The program in Religious Studies emphasizes personal and social identity; text and narrative; historical encounters among traditions; and, existential / theological dimensions of cultures. Our courses are distributed over a large selection of religious traditions including: Buddhist, Hindu, Chinese, Christian, Jewish, and Native American traditions. We represent and encourage deep interdisciplinary engagement: majors learn to employ a variety of methods and engage material shared by fields such as philosophy, anthropology, sociology, psychology, history, literary analysis, oral cultures, art history, women’s studies, archeology, cinema and new media studies, and other facets of material culture.
Hamilton's Religious Studies Department offers critical, diverse perspectives on many of the world's religious traditions. Students may study the Bible, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Eastern religions and Native American traditions as well as the many cultural, social and artistic means by which religion is expressed and represented. Religious studies is deeply interdisciplinary: majors may do research in the fields of philosophy, anthropology, sociology, psychology, history, literary analysis, oral cultures, art history, women's studies and archaeology.
While much of the program's curriculum focuses on the world's major religious traditions, many courses examine the cultural, artistic and even technological facets of religious belief. Courses on parables, environmentalism, social movements, sacred spaces and the relationship between religion and politics all reveal the ways that the religious impulse shapes nonreligious experience.
Indigenous religions are often deeply concerned with the environment, with personal responsibility and strong communities, and with the immanence of the sacred. Those qualities make courses in Native American religions popular and resonant part of the religious studies program.
We don't usually think of Hollywood and religion as natural partners, but the film industry has often tried – with mixed results – to explore myth and divinity. Two courses, Religion in Film and The Celluloid Savior, examine the implications and effects of movies about religion and religious figures.
While much of the program's curriculum focuses on the world's major religious traditions, many courses examine the cultural, artistic and even technological facets of religious belief. Courses on parables, environmentalism, social movements, sacred spaces and the relationship between religion and politics all reveal the ways that the religious impulse shapes nonreligious experience.
Indigenous religions are often deeply concerned with the environment, with personal responsibility and strong communities, and with the immanence of the sacred. Those qualities make courses in Native American religions popular and resonant part of the religious studies program.
We don't usually think of Hollywood and religion as natural partners, but the film industry has often tried – with mixed results – to explore myth and divinity. Two courses, Religion in Film and The Celluloid Savior, examine the implications and effects of movies about religion and religious figures.
While much of the program's curriculum focuses on the world's major religious traditions, many courses examine the cultural, artistic and even technological facets of religious belief. Courses on parables, environmentalism, social movements, sacred spaces and the relationship between religion and politics all reveal the ways that the religious impulse shapes nonreligious experience.
Indigenous religions are often deeply concerned with the environment, with personal responsibility and strong communities, and with the immanence of the sacred. Those qualities make courses in Native American religions popular and resonant part of the religious studies program.
We don't usually think of Hollywood and religion as natural partners, but the film industry has often tried – with mixed results – to explore myth and divinity. Two courses, Religion in Film and The Celluloid Savior, examine the implications and effects of movies about religion and religious figures.
