i Please note:
To view the current calendar, go to
Religious Studies
This program encourages and facilitates interdisciplinary study of religious thought and its effects on civilization. Students may select courses that focus on one tradition or a broader thematic study across traditions and cultures. Courses are mainly drawn from the Departments of Humanities, History, Asia-Canada Program, and others. The program is available to those without a bachelor’s degree. Credits earned may be applied to a major or minor. Units applied to one certificate may not be applied to another 間眅埶AV certificate or diploma. Students may apply for relevant transfer credit to a maximum of 15 transfer units.
間眅埶AV Requirements
Prospective students must apply for 間眅埶AV admission and meet the normal admission requirements. Certificate program admission approval must be obtained from the department advisor.
Program Requirements
Students complete a total of at least 30-31 units, 13-14 of which are earned by completing the four required courses. The remaining units are selected from the elective list. Students are responsible for meeting the prerequisite requirements for courses used toward the certificate.
Required Courses
Students complete 13-14 units including both of
An introduction to concepts central to the academic study of religion exploring various relevant methodologies. Provides a framework for understanding the many ways in which humans experience the phenomenon of the sacred through symbol, ritual, doctrine and experience in a variety of religious traditions and cultures. Students who have taken HUM 230 prior to 2007 may not take this course for further credit. Breadth-Humanities. Equivalent Courses: GS230 HUM230. Breadth-Humanities.
An in-depth investigation of a specific case of religious history and tradition. Religion will be studied through the cultural and historical contexts that pervade and structure religious meaning and expression. This course may be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: 45 units. Breadth-Humanities.
and two of
Charts the emergence and changes in the expression of human religious behavior. It covers the earliest rituals of the Palaeolithic, the importance of fertility cults, ancestor cults, alliance rituals, shamans, witchcraft, and monotheism. Prerequisite: Any lower division archaeology or anthropology course. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
A study of some of the key works which have had a formative influence on major religious traditions. Primary texts will be selected to illustrate core elements in the religious understanding of human life and its relationship to the sacred. Prerequisite: 30 units. HUM 130 (HUM 230 prior to 2007) is recommended.
Studies the history and traditions of specific Asian religions through the cultural and historical contexts that structure religious meaning. Prerequisite: 45 units.
A critical analysis of classic and contemporary arguments concerning the rationality of belief in God, and related issues.
Students complete a total of 17 units, chosen from
Elective Courses
Students complete a total of 17 units, chosen from
An introduction to East, Southeast or South Asian art, literature, history or philosophy. The emphasis will be on the cultural importance of the themes covered and on their relationship to contemporary societies. Prerequisite: 15 units.
Content will vary according to interests of faculty and students but will involve China-related study within one or more of the social science or humanities disciplines. Prerequisite: 45 units including at least one lower division ASC course. Recommended: ASC 200.
Content will vary according to interests of faculty and students but will involve Japanese-related study within one or more of the social science or humanities disciplines. Prerequisite: 45 units including at least one lower division ASC course. Recommended: ASC 201.
Prerequisite: 45 units including at least one lower division ASC course.
An introduction to the world of late Medieval and Renaissance Europe (c.1200-c.1500). Breadth-Humanities.
This course offers a broad survey of the development of classical Islamic civilization. It begins with an examination of the origins of Islam in seventh century Arabia and concludes with the break-up of the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad in the 13th century. Emphasis will be place on gaining an understanding of the doctrines of Islam, the significance of the rise and fall of the early Arab-Islamic empires, and the role of Islam in world history. Breadth-Humanities.
A survey of the history of Christianity from its origins to 1500. Breadth-Humanities. Breadth-Humanities.
An advanced examination of the complex history and patterns of the Religious Reformation in sixteenth century Europe. Emphasis will be placed on the religious thought of the period, and on its social and political context. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history. Strongly recommended: HIST 220 or 223. Students with credit for HIST 403-4 prior to 2005-3 may not take this course for further credit.
The intellectual and social history of greater Iran from the Safavids to the twentieth century. Emphasis will be on the relationship between religion and politics. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history. Recommended: one of HIST 151, 249, 251.
An examination of select topics in Christianity and globalization, with an emphasis on the early-modern period. Students will explore the connections between regions rather than individual regional histories. Prerequisite: 45 units, including nine units of lower division history credit.
From the world of late-medieval piety to the outbreak of the English Civil War, this research seminar examines the changing nature of religious belief in early modern England with a particular focus on the origins, development and impact of Protestantism. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history and one of HIST 223, 315, 320, 405, 439 or permission of the department.
An examination of the complex history of Catholicism in Europe in the period 1500-1789. By elucidating the diversity within and among institutions and religious experiences, it will challenge the traditional assumption that Catholicism constituted a religious monolith impervious to historical change. Subjects for particular focus may include historiographical approaches to Catholicism, the papacy, the Society of Jesus, popular religion, the role of art. Prerequisite: 45 units, including nine units of lower division history and one of HIST 220, 223, 288, or 320.
An advanced examination into the concepts and methodology of the history of religion. Prerequisite: 45 units, including nine units of lower division history.
Advanced analysis of specific problems in Islamic social and intellectual history, with an emphasis on traditional patterns and on their transformation in the modern world. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history. Recommended: one of HIST 249 or 352.
An introduction to the central myths of the Greeks and Romans. The course will investigate the nature, function, and meaning of myths in the classical world and their considerable influence on western civilization. Writing/Breadth-Humanities. Prerequisite: . Equivalent Courses: HUM102. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
An introduction to classic texts which have endured as monuments of Asian thought and literature. Readings and discussions of primary texts and their central ideas will introduce students to philosophical, literary and religious themes in a selected, major Asian tradition. Prerequisite: 30 units. Breadth-Humanities.
An examination of Eastern and Western Christendom from Late Antiquity to the 12th-Century Renaissance emphasizing religious, political, cultural, and social change. Students who have taken HIST 219 may not take this course for further credit. Breadth-Humanities. Equivalent Courses: HIST219. Breadth-Humanities.
A detailed interdisciplinary analysis of a selected topic, issue, or personality in the Middle Ages. Prerequisite: 45 units.
A focused interdisciplinary study of the Carolingian civilization achieved in early medieval Europe under Charlemagne and his family. Prerequisite: 45 units. Breadth-Humanities.
A detailed interdisciplinary study of the role of mythology within a particular culture or tradition. Prerequisite: 45 units. Recommended: HUM 102.
An interdisciplinary study of the life and works of a man or woman who has made a lasting contribution to the humanistic tradition in more than one field of endeavor (e.g. philosophy, politics, literature, economics, religion). Prerequisite: 45 units. Students with credit for this topic under another Humanities course number may not take this course for further credit.
A special topic in the humanities to be offered by the Woodsworth chair. Prerequisite: 45 units.
An examination of the relations between religion and the social environment. Consideration will be given to classical theoretical debates in the anthropology and sociology of religion. Specific topics vary from year to year, and may include: religion in personhood and communities; religion, gender, ethnicity and social class; secularization and secularism; the role of religion in political mobilizations; interreligious relations; religious freedom and citizenship. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
An examination of myth, symbolism, ritual and cosmological systems. Anthropological theories of magic, possession, witchcraft, healing and religious movements analyzed in ethnographic context. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
* when topics are appropriate; consult with the advisor; other courses with appropriate content may be counted with prior approval of the advisor.
For calendar technical problems or errors, contact calendar-sfu@sfu.ca | Calendar Changes and Corrections