The religion department offers courses in the study of religious traditions, texts, rituals, and ideas, with a focus on understanding religious life and belief as an enduring concern of the human community. The study of religious texts, practices, and traditions involves recognition of the ways in which religion both shapes and is shaped by changing cultural forms. It involves critical reflection on the role and value of religious communities with respect to contemporary problems and issues. The department is committed to an approach to the study of religion that is critical in the best sense of the word and yet at the same time is empathetic to the claims of the religious traditions and texts under study.