When I first visited Brandeis and learned of its top-notch Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, I expected the school to also have a large offering of courses in other various world religions. After all, Brandeis is a school that embraces both liberal arts and diversity. It would make sense that the University would regularly offer courses in several different religions, as is the trend at almost every other nonsectarian university, like Duke Univeristy and Tufts University. The Religious Studies program was originally designed to meet this need and broaden the religion course offerings of the University, but it has not been very successful. As the program is small and utilizes courses from other departments, it receives limited financial resources from the University to teach its own courses, according to Prof. Sarah Lamb (ANTH), who sits on the program steering committee. Ideally, it would offer several classes focusing on non-Western traditions to supplement those of the NEJS department, which has courses in Judaic, Islamic and Christian studies. However, the Religious Studies program has only offered three courses that focus on specific world traditions: one in Buddhism, one in Chinese thought and one in Hinduism, which is being offered for the first time this semester.   

Each of these three courses currently has over 40 students rolled (the Buddhism class most recently enrolled 56 students), demonstrating a sustained interest in the subject matter among Brandeis students. However, the Religious Studies program has been unable to sufficiently match this enthusiasm by offering additional courses to build on past material. For instance, a student interested in learning about Buddhist tradition and philosophy is essentially limited to the one Buddhism course offered; there are no additional courses to exclusively explore Buddhism at Brandeis.  Oddly enough, one cannot major in Religious Studies without going through the laborious process of declaring an Independent Interdisciplinary Major, a program that involves custom-designing a major to one's personal interests and requires a committee of faculty members for approval. This bureaucratic impediment hinders a student's ability to pursue a wide-ranging course of study in religion.  

Alternatively, the program offers a minor, which appears to be in the middle of change due to the three different core courses offered since fall 2009. The original "Introduction to World Religions" core course has been temporarily put on hold, according to the administrator of the Religious studies program, Kathryn Howell, and has not been offered since the fall 2009 semester. Instead, the program has utilized classes from other departments, namely NEJS and Anthropology, to function as core courses. These changes, however, have not been reflected in the Learning Goals for the minor, which praise the "Introduction to World Religions" core course without recognizing its alternatives.

I do believe that the Religious Studies program has the potential to effectively meet the needs of the student body. In the spirit of strategic planning, the University ought to consider expanding the program to satisfy new student interest in the subject matter. Most paramount of this expansion is to augment the program's course offerings to allow for focused academic growth among students taking Religious Studies courses. I hope that the new course on Hinduism, which is a welcome addition to the course catalogue, will have a follow-up course if students are satisfied with the introductory course this semester. Additional courses in Buddhism and Chinese religious thought would help students build upon their knowledge from earlier classes as well. The program should offer a standardized major in Religious Studies in addition to the minor and the IIM option. Students are currently limited to the major in NEJS, which requires a large amount of Judaic and language study that may not hold universal appeal. A major in Religious Studies would permit greater freedom in exploring religious traditions and could incorporate a focus on in-depth comparison of different religions into the curriculum.  

A regular core course should be offered again for majors and minors. Having a core course can give a program more legitimacy and provide a launching pad for future growth. We are considered to be at the forefront of religious scholarship, but we appear to actually be behind the curve when it comes to embracing academic religious diversity. Expanding the Religious Studies program is a worthwhile method to rectify this problem.