What I learned about Religious Studies

Before this lesson, I thought that Religious Studies was just the study of the belief systems themselves, and I did not consider that the people, culture, and society that a religion exists in are an important part of the academic study of religion. Now I am aware of the multifaceted aspects of religious studies. I have learned that religious studies incorporates other subjects such as anthropology, sociology, art, and history. The academic study of religion also attempts to look at religion from an unbiased lense (as much as we can) as opposed to the study of theology. I am excited to think analytically and comparatively about religion and culture moving forward in this class.

What worked well was slowly digesting the articles and the video from today. It helped to make sure that I understood what I am learning in this class. Something I would change next time is that I could jot down notes while I read, so that I remember what stood out to me as important.