Exploring Religion

Course Introduction

Welcome to Exploring Religion!

Religion is everywhere, and even where it isn't, it's left some trace we can't ignore. How familiar are you with the religions of the U.S., or of the world? Do you ever wish you could just take a world tour across the global religious landscape? In this course, we hope you'll do just that!

You'll learn more about America's diverse religious landscape and begin to discover the shape of religion around the world. For your adventures, we've brought together prominent religion scholars as expert guides, and in each session you'll have opportunities to explore on your own using high quality resources and engaging activities from theARDA.com. 

This course will help you to explore religious variations across the globe, trace the history and beliefs of religious groups, uncover the religious and demographic makeup of local neighborhoods and analyze the same national surveys used by researchers through use of theARDA.com. Moving beyond online discovery, you'll immerse yourself in local religious congregations during their weekly services, interview others about religion and rely on a diverse range of new sources. This course is about doing research and not simply reading about what has been done.

After briefly introducing you to some of the methods we use for exploring religion, the course begins by looking at the diversity of world religious groups and their beliefs. This foundation allows us to examine the relationship religion holds with the larger culture and society; a relationship that is as varied as the religions themselves. You will explore how religion is related to race, ethnicity, gender, sex and sexuality, as well as how it is related to numerous social, political, and religious movements and issues. Additionally, you will learn how religion has both provoked and prevented social change.

Let's Explore Religion together!