The minor is designed to focus on the intersection of religion and media and to build critical skills in cultural and media literacy. Students are educated on the vital role that religion and media play, historically and in contemporary society, by introducing interdisciplinary perspectives.

The undergraduate minor in religion and media requires a minimum of 18 s.h., including 12 s.h. in courses taken at the University of Iowa. Students must maintain a cumulative g.p.a. of at least 2.00 in all courses for the minor and in all UI courses for the minor. Coursework for the minor may not be taken pass/nonpass.

The Departments of Religious Studies and Communication Studies collaborate to offer the minor in religion and media. The minor is administered by the Department of Religious Studies.

Students completing a communication studies major or a religious studies major also may complete this minor. Students may count up to 6 s.h. of coursework for the religion and media minor with other programs of study. Courses with GE CLAS Core status are excluded from this policy.

The minor in religion and media requires the following coursework. Students must complete at least 6 s.h. in communication studies coursework (prefix COMM) and at least 6 s.h. in religious studies coursework (prefix RELS).

Methods and Approaches in Media Studies Course3
Methods and Approaches in Religious Studies Course3
Themes of Religion and Media Courses6
Religion and Media in Context Courses6
Total Hours18

Methods and Approaches in Media Studies

These courses convey major methodological approaches to the study of media.

One of these:
RELS:1050/POLI:1050Big Ideas: Introduction to Information, Society, and Culture3
COMM:1168Music and Social Change3
COMM:1174Media and Society3

Methods and Approaches in Religious Studies

These courses convey major methodological approaches to the study of religion.

One of these:
RELS:1001Judaism, Christianity, and Islam3
RELS:1015Global Religious Conflict and Diversity3

Themes of Religion and Media

These courses raise broad thematic questions about the relationship of religion and media in diverse historical, geographical, and social contexts.

At least 6 s.h. from these:
RELS:2182/CLSA:2482Ancient Mediterranean Religions3
RELS:2272Gods and Superheroes: Mythologies for a Modern World3
RELS:2930/COMM:2079Digital Media and Religion3

Religion and Media in Context

These courses engage specific historical, geographical, and cultural contexts in which a relationship between religion and media is important. They teach students to think about the way religion and media matter in everyday life.

At least 6 s.h. from these:
RELS:2260/GHS:2260Hard Cases in Healthcare at the Beginning of Life3
RELS:2265/ASP:2265/GHS:2265Hard Cases in Healthcare at the End of Life3
RELS:2877/SPST:2077Sport and Religion in America3
RELS:3243/CLSA:3443Pagans and Christians: The Church from Jesus to Muhammad3
RELS:3247/CLSA:3247Banned from the Bible: Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha3
RELS:3745/AFAM:3245Twentieth- and Twenty-first-Century African American Religion: Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter3
COMM:2080/RELS:2080Public Life in the U.S.: Religion and Media3
COMM:2088Media and Democracy3