Â鶹AV

The Faculty of Religious Studies has a long and distinguished history at Â鶹AV and offers programs for those seeking to pursue the academic study of religion at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The Faculty recognizes the crucial role played by religion throughout history, as well as in contemporary society, and focuses on the study and analysis of the world’s religions as phenomena of human society. The Faculty takes a multi-disciplinary approach to religious scholarship, incorporating a wide range of perspectives and methods.

The programs of study explore the many cultural, historical and political issues related to both Eastern and Western religions and to religion in comparative perspective. The Faculty has four major teaching areas: (1) Asian Religions, (2) Biblical Studies, (3) Christian Thought and History, and (4) Religion and Culture. Currently, the Faculty of Religious Studies offers or contributes to six degrees — B.A., B.Th., and M.Div. (in affiliation with the Montreal School of Theology), as well as the graduate degrees S.T.M., M.A. and Ph.D. The B.A. Honours, Major, and Minor programs in Religious Studies are offered in cooperation with the Faculty of Arts.

Students in the Faculty develop expertise in one or more of the areas of Religious Studies at the undergraduate and graduate level. In the B.Th./M.Div. program, students prepare for the ordained ministry and for other professional careers in pastoral settings such as hospitals and schools.

The Colleges affiliated with the Faculty are the Montreal Diocesan Theological College of the Anglican Church of Canada; the Presbyterian College, Montreal; the United Theological College of the United Church of Canada. They are all located close to the University campus.

The Faculty of Religious Studies is also the home of Â鶹AV’s Centre for Research on Religion/Centre de Recherche sur la Religion. CREOR coordinates and supports research on the main religions of the world, their differences and their common grounds, and how they contribute to a better understanding of past and present-day culture, ethics and politics.