Requirements for Honors
The department awards honors and high honors in religion on the basis of the quality of work in the major and on the completed thesis.
A central mission of the Religion Department is to enable students to become critically-informed, independent, and creative interpreters of some of the religious movements, sacred texts, ideas, and practices that have decisively shaped human experience.
The Haverford religion major is unique in that it provides students with a comprehensive curriculum that includes carefully designed areas of concentrations, specialized coursework, supervised research, a lengthy written research product, and a departmental oral conversation with the entire department as the minimum requirements for fulfilling the major. Through coursework, senior thesis research, and the Tri-College Senior Colloquium with Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr Colleges, the department seeks to fulfill the following learning goals:
Like other liberal arts majors, the religion major is meant to prepare students for a broad array of vocational possibilities. Religion majors typically find careers in law, public service (including both religious and secular organizations), medicine, business, ministry, and education. Religion majors have also pursued advanced graduate degrees in anthropology, history, political science, biology, Near Eastern studies, and religious studies.
Haverford’s Institutional Learning Goals are available on the President’s website, at http://hav.to/learninggoals.
The major in religion is designed to help students develop a coherent set of academic skills and expertise in the study of religion, while at the same time encouraging interdisciplinary work in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. The major consists of 11 courses with the following requirements:
At least six of each major’s 11 courses must be taken in the Haverford Religion Department.In some rare cases, students may petition the department for exceptions to the major requirements. Such petitions must be presented to the department for approval in advance.
Final evaluation of the major program will consist of written work, including a thesis, and an oral conversation completed in the context of the Senior Seminar (RELG H398A and 399B).
Advising for the major takes place in individual meetings between majors and faculty advisors and in a departmental Junior Colloquium held once each semester. At this colloquium, junior majors will present their proposed programs of study with particular attention to their work in the area of concentration. All majors should fill out and bring the Religion Major Worksheet to the colloquium.
The minor in religion, like the major, is designed to help students develop a coherent set of academic skills and expertise in the study of religion, while at the same time encouraging interdisciplinary work in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. The minor consists of six courses with the following requirements:
All six courses must be taken in the Haverford Religion Department. In some rare cases, students may petition the department for exceptions to the minor requirements. Such petitions must be presented to the department for approval in advance.
The senior thesis in the Department of Religion is a year long project (Religion 398 and Religion 399) designed to produce a polished, critical, scholarly-length article in the study of religion. All students conclude this work with an oral discussion with members of the Religion Department faculty.
A detailed description of the format, goals, and assessment criteria for the senior experience can be found in the complete departmental statement in the Catalog.
The department awards honors and high honors in religion on the basis of the quality of work in the major and on the completed thesis.
Students planning to study abroad must construct their programs in advance with the department. Students seeking religion credit for abroad courses must write a formal petition to the department upon their return and submit all relevant course materials. We advise students to petition courses that are within the designated area of concentration.
*We have a very tiny magic 8 ball.