Certificate in Religious Literacy

About this programme

Planned outage: Beginning Nov. 1, you will not be able to access the USask admission application and event registration system for up to six days. Learn more . The Certificate in Religious Literacy equips students pursuing degrees in law, business, healthcare, social services, education, and public policy with a working knowledge of the beliefs and practices within a variety of religious traditions. Core competencies will include a clear understanding of and appreciation for each religion's internal diversity—intramural distinctions that arise due to intersectional forces shaping believers' interpretation of their faith and its institutions; e.g., forces of gender, race and class, colonial histories, and neocolonial/global economies. This course traces the origins of diverse religious and faith groups in Canada by examining the many ways in which members of these groups developed their collective imaginaries, maintain their inherited beliefs and practices, and reformulate their religious traditions in a distinctly Canadian context. Focusing on history, origin, beliefs, and practices of the world religions and Indigenous traditions that make up the religious landscape of Canada, the course does not espouse a specific understanding of “religion,” or a single theological paradigm. Rather, it engages a variety of academic perspectives to explore intersections of religion and identity in our Canadian context. This course will examine the representations of Islam and Muslims as they appear or are portrayed in the Hollywood film industry. From the early twentieth century up un