Miami Plan and CAS Requirements
Are you looking for interesting courses to fill requirements in the Global Miami Plan or CAS's College Requirement? Each year, a few hundred Miami students take courses from the Department of Comparative Religion to satisfy university requirements in the humanities, global perspectives, and intercultural perspectives.
In these courses, you'll learn about different religious traditions, their historical development and social influence, and contemporary conflicts or controversies involving religion. At the same time, you'll develop skills in writing, critical reading, critical thinking, and intercultural competence that will serve you in your professional life.
Miami Plan - Humanities
The Global Miami Plan requires you to complete a 3-hour course in the Humanities. Any one of the following religion courses will satisfy that requirement:
REL 101 - Introduction to the Study of Religion 
Introduces you to the study of religion as a dimension of human culture. Each professor who teaches this course builds their sections around a thematic and methodological framework that reflects their area of expertise.
Topics offered in Spring 2020:
- Section A or B: Empire and American Religion
- Section C: Magic, Religion, and Science
- Section D: Religious "Fundamentalism"
- Section UA or UB: The Power of Religion (sprint course, online)
REL 128 - Religion, Science, and Origins
Introduces you to the science behind the theory of evolution, and analyzes religious controversies around that theory. Team-taught with a professor from the Department of Biology.
REL 133 - Imagining Russia
Surveys Russian history, society, politics, economy, literature, film, and arts from a variety of intellectual perspectives.
REL 203 - Global Religions of India
Explores the major religions of India and their growth outside India. How have these religions changed over time and as they've moved into new places?
REL 254 - Introduction to Russian and Eurasian Studies
Examines the major developments that have shaped Russian and Eurasian culture, society, and politics over the last 1000 years. Integrates perspectives from the social sciences, humanities, and fine arts.
REL 275 - Introduction to the Critical Study of Biblical Literature
Surveys the origins and historical development of the texts—both canonical and non-canonical—that contributed to the formation of the Bible. Introduces you to modern literary and historical-critical methods for studying biblical texts.
REL 286 - Global Jewish Civilization
Explores the long history of encounters between Jews and the various cultures around the globe in which they have lived, from ancient Mesopotamia to modern America. How did the Jewish people persist over the course of 3000 years?
REL 314 - Social and Religious History of the Jewish People
Traces the history of Jews in the Europe, America, and the Middle East, starting in the Enlightenment and with an emphasis on the 20th century. Places the religious history of Jews in larger social and cultural contexts.
Miami Plan - Global
The Global Miami Plan requires you to complete a 6-hour Global Perspectives requirement. You have two options for completing this requirement (unless you're an international student, in which case you have a third option).
Option A - Study Abroad
One way to complete the Global Perspectives requirement is to complete a 6-hour Study Abroad program. Religion professor Nathan French leads a Study Abroad program to the Arabian Gulf each J-term.
Option B - Global Courses
Alternatively, instead of Study Abroad, you can meet your Global Perspectives requirement by taking 6 hours of designated Global Courses. You could fill those 6 hours by taking any two of the following:
REL 133 - Imagining Russia
Surveys Russian history, society, politics, economy, literature, film, and arts from a variety of intellectual perspectives.
REL 203 - Global Religions of India
Explores the major religions of India and their growth outside India. How have these religions changed over time and as they've moved into new places?
REL 286 - Global Jewish Civilization
Explores the long history of encounters between Jews and the various cultures around the globe in which they have lived, from ancient Mesopotamia to modern America. How did the Jewish people persist over the course of 3000 years?
Note: The courses listed above are also designated under the Global Miami Plan as Humanities courses. If you take any of these courses, you can count it for either the Humanities requirement or the Global Perspectives requirement. You cannot count the same course for both requirements.
Miami Plan - Intercultural
The Global Miami Plan requires you to complete a 3-hour Intercultural Perspectives course. Any one of the courses listed below will satisfy that requirement.
If you are a business student, any of these Intercultural Perspectives courses will also count for the FSB Diversity Requirement.
REL 241 - Religions of the American Peoples
Provides an introductory survey of how diverse religious or spiritual traditions practiced in the United States shape the lives of adherents, in areas including diet, dress, sexuality, health, finances, holidays, and life transitions.
REL 313 - Marriage Across Cultures
Engages feminist theory and gender studies to explore the consequences of different types of marital formations (polygamous as well as monogamous) for the lives of women and men in selected Western and non-Western cultures.
REL 342 - Religious Pluralism in Modern America
Examines selected topics (these vary by semester) related to minority religions in the United States today. Students gain theoretical perspective on minority religious experience and/or social challenges occasioned by religious diversity.
CAS-B Humanities
If your major falls within the College of Arts and Science, you must complete CAS's College Requirement. If you are earning a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), the College Requirement includes 9 credit hours taken in the Humanities; this requirement is referred to as CAS-B. The CAS-B Humanities requirement does not apply if you are earning a Bachelor of Science (B.S.).
Any Comparative Religion course—that is, any course with the REL prefix—can count toward the CAS-B Humanities requirement. Of the 9 hours required for CAS-B Humanities, you can take up to 6 hours in REL courses. (The remaining 3 hours would have to come from a different field: history, literature, or philosophy.)
REL courses that satisfy the Global Miami Plan "double-dip" with the CAS-B Humanities requirement, meaning that you can count those courses for both requirements. So if you take two REL courses as you're fulfilling the Global Miami Plan, you will also have fulfilled 6 hours of the CAS-B Humanities requirement.