Systems of Belief and Behavior

Religions are systems of beliefs and behavior that engage the entire person through ceremonial activities, contemplative paths, and intellectual inquiry. The study of religion is also one of the primary avenues toward understanding the various cultures of the world, conflicts among peoples, and the human condition.

The Department of Religious Studies introduces students to the academic study of religions of the world including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, traditional African religions, as well as American religious experience. Classes employ multiple methods for exploring the complex phenomena of religions, from the psychology of individual religious experience to the ways religious beliefs influence views on social, cultural, and political issues. Course topics include different religious traditions, religion and society, religious ethics, sacred texts, religion and literature, and women, religion, and society. By offering courses in all key areas of religious studies, the program serves a variety of student interests.

Students who declare a major in religious studies will be assigned to a faculty adviser in the department. Your adviser will help you plan a program of study to meet your specific goals, whether you are preparing for a profession or future graduate study. (Together with the Department of Government and Law, the Department of Religious Studies also offers a coordinate majors in Religion and Politics and in History and Religious Studies.)

Many students find that an undergraduate major in religious studies is central to their career preparation. Among other things, a religious studies major offers an opportunity for the study of values and ethics that today is regarded as much needed in business, law, medicine, and other professions.

Rich Academic Experience

Religious studies majors may choose a coherent course of study by concentrating in one or more areas of religion, complemented by related courses in other subjects such as anthropology and sociology, art, government and law, history, and philosophy. To obtain a broad exposure in the field, all students choose at least two courses in religious traditions, one course in religious texts, and one in religion in society or American religious experience.

You have the opportunity to do individual research or independent study with a faculty member as your guide. Recent topics that students have investigated include Santeria, South Indian Hindu devotional poetry, voodoo death, stigmata, morals in folktales and proverbs, Jewish medical ethics, intermarriage in Reform Judaism, religious movements in contemporary China, Buddhist views on abortion, religious views on aging and the elderly. . Many students present their work at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research.

You are encouraged to pursue honors in your senior year. Honors projects involve research and writing in a specialized area under the close supervision of a faculty member. Recent topics include women in the theology of St. Augustine, religious and secular bases for physicians’ obligation to care for AIDS patients, and the religious implications of C.S. Lewis’ fantasy literature.

Special Features

You have many opportunities to enrich your study of religion beyond the courses offered on campus. Lafayette is affiliated with the nearby Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Jewish Studies and you may take religion courses at other institutions in the Lehigh Valley area.

In addition, through the Lyman Coleman Lecture Fund, the department sponsors lectures and seminars. Two recent topic series have been Religious Pluralism and Rituals of Transformation. Speakers have included Wole Soyinka, Nigerian recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature; Elie Wiesel, Nobel prize winner and Holocaust survivor; Wendy Doniger, an expert on Indian religions; Andrew Greeley, Catholic priest, sociologist, and novelist; and John Updike, acclaimed novelist, short-story author, and poet.

Religion departments at other area institutions sponsor lectures and exchange faculty with Lafayette. Other features include:

	Field trips to religious sites or events that are important to different religious traditions including a Buddhist temple, a Hare Krishna temple, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, and major cathedrals in New York City; a speech by the Dalai Lama in New Jersey.
	Special courses offered by visiting faculty such as contemporary Catholicism taught by Kenneth Briggs, former religion editor of The New York Times;
	Studying abroad at a site that relates to your studies.

After Graduation

Graduates have been successful in pursuing graduate study and beginning careers in a variety of fields. Some have continued their studies in religion at Harvard Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary, the University of Pennsylvania, Boston College, and Duke University Divinity School.

Recent graduates are employed in law, computer science, education, museum curatorship, and the health professions including dentistry and medicine. Still others have occupations as various as group life insurance consultant, psychological social worker, and construction company executive.

Faculty

Robert L. Cohn, Philip and Muriel Berman Professor of Jewish Studies. Coordinator of Jewish Studies minor. Ph.D., Stanford University. Special interests: biblical studies; history and literature of Judaism; Jews in Poland; Holocaust studies; comparative religion; author, 2 Kings; The Shape of Sacred Space: Four Biblical Studies; coeditor, The Other in Jewish Thought and History. Recipient of Jones Award for teaching and scholarship.

Stephen E. Lammers, Helen H.P. Manson Professor of the English Bible and Coordinator of Health Care and Society minor. Ph.D., Brown University. Special interests: religion and society, war-peace questions, medical ethics; coeditor of an award-winning book in medical ethics, On Moral Medicine. Recipient of Lindback Award for distinguished teaching, Jones Award for teaching and scholarship, Beidleman Research Award, and Student Government Teaching Award.

Robin Rinehart, Associate Professor. Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania. Special interests: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, religions of Asia, Hindi, Sanskrit, methodological issues in the study of religion; visits India and Pakistan to research Hinduism and interactions between Hinduism and Islam; author, One Lifetime, Many Lives: The Experience of Modern Hindu Hagiography; editor, Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice. Recipient of Jones Faculty Lecture Award.

Asma Sayeed, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Princeton University. Special interests: Islamic studies, women and gender studies, religion and law, early and classical Islamic history. Teaches courses on introduction to Islam, The Qur'an, Islam in the West, and world religions. Has published a variety of articles and encyclopedia entries on Muslim women, social history, and the transmission of religious knowledge in Islam.

Eric Ziolkowski, Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies and Department Head. Ph.D., University of Chicago. Special interests: religion and literature; philosophy of religion; comparative religion; history of Christianity; author, Evil Children in Religion, Literature, and Art; The Sanctification of Don Quixote: From Hidalgo to Priest; editor, A Museum of Faiths: Histories and Legacies of the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions; Literature, Religion, and East/West Comparison: Essays in Honor of Anthony C. Yu. Recipient of Mary Louise Van Artsdalen Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement, Jones Award for teaching and scholarship, and Jones Faculty Lecture Award. Elected life fellow in Society for the Arts, Religion, and Culture.

Robin Rinehart
Head, Religious Studies
(610) 330-5179
rineharr@lafayette.edu

For general information:
Office of admissions
Lafayette College
Easton, PA 18042
(610) 330-5100
FAX (610) 330-5355
admissions@lafayette.edu