Religion and Philosophy

 

The Department of Religions and Philosophy of University of Kashan, after separating from the Department of Theology and Islamic Studies, was considered an independent educational group since 2002 and entered the university's educational and research fields. The history of the Department of Theology goes back to 1992 when it admitted students in the following disciplines: Teaching of Theology as well as Jurisprudence and Islamic law. This department has admitted undergraduate students in Religions and Philosophy since 2004, graduate Religions and Mysticism students since 2002, Philosophy and Islamic Theology for MA since 1997, and also postgraduate students in Religions and Mysticism since 2015.

The department is proud to have collaborated with faculty members of other faculties of University, apart from 6 capable faculty members, especially from faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, Persian literature, Islamic Studies, Arabic literature, as well as professors from nearby universities, (University of Tehran and Qom University of Religions and Denominations). Faculty’s library, with a stock of nearly 20 thousand volumes of books and magazines, and university’s digital and electronic database, has always been an unparalleled support for academic and research activities of professors and students.

The specialized magazines of the Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages: Mystical Studies, Religious Studies, Kashan Studies, and Hadith Studies has been established from the collaboration of the members of this department and other educational departments of the faculty.

The most important goals of formulation of the curriculum for students of Religions and Philosophy:

  1. Increasing students’ knowledge about the religious traditions of the world, from various aspects of history, beliefs, customs and rituals, mysticism, theology, and myths. Also, familiarizing them with sacred religious scripts.
  2. Expanding students’ awareness about mystical traditions associated with world’s important and living religions especially the knowledge of history, literature, beliefs and customs of Sofia valuable resources through the study of their prose and verse
  3. Development and strengthening of comparative studies in religious and mystical areas with various sociological, phenomenological and historical approaches using the works and views of leading national and international researchers in the form of dissertations and homework assignments.
  4. Identifying and introducing the reliable foreign resources required for students and encouraging them to translate specialized books with the supervision and cooperation of the professors of the field.
  5. Promoting and institutionalizing scientific and methodological approaches, away from any criticism and valuation, in introducing various religious and mystical traditions on the one hand, and analyzing and criticizing these traditions in the form of inter-religious studies and impartial comparative studies on the other hand.

Introducing Course Units

Though General and basic unites are common among the five branches of Islamic Studies and Theology, the specialized courses in this field are divided into three broad categories:

  1. Religious Courses

In this regard, apart from the courses about primitive and ancient religions, the students mainly study the history, beliefs, traditions and customs in the world's living religions - religions that already have remarkable followers – based on their origins. In this study, the researcher does not seek to justify or deny a particular religion, but rather to identify and understand common grounds.

The origins of the world's living religions embrace three major geographic areas:

  1. The Middle East religions, which include Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and Zoroastrian.
  2. Far East religions that include Taoist, Confucian, and Shinto.
  3. Indian Subcontinent religions which include Hindu, Buddhist, Jainism, and Sikh.

 

  1. Courses related to mysticism and Sufism

In this section, mainly the history, works, beliefs, and practices of conduct in the most important mystical traditions, especially Sufism through the study and analysis of mystical texts in Persian and English are explored.

  1.  Additional courses

Although the content does not fit into the two previous categories, as a complement to the two main areas, it provides useful information for students in the field and increases the research capabilities of the students. The courses include:

Arabic and English languages and the acquisition of skills in translating and using the main texts of the field are necessary; since most researches in the domains of religions and mysticism are in European languages and most of it in English, improving English language skills in this field is of utmost important, and students generally have more success in teaching, research, and continuing studies in higher education, who can use scriptural and mystical texts in native languages.