Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Religion

Director: Duncan Williams, Ph.D.

Faculty

Myron and Marian Casden Directorship of the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life and Professor of Religion: Bruce Zuckerman, Ph.D.*

King Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture and Professor of Religion and American Studies and Ethnicity: Sherman Jackson, Ph.D.*

Knight Chair in Media and Religion: Diane Winston, Ph.D. (Communication and Religion)

John R. Tansey Chair in Christian Ethics and Professor of Religion: Rev. Cecil (Chip) Murray, Rel.D.

Alton M. Brooks Professor of Religion: James Heft, Ph.D.

Leonard K. Firestone Professor of Religion: Donald Miller, Ph.D.

Professors: Lisa Marie Bitel, Ph.D. (History); Ronald R. Garet, Ph.D., J.D. (Law); Paul Lichterman, Ph.D. (Sociology)

Associate Professors: Sheila Briggs, M.A.; Lori Rachelle Meeks, Ph.D. (East Asian Languages and Cultures); Duncan Williams, Ph.D.

Assistant Professors: David Albertson, Ph.D.*; James McHugh, Ph.D.; Megan Reid, Ph.D.; Lei Kwan Rondgao, Ph.D.

Lecturer: Lynn Swartz Dodd, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professors: Katharine Harrington, Ph.D.; Stephen Smith, Ph.D.; Varun Soni, Ph.D.

Emeriti Professors: Robert Ellwood, Ph.D.; Gerald A. Larue, Th.D.; John B. Orr, Ph.D.; J. Wesley Robb, Ph.D., LHD*

Emeriti Associate Professors: John P. Crossley, Jr., Th.D.*; William W. May, Ph.D.; Alvin S. Rudisill, Ph.D.

The School of Religion offers undergraduate courses in biblical studies; ancient near eastern religion, east and south Asian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism; religions in Latin America; contemporary North American religions; the histories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; the sociology of religion; religion and gender; and topics in religious ethics. Courses are designed to facilitate a critical and comparative understanding of religious traditions in the light of the most current scholarship.

Students also have the opportunity to receive regular USC course credit for courses taken at Hebrew Union College. Students have the option to take occasional courses at Hebrew Union College or to declare an emphasis in Judaic Studies (see the requirements indicated below for more information).

Degree Programs

The School of Religion offers the Bachelor of Arts in Religion, the Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Archaeology, a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in Judaic Studies, a minor in religion, a minor in interdisciplinary archeology, an M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion and Social Ethics, a joint Ph.D. with Hebrew Union College, and a dual degree with the USC Gould School of Law.