Educational Goals and Objectives

Students who pursue academic studies of religions and spirituality at Berea College will learn and will develop well-informed, rigorously-critical, creatively-constructive, and responsibly-engaged approaches to and skills for thinking, talking, and writing about religions and spiritualities.  Students will develop these perspectives and skills by attaining several educational goals and corresponding student learning objectives or outcomes (SLOs).  Especially the departmental curriculum, along with several additional courses from the larger curriculum of the College, enable students to develop competence in academic studies of religions and spirituality at Berea College.

The three educational goals of the Department for Studies of Religions and Spirituality correlate directly to the three major distributive areas of study for the Major in Studies of Religions and Spirituality: (1) Historical Studies of Religions and Spirituality; (2) Cultural Studies of Religions and Spirituality; and (3) Normative Studies of Religions and Spirituality.  The departmental Faculty has designed a list of courses for each one of the three distributive areas of study both from which students must choose to fulfill requirements for the Major or Minor and that will enable students to achieve the respective student learning objectives (SLOs) that derive from each one of the Department’s three educational goals.  The Faculty in the Department for Studies of Religions and Spirituality also annually assesses its curriculum and work in light of the educational goals and student learning objectives.