Recommendation:

That the L&S Faculty recommend to the Dean approval of a proposal from the advisory committee of the Comparative Study of Religion major and the L&S AP&CC to change the name of the major to Religious Studies.

Rationale:

The proposal to change the name of the CSR major to Religious Studies is reflective of trends in religious studies departments and programs around the country. While many, if not most, programs offer courses in comparative methods for studying religion and some programs continue to require that students take at least one course on a religious tradition or culture outside of their proposed concentration, there are few "Comparative Study of Religion" programs.

The new name, Religious Studies, will allow the development of various tracks within the major that have distinctly different foci and, therefore, will serve the interests of students more effectively. Three tracks are envisioned, with each described briefly.

1. Religious Cultures and Histories - This track will allow students to take one of three approaches: a) study religious cultures and histories across traditions, b) situate their studies in particular historical periods such as ancient world or in cultural complexes such as Native American religions; or c) concentrate their studies on one particular religious tradition such as Islam or Christianity.
2. Religion and the Arts - This track will allow students to integrate interests in religion, visual culture, art history, creative writing, and literature.
3. Religion and the Performing Arts (with the Peck School of the Arts) - This track will allow students to integrate interests in religion with work and study in the performing arts such as photography, dance, film, theater, music, or visual arts.

Finally, the new name will give the program much greater visibility. Recently, a search for "Religion" on the UWM website produced a list of sites with the major's home page as the fifth item on the list after two library resources sites, a reference to a book on Baha'i religion posted on a SOIS website, and the catalog copy for the CSR major. Using the terms "Religious Studies," which is more likely to be used in a search by individuals outside of the university family, the CSR major does not appear at all.