Major Areas of Study

Click on a major area of study from the list above or scroll down to see more information.

Philosophy of Religion

The concentration in the philosophy of religion (and religions) at UCSB is cross-cultural in scope, in that philosophical questions about religion are addressed in a comparative religions context. Students are expected to be familiar with the main issues that are debated in western philosophical theology, such as the arguments for and against the existence of God and the problem of evil and survival of death. They should also be familiar with the chief figures in the history of the West relevant to such themes, including Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Wittgenstein. They should know the issues raised by such writers as Alston, Plantinga, Phillips, and Flew. But they should also pay attention to eastern arguments about religion such as the discussion of the existence of God in the Indian tradition and problems of epistemology and religious experience. They should be acquainted with the writings of such figures as Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Buddhaghosa, Nagarjuna, Chu Hsi, and Suzuki. They should have a sufficient grasp of some tradition from outside the western triad of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic thought to be able to draw on examples. They should also be familiar with some of the cross- cultural discussions of recent times, such as in the writings of Smart, Wainwright, Hick, Katz, Proudfoot, and others. Some knowledge of cross-cultural hermeneutics should be acquired by students.

Issues in cross-cultural philosophy of religion of particular importance are: the question of criteria of truth as between religions (or whether such a notion makes sense); how far we can distinguish experience and interpretation in relation to mystical and other forms of religious experience; the problems of methodology in the study of religion; the issue of whether religion (or worldview) can be adequately defined. New slants on older "western" questions can be gained within the broad context of cross-cultural or comparative philosophy. For instance, Indian patterns of arguing for and against God's existence are somewhat different from western ones.

Students working in this concentration should take courses, seminars and guided reading programs in religious studies (and/or cognate fields such as philosophy, history, and so forth) that provide training in (a) the general history of philosophy (eastern and western), (b) awareness of important issues in contemporary philosophy and comparative philosophy, and (c) nineteenth- and twentieth-century western religious thought. Depending on the area of focus, students may also want to take at least elementary work in relevant languages beyond French and/or German.

Faculty in the concentration: Professors Cabezón, Carlson, and Holdrege

Sociology, Psychology, and Anthropology of Religion

Students concentrating in sociology, psychology, and anthropology of religion within Religious Studies at UCSB are expected to master, in addition to classical theories such as those of Emile Durkheim, William James, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, and Max Weber, the ideas of a range of contemporary critical, social, and cognitive theorists, e.g., those of Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens, Clifford Geertz, Michael Taussig, Talal Asad, Roy Rappaport, Pascal Boyer, Thomas Lawson, and Robert McCauley. This area of study seeks to situate the study of religious thought and practice within the interface between biological and socio-cultural processes at individual, interpersonal, group, and societal levels.

Faculty interests include religion as an aspect of socio-cultural processes—economic and political forces, state and family structures, and civil society generally—within particular local or national contexts or global ones. They also include religion as an aspect of psycho- cultural processes--cognitive, emotional, interpersonal—within and across disparate socio-cultural contexts.

Acquaintance with varied research techniques—survey research, ethnography, participant observation, statistical analysis, comparative and historical analysis, and experimental methods—is also expected at least to a degree sufficient to read relevant journals with understanding. It is expected, too, that students will have developed an ability to understand the methodological and epistemological debates that are particularly vexing for the study of religion. Attendance in courses available in social and natural science departments at UCSB in order to meet this requirement is strongly encouraged.

In this area in particular, comparative analysis is strongly encouraged—between groups, individuals, localities, societies or nations, religions, and/or historical periods. The goal is to understand not just particular religious episodes in human history but also what is common and what varies across traditions and cultures.

Faculty in the concentration: Professors Friedland, Roof, Taves, and Yang

Religion and Culture

The Religion and Culture area refers to the study of religion as a symbolic order, both cultural code and ritual practice. The intent of this area is an effort to analyze texts, rites, built environments, artistic and iconic representations using interpretive, hermeneutic, semiotic, philosophical, anthropological, sociological and psychoanalytic registers. Students concentrating in this area are expected to be conversant with both interpretive and explanatory modes of thinking. We seek to train students who are capable of thinking in various ways between text, lived experience, practice, institution and history. In other words, students are expected to master a level of interdisciplinarity as well as epistemological and theoretical self-consciousness. The aim of this area is to develop a new kind of student who can analyze the ways in which actions are conditioned by religious codes, mediated through practices, lived experientially in different ways, one who can move between the semiotic, the philosophical, the sociological, and the phenomenological. Concentration in this area is no substitute for the development of a thorough grounding in a substantive religious tradition.

Faculty in the concentration: Professors Carlson, Friedland, Hecht, Reynolds, and Roof

Buddhist Studies

Graduate students opting for the Buddhist Studies concentration for the Ph.D. in Religious Studies will, in addition to the Department 200 series, be expected to complete at least five Buddhist Studies core seminars covering at least two cultural regions, including three in their principle area of focus. 

The student will be expected to gain a high degree of fluency (normally four years of language study or the equivalent) in the language of the area of focus.  In addition, the student will demonstrate reading ability in one other Asian language (normally, two years of language study or the equivalent) and reading ability in either French or German.

The student is also expected to acquire competence in one or more of the non-Buddhist religions found in the area of focus, for example: Hinduism, Jainism, Daoism, Confucianism, or Shinto. This can be accomplished through additional seminars, directed reading, a field exam focus, and/or enrollment in upper division courses. 

Students will normally spend at least one academic year in their region of focus: India, Thailand, Tibet, China or Japan. 

Note that it is also possible for a graduate student to make Buddhist Studies a central focus while working in one of the other concentrations within Religious Studies, for example, South Asian Religions or Philosophy of Religion.

Students with minimal or no language skills appropriate to the Asian area in which they plan to focus their graduate study of Buddhism are urged to acquire an Asian language focused  M.A. either at UCSB or elsewhere before entering the Buddhist Studies PhD concentration.  At UCSB this can be accomplished either in the Department of Religious Studies or in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, depending on the language required.

Faculty in the concentration: Professors Cabezón, Hillis, Powell, Wallace, and Yang

Mediterranean and West Asian Religions

The designation Mediterranean and West Asian Religions includes the study of Hebrew, Jewish, Zoroastrian, early Christian, Greek, Roman, and Islamic religious traditions. Advanced work at UCSB currently focuses in three subject areas: Hebrew/Jewish Studies, Hellenistic Religions/Early Christianity, and Islamic Studies. Students concentrating in these areas are expected to pursue the following:

Philological and Linguistic Training: A minimum of two years or the equivalent in one of the following, determined by subarea: Classical Hebrew, Classical Greek, Classical Latin, Classical Arabic. Knowledge of other primary languages may also be required, depending on subarea and research topic. These include Northwest Semitic languages, Syriac Coptic, modern Hebrew, and colloquial Arabic (or another major language used in the Muslim world). Demonstrated scholarly reading competence in a modern research language, either French or German, is also required. This must be accomplished in accordance with the stated departmental schedule.

Historical Training: A working knowledge of the history of the Mediterranean and West Asian region is required of all students, including a familiarity with primary and secondary scholarship related to the main religious texts in the various traditions. In addition, students should be familiar with the general history of religions and the manner in which recent work in phenomenology of religion, ritual studies, comparative mythology, and comparative studies generally relates to research in this cultural area. Preparation for this component of the program can be done through courses, seminars or guided reading programs in religious studies or cognate fields.

Social-Anthropological Training: Students are also required to be familiar with recent social-anthropological work in Mediterranean and West Asian societies (e.g., Geertz, Bourdieu, Eisenstadt).

Intern Year: Students in this area should also spend one academic year in a country relevant to their research interests, if applicable, or briefer periods of fieldwork or historical study in an appropriate location abroad. The University of California Education Abroad Program (EAP) operates study centers in Cairo, Jerusalem, and Rome and a study program in Ankara.

Faculty in the concentration: Professors J. Campo, M. Campo, Friedland, Garr, Hecht, Holdrege, Reynolds, Thomas

South Asian Religions

M.A./Ph.D. and Ph.D students specializing in South Asian religions in the Department of Religious Studies are expected to obtain expertise in the history, texts, and languages of South Asian religious traditions along with an understanding of contemporary issues in South Asian religions and cultures. The UCSB graduate program has faculty resources to support specialization in the following traditions:

• Hindu Traditions: Barbara A. Holdrege, David G. White
• Sikh Traditions: Gurinder Singh Mann
• South Asian Islamic Traditions: Juan E. Campo
• South Asian Buddhist Traditions: Vesna Wallace, David White
• Tibetan Buddhist Traditions: José Ignacio Cabezón, Greg Hillis, Vesna Wallace

Upon entering the graduate program in the Department of Religious Studies, each graduate student will be assigned a faculty mentor, who will assist the student in planning a program of study that accords with his or her area of specialization within South Asia. Once the student has selected his or her principal faculty advisor, who will chair the M.A. or Ph.D. committee, the faculty advisor will assume the advisory role previously assumed by the faculty mentor.

The graduate program requirements for students specializing in South Asian religions include the following components:

• Core Seminars
• Advanced Seminars and Additional Coursework
• Language Courses
• Field Research

Core Seminars

All graduate students must complete five out of the following core seminars. Each student will consult with his or her faculty advisor in order to determine which five of the core seminars are required for the student’s area of specialization within South Asia. These seminars constitute the core curriculum of the graduate program in South Asian religions, which is designed to give students a broad historical overview of the major texts and traditions of South Asia. The core seminars will generally be offered over the course of a three-year cycle.

• Religious Studies 206B. Seminar on Vedic Traditions (Holdrege)
• Religious Studies 206C. Seminar on Epic Traditions (White)
• Religious Studies 206D. Seminar on Bhakti Traditions (Holdrege)
• Religious Studies 213A. Seminar in Sikh Studies (Mann)
• Religious Studies 209A. Seminar on South Asian Islamic Traditions (Campo)
• Religious Studies 208. Seminar on South Asian Buddhist Traditions (Wallace) or Religious Studies 254A. Seminar on Tibetan Buddhist Traditions (Cabezón)

Ph.D. students who previously completed a graduate seminar in one of the areas covered by the core seminars, as part of their Master’s work at another university prior to enrolling at UCSB, may petition to have the non-UCSB seminar count towards the fulfillment of that particular core seminar requirement. In such cases, the student will select, in consultation with his or her advisor, an advanced seminar to substitute for the particular core course requirement.

All students—whether M.A./Ph.D. or Ph.D.—are expected to complete a minimum of five graduate seminars in the area of South Asian religions during their graduate studies at UCSB.

Advanced Seminars and Additional Coursework

In addition to the core curriculum, each graduate student is expected to plan a program of study, in consultation with his or her faculty advisor, that includes a series of advanced seminars in his or her area of specialization within South Asia. The faculty advisor may also recommend the completion of a number of undergraduate courses to fill in gaps in the student’s knowledge of South Asian religions. The following advanced seminars are currently offered in the department:

• Religious Studies 206E. Seminar on Tantric Traditions of South Asia (White)
• Religious Studies 206G. Seminar on Hindu Discourses of the Body (Holdrege)
• Religious Studies 206H. Seminar on Pilgrimage Traditions of South Asia (Holdrege)
• Religious Studies 206F. Seminar on Philosophical Traditions of South Asia (Wallace)
• Religious Studies 206I. Seminar on Comparative Ethics in South Asia (Wallace)
• Religious Studies 256. Seminar in Jain Studies (Wallace)
• Religious Studies 213B. Seminar on Religion and Society in the Punjab (Mann)
• Religious Studies 209B. Seminar on Hindus and Muslims in South Asia (Campo)
• Religious Studies 254B. Seminar on the Study of Tibet from the Missionaries to Cultural Studies (Cabezón)
• Religious Studies 254C. Seminar on Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy (Cabezón)
• Religious Studies 206J. Seminar on Contemporary Issues in South Asian Religions (Holdrege, Juergensmeyer, Mann, White)

Language Courses

All graduate students are expected to learn at least two Asian languages and to pursue one of the following language tracks. Each student will consult with his or her faculty advisor in order to determine which program of language study is most appropriate for the student’s area of specialization within South Asia.

Hindu Studies
Track 1: Classical Hindu Studies. Students focusing on the study of classical Hindu textual traditions are required to complete the following language training:
• Four years of Sanskrit
• Two years of Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi, or another modern South or Central Asian language
Track 2: Modern Hindu Studies. Students focusing on the study of modern Hindu traditions are required to complete the following language training:
• Three years of Sanskrit
• Three years of Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi, or another modern South or Central Asian language

Sikh Studies
Track 3: Classical Sikh Studies. Students focusing on the study of classical Sikh or Punjabi textual traditions are required to complete the following language training:
• Three years of Sanskrit and Persian (with the option of either two years of Sanskrit and one year of Persian, or one year of Sanskrit and two years of Persian)
• Two years of Punjabi
• One year of Hindi-Urdu
Track 4: Modern Sikh Studies. Students focusing on the study of modern Sikh or Punjabi traditions, either in the Punjab or in the diaspora, are required to complete the following language training:
• Two years of Sanskrit or two years of Persian, or a combined program of one year of Sanskrit and one year of Persian
• Three years of Punjabi (including one year of language study in the Punjab)
• One year of Hindi-Urdu

Islamic Studies
Track 5: Transregional Islamic Studies. Students focusing on the study of South Asian Islamic traditions in the broader context of their interconnections with the Arab and Persian Middle East are required to complete the following language training:
• Four years of Arabic
• Two years of literary Persian
Track 6: Regional Islamic Studies. Students focusing on the study of Islam within the South Asian region are required to complete the following language training:
• Three years of Arabic
• Three years of literary Persian or three years of Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi, or another modern South Asian language

Buddhist Studies
Track 7: South Asian Buddhist Studies. Students focusing on the study of South Asian Buddhist traditions are required to complete the following language training:
• Four years of Sanskrit (including Pali and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit)
• Two years of a second Asian language relevant to the study of Buddhist traditions (for example, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean)
Track 8: Tibetan Buddhist Studies. Students focusing on the study of Tibetan Buddhist traditions are required to complete the following language training:
• Four years of Tibetan
• Two years of a second Asian language relevant to the study of Buddhist traditions (for example, Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean)

Language Study Outside UCSB

UCSB currently offers classroom instruction in the following languages: Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi, Tibetan, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. If a graduate student’s area of research requires training in other languages, such as Tamil, Bengali, Nepali, Mongolian, or Sinhala, the student may arrange to study these languages in language training programs outside UCSB. A number of options are available for language training outside UCSB:
• Year-long or summer intensive programs at the University of California, Berkeley.
• Summer intensive programs at the University of Wisconsin or at other universities or institutes in the United States.
• Year-long or intensive programs at a university or institute in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, or Mongolia.

Field Research

All graduate students are required to undertake a period of field research in South Asia. The duration of residency in South Asia and the specific nature of the student’s field research will be determined in consultation with his or her faculty advisor.

East Asian Religions

The designation East Asian Religions includes the study of Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist, Shinto, and folk religious traditions in China and Japan. Students concentrating in this cultural area are expected to pursue the following:

Philological Training: Two or more years of modern Chinese or Japanese (written or spoken) are required of all students, depending on the area of focus (China or Japan). Two years or the equivalent of Classical Chinese are also required. Students focusing on China must pass a reading examination in Japanese, which may be accepted as one of the two languages for the general departmental requirement. Spoken Japanese is strongly recommended.

Historical and Philosophical Training: A basic working knowledge of the history of East Asia is required of all students, including a thorough familiarity with the history of philosophy in China and Japan and the manner in which issues in East Asian thought relate to issues in comparative philosophy generally. Students should also have a working knowledge of the general history of religions and the manner in which comparative studies in general relate to the East Asian area. Students may prepare themselves for this component of the program through courses, seminars, or guided reading programs in religious studies and/or cognate fields.

Social-Anthropological Training: Students should also be familiar with approaches to East Asian studies that focus on social life, kinship systems, ritual behavior, and so forth, or, in other words, current sociological and anthropological approaches to East Asian studies.

Intern Year: Students should spend at least one academic year at an EAP study center in China or Japan.

Faculty in the concentration: Professors Powell, Wallace, Yang, and Grapard (East Asian Studies)

Religion in America

The Religion in America field offers a culture- and place-sensitive approach to the study of religion. Different from the approaches that emphasize the study of one or another of the traditions, the Religion in America field examines any, several, or all traditions within the domain of its scholarship. It examines, too, the forms of religiosity that represent no tradition at all, that arise in the interstices between traditions, and that are generated through cultural phenomena of various sorts. Such examination involves attention to ideas, practices, general ethos, and surrounding context. Primarily this field focuses on the United States, but its scope can be extended transnationally, either across the Atlantic or the Pacific or to the Americas more generally. Study in the field covers the meaning and power of religious movements and traditions within national and/or transnational contexts. Attention is given to the diversity of religious life in its historical and sociological contexts, both in popular expression and more organized institutional forms (pluralism). The field also inquires about and charts the stories of conflict and contest that are part of its subject matter. And it emphasizes, too, the combinative projects that are an important part of the story of American religiosity (postpluralism). As a field of study, religion in America is multifaceted and interdisciplinary, encompassing historical, sociological, ethnographic, comparative, literary, media-driven, and region-centered studies.

Students in this concentration are expected to complete course work in both historical and sociological approaches to religion in the Americas. Whatever their special focus and particular program (to be determined in consultation with the student's advisor and the appropriate committee), all students should take:

• the two-quarter historical survey of religion in the United States (RS 151A and RS 151B)
• one course in the sociological study of religion in the United States (RS 240)
• one course in African American, Asian American, Latina/o, or Native American religion(s) (RS 191A, RS 247, RS 266R, others as offered)
• one or two methods courses, depending on planned dissertation focus. Students with an ethnographic component to their dissertation are required to take an ethnography course in the department (RS 243, RS 267. Students with an historical focus, in whole or in part, are required to take a historiography course (HIST 202, HIST, 292A, HIST 292B, HIST 292C, others as offered in the department).

Faculty in the concentration: Professors Albanese, Busto, Roof, and Taves

Native American Religions

The study of Native American and Indigenous religions is primarily focused on peoples in the Americas, their cultures, worldviews and rituals in the contexts of colonialism, resistance, and hybridity. Emphasis is placed on accommodations to and critiques of modernity and constructions of race/ethnic differences. Students in this area are expected to complete coursework that is historical, theoretical, and linguistic. Students may find it useful to connect Native American and indigenous traditions to the department's strengths in American religion and Christian studies, as well as to take advantage of affiliated faculty across the UCSB campus (Chicano Studies, History, Linguistics, etc.).

Faculty in the concentration: Professors Busto and Talamantez

Christian Traditions

Graduate students opting for the concentration in Christian Traditions for the Ph.D. in Religious Studies are expected to work closely with their advisor to design a program that exhibits both breadth of study of the Christian tradition and depth of specialization in a particular historical period. The requisite breadth and depth can be obtained through a mix of core seminars in aspects of the Christian tradition and upper division undergraduate courses with additional graduate-level requirements. The specific mix of seminars and upper division courses will be determined in consultation with the advisor based on the student’s interests and previous preparation, but in any case should include at least one doctoral seminar in Christianity in a temporal period other than that of the student’s specialization.

The student is normally expected to acquire a general foundation in the history of Christianity as a global tradition and the history of Christian thought at the M.A. level either through M.A. work done elsewhere or through enrollment in upper division courses offered in Religious Studies and History at UCSB. The upper division courses recommended for undergraduate majors specializing in Christian Traditions are highly recommended for graduate students as well (i.e. RS 138 A-B; History 114 A-B-C or RS 127 A-B-C; RS 151 A-B).

Areas of particular strength include:
Ancient – Thomas, Digeser (History), Drake (History)
Medieval – Lansing (History), Farmer (History)
Reformation / Early Modern – Tutino, McGee (History)
Modern – Carlson, Taves
North American – Taves, Albanese, Busto, Talamantez, Kline (History)
*East Asian –Powell, Yang, Wallace.
*South Asian – White, Holdrege, Mann.

*Students interested in focusing on Christianity in East Asia or South Asia should discuss their interests with faculty in the area to determine if there are sufficient resources for doing so, given the student’s background and previous preparation.

Students will be expected to gain a high degree of fluency in the language(s) of the area of focus, in addition to the departmental requirements in French and German.

The student is also expected to acquire competence in at least one non-Christian religion found in the area of focus, for example, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, or an indigenous tradition. This can be accomplished through additional seminars, directed reading, a field exam focus, and/or enrollment in upper division courses.

Note that it is also possible for a graduate student to make Christianity a central focus while working in one of the other concentrations within Religious Studies, for example, Mediterranean and West Asian Religions, Religion in America, Native American Religion, and, with appropriate preparation, East Asia or South Asia. It is also possible to combine the study of Christianity with a doctoral emphasis in Global Studies, European Medieval Studies, Women’s Studies, or Translation Studies.

Faculty in the concentration: Professors Busto, Carlson, Taves, Thomas, Tutino