Studying religiously at the U.

Come September, students at the University of Utah may be able to choose a minor in religious studies for the first time ever, setting the stage for what some believe will eventually become a full-blown major in religious studies at the state-sponsored school.

Muriel Schmid, assistant professor of languages and literature, told the Deseret News that an interdisciplinary minor was approved by the executive committee of the university senate on Wednesday and will go to the full senate on Feb. 2 for approval.

"We're hoping that by the end of the semester, it will have gone through the different approval processes and that we can start advertising to get students enrolled this fall." Schmid said she and her colleagues have been working for two years to cluster a variety of classes that explore religion together into an academic minor.

Classes that are now offered or have recently been taught at the U. that would likely be part of that program include: ancient myth and religion, cultural traditions of Asia; Renaissance Europe; death and dying; pharaonic Egypt; Islamic mysticism; Islamic fundamentalism; the crusades; existentialism; sociology of religion and Tai-Chi yoga movement.

The department of languages and literature began offering a "religion and culture track" within the comparative literary and cultural studies major and minor in fall 2007, in part to help gauge student interest in expanding the program.

News that the U. is developing a religious studies program comes on the heels of an announcement that the school is offering a new fellowship in Mormon studies — also for the first time ever — funding a graduate student engaged in academic study of the faith, also to begin this fall.

Schmid said the proposed minor wasn't created as the result of funding that came available, but because the academic study of religion is a growing trend across the country, particularly since 9/11. While statistics show enrollment in traditional religion courses like introduction to biblical culture has declined in recent years, Schmid said, "there's been a huge increase in courses linked to Islam.

"I think that played a huge role in sparking interest in knowing more," about various faith traditions. "It's not enough just to have a very descriptive knowledge of other faith traditions," she said.

"That's part of the debate in the development of these programs. What do we know that's not just descriptive or historical, and how do we bring students to really interrogate the world of religion in culture, literature and politics."

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.