The Department of Religious & Classical Studies is interdisciplinary by definition and covers content that spans the globe in a broad historical manner. Our curriculum includes an array of topics, such as:
The concentration in religion provides an understanding of major religious traditions, an exposure to a variety of approaches employed within the study of religion, and an opportunity for exploration of diverse problems that religiosities seek to address. Many of todayʼs pressing political and social problems can be better understood with more knowledge about the religious practices that undergird them.
The Department of Religion at Wake Forest is a community of passionate scholars and students devoted to the exploration and analysis of religion as a central aspect of human culture and history. Even now, in the twenty-first century, religion continues to play a central role in virtually every aspect of human society around the world.
The goal of the study of religion at a secular college is religious literacy. Religious literacy, an important dimension of cultural literacy, entails both a cognitive component (knowledge of religions and of the religious dimension of culture) and proficiencies (the acquiring of skills relevant to the analysis of religion). Courses in religion have the objective of conveying knowledge in four areas (Asian Religions, Modern Western Religious Thought, Near Eastern Religions, and Religion in America), and of developing skills of analysis, interpretation, and communication.