Religious and Theological Studies

Religious and Theological Studies Minor

Religion’s Influence on Life

A minor in religious and theological studies will help you round out your academic career with an understanding and intellectual grasp of religion as a part of human life and its development.

You may take any four courses in religious and theological studies beyond the introductory course (RTS 1100, RTS 1001 or RTS 1000/15xx).

The minor requires completing a minimum of 14 credits at the 2000 level or above. You may take one course from an approved list of courses outside the department to complete the requirements.

More Information

For more information about majors and minors at Merrimack, consult the online course catalog.

<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,2405,1603/ignore_cropper/1/20554_T4G_01_1909xx.rev.1568915747.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack Closes Record-Breaking Campaign with Evening of Celebration</h3><p><p> Merrimack College marked the close of its record-breaking <em>Together for Good</em> fundraising campaign with an elegant <em>Together We Did</em> finale celebration Sept. 12, 2019 to honor the incredible generosity and support of the Merrimack community. More than 350 guests, including alumni, friends, faculty and staff, gathered on campus to reflect on the monumental accomplishments of the campaign.</p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4804-merrimack-closes-record-breaking-campaign-with" role="button" title="Merrimack Closes Record-Breaking Campaign with Evening of Celebration" aria-label="Merrimack Closes Record-Breaking Campaign with Evening of Celebration">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2400/ignore_cropper/1/20464_Pedro_02_190829.rev.1567024086.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Good Deed Multiplying into More Good Deeds</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pedro Lugo ’21 gave away a ticket to a Red Sox game and in return received a new perspective on the plight of homeless people in the Greater Boston region. Now Lugo and his friends are on a mission to alleviate the suffering of those who live on the streets.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4792-good-deed-multiplying-into-more-good-deeds" role="button" title="Good Deed Multiplying into More Good Deeds" aria-label="Good Deed Multiplying into More Good Deeds">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,259/ignore_cropper/1/20522_We_Are_One_5.rev.1568156589.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack Climbs U.S. News & World Report’s Ranking of Best Colleges</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merrimack College continued its steady climb up U.S. News & World Report magazine’s Best Colleges rankings this year, leaping from 50th a year ago to 46th on the 2020 list released Monday Sept. 9. It also listed the Merrimack among the top 10 most innovative regional universities.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4800-merrimack-climbs-us-news-world-reports-ranking" role="button" title="Merrimack Climbs U.S. News & World Report’s Ranking of Best Colleges" aria-label="Merrimack Climbs U.S. News & World Report’s Ranking of Best Colleges">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
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<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,29,1369,1400/ignore_cropper/1/20394_Leslie_Reynolds.rev.1564584206.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack Alum Serving as Interim Chief Ranger at Yellowstone</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Leslie Reynolds ’91 has traded great white sharks for grizzly bears this summer while she takes a break from her job as chief ranger at the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/caco/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Park Service’s Cape Cod National Seashore</a> to serve as the interim chief ranger at <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Yellowstone National Park</a>.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4772-merrimack-alum-serving-as-interim-chief-ranger-at" role="button" title="Merrimack Alum Serving as Interim Chief Ranger at Yellowstone" aria-label="Merrimack Alum Serving as Interim Chief Ranger at Yellowstone">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,300,450/ignore_cropper/1/20490_Hobson_Hallie_Credit_Julie_Skarratt_2016_1.rev.1567603752.png'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Defender of the Arts to be Guest Speaker at This Year’s Convocation</h3><p>Merrimack College is honored to welcome a tireless defender of arts, the poet and playwright Hallie Hobson, as its guest speaker for this year’s Convocation at <a href="https://merrimackathletics.com/facilities/?id=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hammel Court</a> in the Merrimack Athletic Center Thursday, Sept. 5 at 4 p.m. </p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4797-defender-of-the-arts-to-be-guest-speaker-at-this" role="button" title="Defender of the Arts to be Guest Speaker at This Year’s Convocation" aria-label="Defender of the Arts to be Guest Speaker at This Year’s Convocation">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,259/ignore_cropper/1/20506_We_Are_1_190903.rev.1568037842.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack Students Start School Year in Search of Knowledge and Wisdom</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merrimack College started the 2019-2020 school year with its traditional Academic Convocation and Mass of the Holy Spirit, encouraging students to recognize the many opportunities for personal, academic and spiritual growth available to them; and to work in union with the supportive community willing to help them make the world a better place, while becoming better versions of themselves.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4798-merrimack-students-start-school-year-in-search-of" role="button" title="Merrimack Students Start School Year in Search of Knowledge and Wisdom" aria-label="Merrimack Students Start School Year in Search of Knowledge and Wisdom">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1700,917/ignore_cropper/1/20321_Cailin_Currie_Swims.rev.1561127682.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Hitting her Stride in Berlin, Sophomore Looking to Paralympics</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cailin Currie ’21 recently returned from the Paralympics World Series in Berlin where she competed in the tune-up swimming meet leading into qualifying races for next summer’s Paralympics games in Tokyo.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4752-hitting-her-stride-in-berlin-sophomore-looking-to" role="button" title="Hitting her Stride in Berlin, Sophomore Looking to Paralympics" aria-label="Hitting her Stride in Berlin, Sophomore Looking to Paralympics">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,600/ignore_cropper/1/20458_Andrea_Cohen.rev.1566911714.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>New Poetry from Writers House’s Andrea Cohen</h3><p><p> Andrea Cohen, executive director of <a href="/academics/the-writers-house/index.php">The Writers House</a> at Merrimack College, marked the publication of her sixth book of poetry, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nightshade-Andrea-Cohen/dp/1945588357/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Andrea+Cohen&qid=1563909643&s=books&sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Nightshade”</a> this week.</p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4788-new-poetry-from-writers-houses-andrea-cohen" role="button" title="New Poetry from Writers House’s Andrea Cohen" aria-label="New Poetry from Writers House’s Andrea Cohen">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,410,300/ignore_cropper/1/20535_40under40a.rev.1568319260.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack Trustee and Bouchard Center Director Named to Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Boston Business Journal recently named Merrimack College Trustee Marques D. Torbert and Michaele Morrow, managing director of the Bouchard Center in the Girard School of Business to its <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2019/08/26/meet-the-bbjs-2019-40-under-40-honorees.html?iana=hpmvp_bost_news_headline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">prestigious 40 Under 40 list</a>.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4801-merrimack-trustee-and-bouchard-center-director" role="button" title="Merrimack Trustee and Bouchard Center Director Named to Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40" aria-label="Merrimack Trustee and Bouchard Center Director Named to Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1800,1798/ignore_cropper/1/20408_Global_Mgmt_Winners_190719.rev.1565274473.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Sustainable “Glamping” Plan Earns Honors at Global Symposium</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Two students from Merrimack College competing against peers from around the world earned top honors in the international 2019 X-Culture Global Symposium business management competition in Calgary, Canada in July.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4780-sustainable-glamping-plan-earns-honors-at-global" role="button" title="Sustainable “Glamping” Plan Earns Honors at Global Symposium" aria-label="Sustainable “Glamping” Plan Earns Honors at Global Symposium">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,576,1024/ignore_cropper/1/20387_Flying_Squirrels_01.rev.1563798135.JPG'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Research into Squirrels Takes Flight on Campus</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instruction/Liaison Librarian <a href="/live/profiles/1623-catherine-wong/_p/s">C.J. Wong</a> led a team of three students and two assistant professors in the installation of nesting boxes for flying squirrels in the woods behind parking lot K this summer, to learn whether there are any of the nocturnal animals in the area.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4769-research-into-squirrels-takes-flight-on-campus" role="button" title="Research into Squirrels Takes Flight on Campus" aria-label="Research into Squirrels Takes Flight on Campus">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
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Religious and Theological Studies Minor

Religion’s Influence on Life

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