Religious Studies Major

The Religious Studies curriculum is designed along two assumptions:  1)  a Religious Studies major ought to have a general reservoir of knowledge about the academic study of religion, to be obtained by lower-division introductory surveys; and 2) a Religious Studies major should also be introduced to more specialized knowledge, a requirement met by upper-division courses in specific fields or courses in methodology and research methods. 

The major is constructed in such a way that students may specialize in areas of concentration from Islamic Studies, Asian Studies, Judaic Studies, African and African-American Studies, Biblical Literature, or Christian Studies.

Requirements for the major are found on the checksheet.  Please note that 21 hours of credit (out of the 30 hours needed for the major) must have RELS prefixes, including RELS 2653 and RELS 4323.  Please contact our Academic Advisor, Jennie Lazar for assistance in navigating the checksheet.

For the list of courses available to satsify RELS requirements for both major and minor, click here and here for current RELS-accepted courses, including those considered approved electives.

Course descriptions may be found here.

If you have any questions about majoring or minoring in Religious Studies, please contact our Academic Advisor, Jennie Lazar.

All HON 2973 and 3993 sections with Dr. Marie Dallam count in the major, as do HON or RELS 3960/3980 when the topic is approved for use in RELS. 

To research course availability, please consult classnav.ou.edu.  This database provides several semesters to research, as well as a feature that allows for searching by General Education category.

Capstone IS required in the RELS major, even when a student is in two majors.  We do not waive the Capstone when someone is completing a Capstone in another major.