Religious and Theological Studies, B.A.

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Major Requirements

For students who wish to major in religious and theological studies, there are two tracks that they can choose, one with an emphasis in religious studies and the other with an emphasis in theological studies. In addition to satisfying all the College’s general education requirements, including that this bachelor’s degree program requires a minimum of 124 credits, each program consists of 10 courses. Satisfying the requirements for the major in Religious and Theological Studies includes completing a minimum of 38 credits in the major.

Emphasis in Religious Studies

For the emphasis in religious studies requirements are as follows:

RTS 1xxx - any Introductory RTS course (1000-level)
Three courses in World Religions
One course in Biblical Studies
One course in Systematic Theology or Christian History
One course in Religion, Society & Ethics
Two electives in Religious and Theological Studies
RTS 4900 - Seminar in Religious & Theological Studies Credits: 4 taken in junior or senior year.

Emphasis in Theological Studies

For the emphasis in theological studies requirements are as follows:

RTS 1xxx - any Introductory RTS course (1000-level)
One course in World Religions
Two courses in Biblical Studies
One course in Christian History
One course in Systematic Theology
One course in Religion, Society & Ethics
Two electives in Religious and Theological Studies
RTS 4900 - Seminar in Religious & Theological Studies Credits: 4 taken in junior or senior year.

Elective

One elective may be selected from the following list of approved courses outside the department:

FAA 3100 - Music and Spirituality Credits: 4
HIS 3355 - Barbarians and Holy Men: The History of Late Antiquity Credits: 4
HIS 3360 - Medieval European Civilization Credits: 4
HIS 3365 - The History of Muslim Communities, 600-1600 Credits: 4
HIS 3366 - History of Modern Middle East Credits: 4
HIS 3370 - Renaissance, Reformation and Exploration Credits: 4
PHL 2330 - History of Medieval Philosophy Credits: 4
PHL 2350 - Philosophy of Augustine Credits: 4
PHL 2420 - Wisdoms of Asia Credits: 4
PHL 3040 - Philosophy of Religion Credits: 4
PHL 3180 - Existentialism Credits: 4

Note

Major GPA. The GPA for the religious and theological studies major will be calculated by taking the average of courses designated RTS.

Honor Society. Merrimack College is a member of the National Honor Society for Religious Studies and Theology (Theta Alpha Kappa), which is open to students who have completed at least 12 credits in religious and theological studies and have at least a 3.50 GPA in the major and an overall GPA of at least 3.00.