College of the Pacific

Department of Religious & Classical Studies

The Department of Religious & Classical Studies challenges students to study the practices, beliefs, texts, and languages of ancient and modern societies. The Department equips students to interpret these phenomena with various theories and methods as products of human intellectual and cultural activity. Some of our courses focus on the role of religion in human history, experience, thought, and action, while others focus on the ancient Near Eastern / Greco-Roman cultures and their lasting effects on the modern world.

Religion has historically shaped and continues to influence cultures and institutions worldwide; contemporary individuals utilize religious perspectives and spiritual traditions as they examine ultimate religious and ethical questions. The Department of Religious & Classical Studies provides perspectives that prepare citizen-leaders to engage these matters in a thoughtful, humane, historically broad, and intellectually rigorous manner.

• The Department offers a major in Religious Studies and minors in Religious Studies and Classical Studies. Additionally, the Department administers a Liberal Studies Major.
• A typical course in the Department includes students from various backgrounds and academic disciplines, thereby affording significant opportunity for inter-disciplinary discussion.