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The Department of Philosophy and Religion wants to change its name to Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. The primary reason is that such a modification would reflect similar changes that are happening across the country in departments of religion – especially among those departments that are located in publicly funded colleges and universities. This move from “religion” to “religious studies” follows several decades of reflection and discussion regarding the colonial heritage and Christian assumptions that have been attached to “religion” and to the study of religion in the past. It is an attempt to redefine the discipline as a whole and move it beyond its problematic history. It also better reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the current study of religion employed by religious studies scholars, who make use of critical theory, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and a range of other methodologies from both the social sciences and the humanities.
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