While the U. has offered various classes based on religion in various departments for a number of years, until recently no one had ever pulled together a complete list of what was offered as a package to offer students.

"It was kind of a stupid thing," Schmid said. "You put them on a piece of paper together, students look at it, and it's like, 'wow, I want to take those classes.' The course offerings here are pretty amazing, and all these people should be in conversation. We hope a minor in religious studies will foster that."

Schmid has been in conversation for some time with officials at Utah State University, where the state's first religious studies program was officially formed in 2004. The program has been so popular with students there, that USU religious studies director Charles Prebish told the Deseret News last spring every class is "filled to capacity and beyond, and there are waiting lists for every course we've taught."

USU's program offers the state's first major in religious studies, and includes two academic faculty chairs devoted specifically to the study of Mormonism and Buddhism. The school is also looking for funding to create academic chairs in both Catholic and Jewish studies. Both USU and Utah Valley University currently offer a minor in religious studies.

Schmid, a Swiss-born scholar and ordained minister in the Swiss Reformed Church who earned a Ph.D in Protestant theology in her native country, said her participation in the U.'s interfaith council has given her feedback both from students and administrators involved with religious groups there to couple with the academic discussion about how to formulate an effective program.

"That's helped me by meeting a broader area of people on campus who have different concerns. It was important for me in the way I was thinking about the program and putting it together."

She hasn't encountered any opposition, she said, and students in the Christian literature class she teaches find their academic examination of scripture "generates great conversation. They're in this dialogue with the text and their own background, and that combination is interesting because they are passionate about it."

E-mail: carrie@desnews.com