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2009 Religious Studies Award Paper by Brittany Hickman

FLASHBACK: SPRING 1995 SEMINAR, HEAVENS & HELLS Standing L to R: Steve Smith, Brad Boerner, Niki Lipari, Lynette Ledoux, Emily Crowe, Lottie Bash, Tara Cloud, Elizabeth Young, Richard Grant, Howard Pickett Seated L to R: Clay Cazier, Selah Redhead, Amy Harden, David Fuquay

RELIGIOUS STUDIES, A GROWING AND PRACTICAL FIELD! Click here for press coverage and recent popular articles by faculty.

Religion is a wealth of intriguing phenomena:  Hebrew singing in American synagogues, millions of pilgrims bathing in the Ganges River, a bull sacrifice in a Mexican village, centuries of text-editing by Confucian scholars, Thomas Aquinas writing (and not finishing) the Summa Theologica, the Buddha smiling in a certain way, the "spiritual intoxication" of Sufi mystics, Egyptian women debating the meaning of modest dress, a President or a terrorist saying "God is on our side," a Greek novelist imagining that his savior is tempted by a dream on the threshold of death, a crowd protesting the movie version of that novel . . .

Underlying these phenomena are perennial questions: What are the greatest powers in the world? What are the ultimate goals of human life? Do we have ultimate debts, and if so, what or whom do we owe for them? What is the greatest fulfillment conceivable and how might it be attained? How can we find reliable guidance in life? Is it possible to live in the everyday world, taking care of everyday affairs, while maintaining a commitment to a radically different reality? What is holiness or the sacred? Can we take part in its realization?

Human beings find themselves engaged by such "ultimate" questions; indeed, human life cannot be understood apart from them. Religious studies is dedicated to understanding human life--one's own life included--in this light.

In the Millsaps Religious Studies program, we pay a lot of attention to the Judaic-Christian sources of the Western religions, since members of Western cultures cannot understand themselves or their neighbors very well without appreciating the meaning and historical influence of the biblical traditions. Equally essential to our program, however, is the study of religious traditions from all over the world. This is a must for all who wish to participate intelligently in an emerging global civilization marked by religious diversity.

S.L.A.C.K.E.R. Frisbee Invasion of the Bowl, April 2007