Religious Studies, MA

Program Overview

The Religious Studies MA program at Arizona State University provides a comprehensive understanding of various religious traditions, research methods, and comparative analysis. Students can specialize in a specific tradition or gain a broader perspective through electives. The program emphasizes critical thinking, research skills, and culminates in a thesis or applied project, preparing graduates for careers in government, non-profits, and academia.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

• Objective: Equip students with the knowledge of various religious traditions, research methods, and comparative understanding of religions.
• Description:
• This program offers a broad understanding of all religions, moving beyond the history and foundations.
• Students can focus on a specific religious tradition for their thesis or gain a comparative understanding of various religions.
• The program emphasizes critical analysis, research, and the ability to present findings through a written prospectus and defense.

Outline:

• Program structure: 30 credit hours including core courses, electives, and culminating experience.
• Core courses: 6 credit hours covering the study of religion, its genealogies, disciplines, power, epistemology, practice, and mediation.
• Electives: 18 or 21 credit hours depending on the chosen culminating experience.
Students can choose courses in various areas of religious studies, including:
• History of Religions
• Philosophy of Religion
• Religious Ethics
• Comparative Religion
• Sociology of Religion
• Psychology of Religion
• Culminating experience:
• Thesis option:
Requires 6 credit hours and focuses on a specific religious tradition. Students must have reading knowledge of relevant languages and complete 18 credit hours of electives.
• Applied project option: Requires 3 credit hours and focuses on professional development in areas like counseling, journalism, or education.
Students must submit three publishable papers and complete 21 credit hours of electives, including four in a major area of study and two in a minor area.

Assessment:

• Methods: Oral defense of final work for both thesis and applied project options.
• Criteria:
• Thesis:
Depth of research, understanding of the chosen tradition, quality of writing, and presentation skills.
• Unique approaches: The program emphasizes a comparative approach to studying religion, providing students with a broad understanding of various religious traditions and their contemporary relevance.

Careers:

• Potential paths: Government, non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, global affairs, intercultural understanding, foreign service, research, professional writing, journalism, and publishing.
• Opportunities: Graduates can find work as book editors, community college instructors, foreign service employees, global affairs writers, non-governmental organization professionals, and non-profit managers.

Other:

• Application deadline: January 15th for the fall session.
• Program learning outcomes:
• Critically analyze classical and contemporary theoretical approaches in the study of religion.
• Develop research questions through critical analysis of primary and secondary sources.
• Conduct original research and present findings in a written prospectus and defense.
• Outline: Course schedule