The purpose of the graduate certificate in Religion and the Public Sphere is to teach students from various disciplines to apply knowledge about the role of religion plays in the public sphere. Students will address the role of religion in political and public spaces where citizens debate public affairs, beyond the theological and private spaces with which religion is ordinarily associated.
In recent years, religion has increasingly been a focus of national and international politics, an important cultural force, and a subject of significant public concern in modern law, policy making, and international relations. The graduate certificate in Religion and the Public Sphere introduces graduate students to contemporary histories of religious influence and to debates out the role of religion in the public sphere, debates about secularism, secularization, and the differentiation between religion and politics. Students will also consider some of the major thinkers and themes of modern religious thought and the economic, political, and legal aspects of the location of religion in the modern world.
Graduates of the certificate will be will be prepared navigate the complex political, social, economic, and legal dimensions of role of religion and its recent resurgence. Students will be able to apply that knowledge to questions concerning religion which they will encounter in a variety of workplace contexts, including, but not limited to, journalism, law, NGOs, and the policy world. Such a credential would also enable degree-seeking students at Virginia Tech and opportunity to formalize their interest in religion and apply for teaching, research, and policy positions that involve the study of religion.
