Religious Studies

Religious studies is not a separate program at UCSC, but students can focus on aspects of religion by selecting one of the following majors and then carefully choosing courses in the area of religion. Anthropology, history, history of art and visual culture, literature, and philosophy are appropriate majors for students interested in religion. The History of Art and Visual Culture Department offers a history of art and visual culture major with concentration in religion and visual culture, and the Philosophy Department offers a philosophy major with concentration in religious thought. Students interested in the possibility of working on religion-related topics using any one of these majors as a base should contact the appropriate department office and one or more of the following faculty advisers: Murray Baumgarten (literature), Raoul Birnbaum (history of art and visual culture), Robert Goff (philosophy), Gildas Hamel (French language), Susan Harding (anthropology), Gary Lease (history of consciousness), John Lynch (classics/literature), Ralph Quinn (psychology), Triloki N. Pandey (anthropology), and Cynthia Polecritti and Marilyn Westerkamp (history).