
This year has been a blast! Religious Studies hopes all of our students have a safe, productive, fun-filled summer break. See you in August!
The Department of Religious Studies at the College of Charleston The department offers a broad range of courses in religious traditions from around the world.
The Department of Religious Studies at the College of Charleston offers both a major and minor degree in religious studies. With eight full-time faculty members, the department supports a wide-ranging, diverse curriculum and fosters close interaction between students and faculty. Students may choose to specialize in individual religions or subject areas through special topics courses and tutorials
Operating as usual
This year has been a blast! Religious Studies hopes all of our students have a safe, productive, fun-filled summer break. See you in August!
You got this!!!
Reading Day is Thursday, 4/27/23. Take a break from studying, and join us in supporting RELS and Honors graduating senior, Allen Duggar, as he defends his Bachelor's Essay at 330 pm in Arnold Hall. There will be a reception/open house immediately after with light refreshments.
Come join us as we listen to Dr
Cressler!!! Right Now in RSS 235
Today! April 18th! 3:30PM! JSC 333! Dr. Troy Mills from Claremont McKenna College will discuss how the themes captivity, enslavement, humanity, and dignity in the context of colonialism and racial oppression in Black Atlantic Religious histories make up the core of the Black Religious experience in the Americas and Caribbean Islands. Come join us.
Religion is EVERYWHERE! Even in hit HBO TV series. Prof. Deanna Daniel's will examine how it shows up Lovecraft Country, and how Black Religion and horror transforms culture. Please join us.
RELS Reels #3 is going down this Thursday, 3/30/23 at 7 pm with Dr. Siegler in ECTR 118. Going him for the movie, snacks, and discussion.
The first one was so nice that we had to do it twice. The RELS Alumni Spotlight Lecture was so awesome last fall, we are doing it again this spring. Come listen to Madeline Leibin ('18) reflect on her journey from undergrad at CofC to conflict resolution worker in Israel to law school student at NYU on 4/3/23 at 330 pm in JSC 233.
It's time to make those advising appointments so you can be ready on your day according to hours earned. Spot in our office to pick up a brochure of all summer and fall 2023 offerings.
It's time to make those advising appointments so you can be ready on your day according to hours earned. Stop in our office to pick up a brochure of all summer and fall 2023 offerings in detail.
Postponing Dr. Cressler's sabbatical talk to 4/20/23 in RSS 235 because our Cougars are playing in the big tournament at the same time. Mark your calendars and be there to support both.
Remember when Dr. Cressler was gone for a whole year on sabbatical? Well this is what he was doing. Come listen to him share is findings this interesting intersection of religion and popular culture on 3/16/22 at 330 pm in ECTR 118.
Come join Dr. Lowe TONIGHT, 2/28/23 at 7 pm in ECTR 118 for our popular film series, RELS Reels. Movie #2 of the semester is Jonestown. There will be a lively discussion of the movie, and light refreshments will be served.
Scan the code with your smartphone's camera, and help us help our students!
In Spring of 2022, Religious Studies Major Allen Duggar presented his research, titled “Let Ev’ry Land Their Tongues Employ: Ritual Democracy Among Shape Note Singers,” at the annual meeting of the AAR Southeast Region and at CofC’s Undergraduate Research Expo. Funded through the Honor’s College and sponsored and advised by RELS faculty, Allen’s ethnographic research project examined the obscure but persistent practice of “shape-note” singing as a form of ritualized democracy. He won first prize for undergraduate research in Humanities and Social Sciences at the Expo, and he was subsequently presented with the first Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award by the RELS Department, an award that would not have been possible without the generous donations of alumni, parents, faculty and friends of RELS.
Today is the the day. Show your love for Religious Studies. Make a donation to RELS at CofC to keep outstanding guest speaker like Natasha Akery coming for our students and the entire college community. Link in bio.
https://cofcday.cofc.edu/campaigns/religious-studies-department
Every little bit helps. Click on the like to make your donation. https://cofcday.cofc.edu/campaigns/religious-studies-department
If you didn't get to hear Natasha Akery speak last night, you missed a real treat. Thank tou share sharing your very emotional and very entertaining stories about your time as a RELS major at CofC.
The Department of Religious Studies is proud to welcome one of our own for a lecture on "Heritage, Identity, and the Biracial Experience". Come listen to RELS alumna, Natasha Akery ('09) on 11/29 at 5:30 pm in ECTR 116.
Join Drs. Bjerken and Siegler for movie number three in the RELS Reels film series, "Kundun" at 7 pm in ECTR 116. Snacks provided. All are welcome. 📽🎬🍿
Join Dr Bjerken and Siegler for movie number three in the RELS Reels film series, "Kundun" at 7 pm in ECTR 116. Snacks provided. All are welcome. 📽🎬🍿
Coming soon! Dr. Pinn will be presenting on the nature of life and death as told through the album DAMN. Join us on 11/1!
RELS Reels is a great opportunity to apply religious studies to our modern contexts. Swipe right for our semester schedule!
Wanna get more involved with RELS? Join our club! There’s great opportunities for trips, discussion, and more. Join the GroupMe or message us with your info.
Attention RELS Majors and Minors! Our Open House has been postponed from today to next week.
The new date is 9/20, at 3:30 in the 4 Glebe Street Lounge. Please share with your friends. See you all there!
More events to come! Keep track of our page to stay up to date on all our cool activities!
Join the CofC Department of Religious Studies for a “RELS REELS” film offering! 🎥🍿
Monday, September 19, at 7pm in ECTR 116. Everyone in the College of Charleston community is welcome! A five star and two thumbs up MUST SEE!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 👍👍
Meet the faculty. Meet current and prospective majors and minors. Preview the RELS courses for Fall 2022. All students are welcome. Drinks and refreshments will be provided. Tuesday, 9/13/22 at 3:30 pm in the RELS Lounge, 4 Glebe St.
The Charleston County School District (CCSD) recently announced five teachers as their finalists for the 2022 Teacher of the Year. One of them was our very own RELS alum, Natasha Akery ('09).
In her role at Academic Magnet, Akery designs and facilitates professional development for administrators, faculty and staff pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusion. Akery also facilitates professional development for CCSD English language arts and social studies teachers inspired by culturally responsive teaching and restorative practices.
CCSD will announce the winner later this month. Congratulations Natasha!!!
Congratulations to the newest RELS alumni at CofC!
RELS senior, Allen Duggar recently presented his research at the American Academy of Religion Southeast conference and EXPO 2022 at CofC. "Let Every Land Their Tongues Employ: Ritualized Democracy among Shape Note Singers" was well received at ARSE 2022 and won "Outstanding Poster in the Humanities" at EXPO 2022. Congratulations Allen!!!
Join RELS in support graduating senior, AJ Williamson as he defends his Bachelor essay tomorrow, 4/26/22 at 3:30 in Arnold Hall.
Bonus RELS Reels tonight with Dr. Bjerken!!! ECTR 219 at 630!
We have a BONUS RELS Reels for Spring 2022. On Apr. 19 at 630 in ECTR 219. Dr. Bjerken will be there to view and lead a discussion about the movie Samsara (2001). Come join for the last film of the semester.
The final film ofbthe very successful RELS Reels series is this coming Wednesday, 4/6/22. The movie is Dune (2021) based on Frank Herbert's 1965 novel. Join us in ECTR 118 at 630 pm.
he Department of Religious Studies at the College of Charleston offers both a major and minor degree in religious studies. With eight full-time faculty members, the department supports a wide-ranging, diverse curriculum and fosters close interaction between students and faculty. Students may choose to specialize in individual religions or subject areas through special topics courses and tutorials. The flexibility of the curriculum gives students the opportunity to explore diverse cultures and religions, while providing them with important tools to understand and interpret these worldviews critically.
The religious studies department introduces students to the academic study of religion, which engages in the descriptive and cross-cultural analysis of religious beliefs, practices and institutions, both past and present. The teaching orientation is comparative and non-sectarian in that it does not promote any specific religious tradition to the exclusion of others. The department offers a broad range of courses in religious traditions from around the world. It encourages students to complete courses in the areas of western traditions (such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), eastern traditions (such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese and Japanese religions) and American religions (such as Native American, African American, and many New Religious Movements). Students become more deeply aware of their own cultural traditions by studying those of others, and will approach other religions with greater empathy and sensitivity to their respective complexity.
Religious studies at the College of Charleston is both a comparative and interdisciplinary enterprise. It serves as a bridge between various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, particularly those of history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy and literature, as well as various language programs. Courses explore various religions through a variety of dimensions and themes – ritual, myth, symbol, mystical experience, cognitive patterns, gender, ethnicity, identity – and they also consider the role played by political, economic and social factors on the development of religions in their global context. Religious studies thus provides a coherent disciplinary context where students can engage in a holistic and sustained examination of the history, diversity and ingenuity of human belief and behavior, one of the hallmarks of a liberal arts and sciences education.
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