Undergraduate Studies
Religion
is probably the most powerfully creative-and destructive-force
in human culture. It is perhaps also the least understood,
even among those who consider themselves religious.
Everyone
knows that religious convictions are at stake when American
politicians appeal to fundamentalist principles, when terrorists
attack in New York or Northern Ireland, when tensions build
in the Middle East, or when protesters picket a controversial
film on a religious subject. Few people, however, have explored
in any depth the roots or the implications of these religious
convictions. The Department of Religion provides the opportunity
to examine such questions.
The
department's courses focus mainly on Buddhism, Christianity,
Islam, and Judaism; classes are also offered in Hinduism,
in American religions, and in the religions of Japan and
China. Whether students do or do not belong to these traditions,
courses in the department can challenge their assumptions
and enrich their understanding of religion and the role
it plays in human life. Study in the department does not
require religious commitment, but neither does it undermine
such commitment; the goal is simply to gain deeper understanding
of religion as a human phenomenon. As the German scholar
of religion, Max Müller, said many years ago, a person
who knows only one religion in fact knows none: to understand
how religion functions in human experience and culture,
one must know something about similarities and differences
in world religions.
The Director of Undergraduate Studies is Prof. Barry Wimpfheimer, barry@northwestern.edu
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