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Religious Studies Offers Useful Liberal Arts Degree

Kathleen is a former staff reporter for Dateline Alabama and a 2003 graduate of the Department of Religious Studies, with a double major in journalism. She was awarded Outstanding Student in the Academic Study of Religion in both 2002 and 2004. By Kathleen Penton That person walking toward you on the Quad looks familiar. It is a girl you went to high school with and haven’t seen since graduation. She recognizes you, too, waves to get your attention and stops […]

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Some Background on Religion and Law in the U.S.

Michael Manasco Recently, the state of Alabama came under the scrutiny of the national media eye regarding events surrounding a two-and-one-half ton monument of the Ten Commandments. Although the legal issues surrounding the monument are not new ones, there still remain controversies over the relationship between religious expression and U.S. law. While wishing to avoid supporting either of the sides in this debate, the goal of this article is to examine the legal background that is relevant in deciding cases […]

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Nagarjuna as Philosophical Reformer

Joshua McDonough Religious Studies 460 December 5, 2003 By the second century CE, during which Nagarjuna was most likely active, Buddhist philosophy had already experienced a noticeable transformation from its origins during the time of the historical Buddha, Sakyamuni, to the rigid, systematic description of reality as presented in the Abhidharma schemas of several non-Mahayana schools existing at that time. It was about to undergo a second, and perhaps even more extreme, transformation at the hands of Nagarjuna, the founder […]

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September Eleventh

Megan De Wald REL 100 Spring 2002 The following essay was written by a student enrolled in REL 100, as part of a unit test. Regardless ones agreement or disagreement with the position taken, it provides current students with an excellent example of a well written, well organized, and thoroughly argued essay that links issues in the academic study of religion to the wider geo-political world. In the wake of September 11th, of tragedy striking American soil, of demonstrations of […]

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Jason Wright

After graduating from The University of Alabama with the wisdom imparted to me by the religious studies program, I decided that I would take my knowledge and share it with people all over the country. Right now I am living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming which is one of the most beautiful places in the country. I sell out-of-print or limited edition DVDs online through a company that I am about to make official and work at UPS as a loader […]

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Melanie Williams

Until Melanie writes us something witty, we can at least say that, in April 2008, she graduated from culinary school in Vancouver, Canada, and or the summer of 2008 will be a chef for passengers on a tourist train between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska. Way to go, Melanie! Graduation: Spring 2006 Degree: English/Religious Studies Current Location: Alaska […]

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Peter von Herrmann

When I chose the University of Alabama for my undergraduate education, I wanted a place where I could study my three main interests – computers, religion, and business. Beginning as a CS major, I quickly learned that computer programming was not the path to happiness for me. As I sought a new major, I looked back at the religious studies courses that I had already taken – REL 100 (World Religions) with Jon Berry, REL 112 (Intro to New Testament) […]

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Michele Trawick

I am currently starting a business with my dad. We are building and selling houses. He is also getting into other businesses and I am keeping the books for him as well in that. So I am definitely staying busy. This isn’t what I had planned on doing, but it was an excellent opportunity that I could not pass up. I’m living in Chipley, FL and having a blast! I hope all is well up there in good ol’ Tuscaloosa. […]

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Shane Sharp

I graduated with a Religious Studies and Psychology BA in the Spring of 2001. Since then, I have earned my MA degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. I got to learn from a lot of great scholars in the field of Religious Studies and completed a thesis entitled “Religious Scholars’ and Quantitative Researchers’ Approaches to the Effects of Religiosity on the Behavior of Intimate Partner Abuse Victims: Bridging the Gap.” (Long title, huh?). I have also had the opportunity […]

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Christine Scott

One of the most useful pieces of advice that I have ever received came from a few of my professors in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. I was told that, while pursuing my Masters at Georgia State University, one of the most important things to do was to work on professionalizing myself. It is not enough, I was told, for a graduate student to attend classes, read texts, and write papers (the normal work of […]

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