Religious Literacy: Traditions and Scriptures
Learn how religion influences culture
Led by Harvard faculty, this course will help you learn to better understand the complex ways that religions function in historic and contemporary contexts.
5-10 hours a week
5–10 hours per week
What You'll Learn
The study of religion is the study of a rich and fascinating dimension of human experience that includes but goes well beyond beliefs and ritual practices. In this religion course, learners explore case studies about how religions are internally diverse, how they evolve and change through time, and how religions are embedded in all dimensions of human experience. We’ll explore these tenets through the lens of scripture and through themes such as gender and sexuality, art, violence and peace, science, and power and authority.
Join me and peers from around the world to embark on this journey to better understand religion in human affairs.
This course is part of the World Religions Through Their Scriptures series.
The course will be delivered via edX and connect learners around the world. By the end of the course, participants will learn:
- Tools for how to interpret the roles religions play in contemporary and historic contexts;
- How religions are internally diverse
- How religions evolve and change
- How religions are embedded in all human cultures
- The strengths and limitations of learning about religions through their scriptures
Your Instructors
Diane L. Moore
Senior Lecturer and the Director of the Religious Literacy Project
at the Harvard Divinity School.
Read full bio.
Ways to take this course
When you enroll in this course, you will have the option of pursuing a Verified Certificate or Auditing the Course.
A Verified Certificate costs $149 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.
Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.