Faculty-supervised independent or collaborative inquiry into fundamental and applied problems within a discipline that requires students to gather, analyze, and synthesize and interpret data. Students will write or produce a thesis or other professional capstone product, such as a report or portfolio that describes their systematic and in-depth inquiry.

This is a capstone course under the direct supervision of a faculty member. This course may be the culmination of the 4960R- 4980R sequence. Students will write a thesis or other professional capstone product, such as a report or portfolio, that describes their systematic and in-depth inquiry into an unknown, fundamental, or applied problem. The thesis or capstone product is written in close collaboration with the faculty member and must be approved by that faculty member and/or the department. The student will apply understanding of the discipline to identify or shape the research question and apply skills and techniques learned to complete the research project. The student will have gathered data, synthesized relevant literature and materials, analyzed, and interpreted data. The student will demonstrate in writing the contribution of their work to the discovery and interpretation of knowledge significant to their field of study. The student will have presented results in the form of a properly formatted, professionally rigorous thesis document or other appropriate professional capstone product and through the formal presentation of the thesis or product to faculty and peers during an approved event. The student will receive feedback from the faculty member on the overall execution of their thesis project, the written thesis, and their presentation.

Thesis writing under the direction of the major professor.

Independent research and thesis preparation.

Materials, techniques, and objectives for teaching introductory undergraduate courses in religious studies. Particular attention given to presenting lectures, leading discussions, constructing examinations, incorporating instructional technology, and dealing with issues of classroom management.

Theories, methodologies, and issues involved in the academic study of religion. This course is required of graduate students in religion and open to students in other departments.

An examination of religions historically and today as global phenomena: communities and traditions with changing and interacting boundaries. Focuses on religion in plural societies, diasporas, and transnational religions; on the Ancient Near East, Africa, China, Japan, and the Americas; and on worldwide Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Offered spring semester every even-numbered year.

Examines religion and globalization covering an introduction to the history of and the discourse on globalization and contemporary theorists and issues emerging in religion from globalization. Readings such as Giorgio Agamben, Oserhammel and Petersson, and Eboo Patel.

An examination of religion and culture in North, Central, Caribbean, and South America, focusing on the following six themes: religion and colonization; religion and cultural contact and interactions; religion and conflict; religion and popular culture; religion, science, and technology; and religion and ecology.

Examination of fundamental beliefs and practices of African traditional religion in traditional and contemporary settings depicting transitional dynamics, religious significance, and relevance in global religious traditions.

Not offered on a regular basis.

Diasporic movement, sustainability, modifications, syncretic tendencies of African Derived Religions in the Americas, especially Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and North America.

Examination of African doctrines, death, muses of death, categories of death, rites, final judgment, reincarnation, and the ancestral cult.

Offered every year.