Theology and Religious Studies

Religion professor teaches a university theology class

Program Description 

Unlike most universities, our program combines two distinctive approaches to the academic study of religion: theology and religious studies. In other words, our curriculum offers the best of both worlds. Get ready to be engaged in questions of meaning, faith, justice, power, community, authority, values, spirituality and difference through a global lens. 

The Rockhurst University Department of Theology and Religious Studies faculty includes both theologians and religious studies scholars. Professors are committed to offering you an entryway to cultivating your own religious views. They also provide opportunities for you to gain proficiency in analyzing religious institutions, texts and structures of authority from a variety of theoretical approaches.

Learning Outcomes 

Graduates with a theology major will:

  • Identify and critically analyze four religious beliefs and associated practices
  • Evaluate texts according to historical context and theological significance, and/or literary criticism where appropriate
  • Apply methods of theological inquiry and/or religious studies to a text or set of practices in order to analyze them

Course Map 

Theology and Religious Studies Major
Theology and Religious Studies Minor

Prospective Students 

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Current Students 

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Buddhism Class at Rockhurst University
Rockhurst University students learn about impermanence — one of the fundamental beliefs of Buddhism. The Buddhism course is one of several classes in which students examine religions of the world as they complete their religious studies education. 

Experiences 

As a student pursuing a degree in theology and religious studies, you will:

  • Engage the ideas and practices of diverse religious traditions, including Christianity, and become deeply familiar with their social and historical contexts
  • Explore and critically evaluate a range of expressions of faith
  • Learn to apply methods of multiple human sciences to make sense of the thought and behavior associated with a diverse range of religious traditions

Outcomes 

With this degree, students gain the vital skills of a liberal arts education, including reflection, research, creativity, public speaking and beyond. In addition to graduate school, many students go on to work in a variety of professions, such as:

  • Marriage and family therapists
  • Attorneys
  • High school teachers
  • Fundraising directors
  • Physical therapists
  • Priests
  • College professors and more