Focus Areas in Religious Studies

Strengthen your resume or follow your passion.

You don’t need to be a religious studies major to take advantage of our faculty’s expertise. That’s why we created six new Focus Areas in Religious Studies. Whether you want to strengthen your resumé or follow your passion, these focus areas have something for every student at IUPUI.

Focus Areas

In order to provide the flexibility that will fit with your interests, you may select one of six various focus areas. The focus areas and their corresponding courses are as follows:

Religion and Health

REL-R323: Yuppie Yogis and Global Gurus

REL-R368: Religion and Healing

REL-R384: Religion, Ethics, and Health

REL-R395: Religion, Death, and Dying

Religion and International Studies

REL-R180: Introduction to Christianity

REL-R212: Comparative Religions

REL-R257: Introduction to Islam

REL-R304: Islamic Beginnings

REL-R305: Islam and Modernity

REL-R308: Arab Histories

REL-R323: Yuppie Yogis and Global Gurus

REL-R328: Religions of the African Diaspora

REL-R344: Reformations of the Sixteenth Century

REL-R361: Hinduism and Buddhism

REL-R378: Religion and Revolutionaries

REL-R381: Religion and Violence

REL-R393: Comparative Religious Ethics

Religion, Gender, and Sexuality

REL-R301: Women and Religion

REL-R312: Prophets, Captives, and Converts

REL-R369: Love, Sex, and Justice

REL-R383: Power, Sex, and Money

REL-R398: Women in American Indian Religions

Religion, Ethics, and Politics

REL-R300: Religion and Literature

REL-R348: Religion and Its Monsters

REL-R369: Love, Sex, and Justice

REL-R375: Religion Behind Bars

REL-R378: Religion and Revolutionaries

REL-R381: Religion and Violence

REL-R383: Power, Sex, and Money

REL-R384: Religion, Ethics, and Health

REL-R386: Consumption, Ethics, and the Good Life

REL-R393: Comparative Religious Ethics

REL-R394: Militant Religion

REL-R379: Religion and Philanthropy

American Religious History and Diversity

REL-R173: American Religion

REL-R300: Cults and Sects in America

REL-R307: Religion in the Professions

REL-R312: Prophets, Captives, and Converts

REL-R314: Religion and Racism

REL-R363: African-American Religions

REL-R367: American Indian Religions

REL-R370: Islam in America

REL-R375: Religion Behind Bars

REL-R397: Mormonism and American Culture

REL-R398: Women in American Indian Religions

Christianity and Culture

REL-R103: The Bible and Culture

REL-R111: The Bible

REL-R120: Images of Jesus

REL-R173: American Religion

REL-R180: Introduction to Christianity

REL-R243: Introduction to New Testament

REL-R300: Religion and Literature

REL-R348: Religion and Its Monsters

REL-R325: Paul and His Influence in Early Christianity

REL-R329: Early Christianity

REL-R344: Reformations of the Sixteenth Century

REL-R396: Religion and Fantasy

REL-R397: Mormonism and American Culture

What Religious Studies Did for Me?

“Religious studies broadens your perspective and teaches you to be more humane. The courses that I have taken in the department have dispelled a lot of the mystery and stereotypes that surround various religions and taught me to be more patient, sensitive, and imaginative.”
John is now a graduate student in History at IUPUI. His goal is to complete a Ph.D. in Environmental History at Harvard, Yale or McGill.
– John Upchurch, History B.A., Religious Studies minor (2020)

More Info

Contact department mentor Prof. Kelly Hayes or department chair Professor Rachel Wheeler.