources on campus.
Departmental/Program Major Course Requirements (33 credits)
A. Required Courses (9 credits)
B. Category I: Religious Traditions and Diversity (6 credits)
Choose two. C. Category II: Religion, Society and the Public Square (9 credits)
Choose three. D. Category III: Philosophy, Culture, and Intellectual History (9 credits)
Choose three. Note for B, C, D
- At least Twelve Credit hours from Categories B, C, and D must be at the 30000, 40000, or 50000 level. REL 49100 with different subject matter/ course title may be counted once in category B,C, and D.
Other Departmental - Liberal Arts Core (31-55 credits)
The College of Liberal Arts Other Departmental area is designed to be experiential, informative, and relevant to life in a rapidly changing universe. It combines courses that fulfill University Core foundational outcomes, discipline diversity, social diversity, and other languages to produce a well-rounded background for students. Coursework is integrative and collaborative and fosters insight, understanding, independence, initiative, and the desire to reach across divides and redefine our relationship to the peoples and the worlds that surround us.
Core I: Disciplinary Diversity (6-18 credits)
Choose 1 course in 6 different disciplines within the College of Liberal Arts. Note: Disciplines are differentiated by course prefix. Undistributed credit does not count to satisfy this requirement. Core II: Social Diversity (1-3 credits)
Culture, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity all play a role in how others perceive us and how we experience the world, and as such, are meaningful categories for analyzing social change and social problems past and present. The purpose of this category is to acquaint students with the pluralistic nature of the world and foster an appreciation and awareness of the diverse range of lived human experience. Courses in this list will expose students to important aspects of human diversity and foster understanding about different world views. Choose 1 course from the Social Diversity Selective List . Core III: Linguistic Diversity (3-4 credits)
Proficiency through Level IV in one world language. Courses may be required to reach Level IV proficiency; these courses will be counted toward electives. (fulfills Humanities for core) Foundational Requirements (21-30 credits)
Students must complete approved coursework that meet the following foundational outcomes. Many of these can also be used to fulfill Core I, Core II, or Core III. - Humanities - all approved courses accepted. (fulfills Humanities for core)
- Behavioral/Social Science - all approved courses accepted. (fulfills Behavioral/Social Science for core)
- Information Literacy - all approved courses accepted. (fulfills Information Literacy for core)
- Science #1 - all approved courses accepted. (fulfills Science for core)
- Science #2 - all approved courses accepted. (fulfills Science for core)
- Science, Technology, and Society - all approved courses accepted. (fulfills Science, Technology, Society for core)
- Written Communication - all approved courses accepted. (fulfills Written Communication for core)
- Oral Communication - all approved courses accepted. (fulfills Oral Communication for core)
- Quantitative Reasoning - all approved courses accepted. (fulfills Quantitative Reasoning for core)
Notes
- Double counting of courses is allowed across the various categories.
- All accredited programs whose accreditation is threatened by CLA Core requirements, both professional BAs and BFAs, are exempt from Liberal Arts Core I & II in order to meet accreditation standards and requirements. Liberal Arts Core III: Linguistic Diversity is still required for such programs.
- “Degree +” students (students with a second major outside of Liberal Arts) are exempt from the CLA Core
Electives (27-55 credits)
GPA Requirements
- 2.0 Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Arts degree.
College of Liberal Arts Pass/No Pass Option Policy
- P/NP cannot be used to satisfy Liberal Arts Core, Liberal Arts major, minor, or certificate requirements.
University Requirements
University Core Requirements
For a complete listing of University Core Course Selectives, visit the University Senate Website.
- Human Cultures: Behavioral/Social Science (BSS)
- Human Cultures: Humanities (HUM)
- Information Literacy (IL)
- Oral Communication (OC)
- Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
- Science #1 (SCI)
- Science #2 (SCI)
- Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
- Written Communication (WC)
Civics Literacy Proficiency Requirement
The Civics Literacy Proficiency activities are designed to develop civic knowledge of Purdue students in an effort to graduate a more informed citizenry. For more information visit the Civics Literacy Proficiency website.
To obtain the Civics Literacy Proficiency, students will complete an educational activity as part of their chosen Civics Literacy Pathway and pass the Purdue Civics knowledge test. The knowledge test can be completed at any time while the pathway is being perused. There are three different pathways:
- Civics Event pathway - Attend six approved civics-related events and pass the required exam; or
- Civics Literacy Podcast pathway - Complete 12 podcasts created by the Purdue Center for C-SPAN Scholarship & Engagement that use C-SPAN material and pass the required exam; or
- Approved course pathway - Complete one of the following approved courses and pass the required exam.
More details about each pathway and how to complete the requirement can be found on the Civics Literacy Student Dashboard in myPurdue.
Upper Level Requirement
- Resident study at Purdue University for at least two semesters and the enrollment in and completion of at least 32 semester hours of coursework required and approved for the completion of the degree. These courses are expected to be at least junior-level (30000+) courses.
- Students should be able to fulfill most, if not all, of these credits within their major requirements; there should be a clear pathway for students to complete any credits not completed within their major.
Additional Information
- Liberal Arts offers a streamlined plan of study for students pursuing a second degree outside CLA. Contact the CLA Advising Office for more information.
Fall 1st Year
- Written Communication - Credit hours: 3.00 (CLA Core I: 1 of 6)
- Quantitative Reasoning - Credit Hours: 3.00
- World Language Level I - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Information Literacy - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Fall 3rd Year
- Religious Traditions & Diversity Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Religion, Society, and the Public Square Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- CLA Core I: 5 of 6 - Credit Hours: 3.00
- CLA Core I: 6 of 6 - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Spring 3rd Year
- Religious Traditions & Diversity Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Religion, Society, & the Public Square Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Science, Technology, and Society - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Fall 4th Year
- Religion, Society, & the Public Square Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Philosophy, Culture, & Intellectual History Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours 3.00
Spring 4th Year
- Philosophy, Culture, & Intellectual History Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Philosophy, Culture, & Intellectual History Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
World Language Courses
World Language proficiency requirements vary by program. The following list is inclusive of all world languages PWL offers for credit; for acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor. (ASL-American Sign Language; ARAB-Arabic; CHNS-Chinese; FR-French; GER-German; GREK-Greek(Ancient); HEBR-Hebrew(Biblical); HEBR-Hebrew(Modern); ITAL-Italian; JPNS-Japanese; KOR-Korean; LATN-Latin; PTGS=Portuguese; RUSS-Russian; SPAN-Spanish)
Pre-Requisite Information
For pre-requisite information, log in to mypurdue.purdue.edu and click here.
Critical Course
The ♦ course is considered critical.
In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major. Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful. These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program.”
Disclaimer
The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. Consultation with an advisor may result in an altered plan customized for an individual student. The myPurduePlan powered by DegreeWorks is the knowledge source for specific requirements and completion.
Comparative information about Purdue University and other U.S. educational institutions is also available through the College Navigator tool, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, and through the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
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