The School of Theology is committed to the task of integrating the various areas of theological study within a basic core curriculum.

Drawing on the distinctive strengths of the School of Theology and the environmental studies program and affiliated departments of the College of Arts and Sciences, the M.A. with a concentration in religion and the environment is a flexible program that utilizes Sewanee’s unique ability to contribute to an internationally recognized and vibrant field of interdisciplinary inquiry. After a basic grounding in the tools of biblical studies, theology, and ethics, distribution requirements guide students so they are exposed to a variety of perspectives on environmental issues, ranging from the “hard sciences” to policy studies. Further elective work within the concentration allows the student to pursue specific interests, and a research project serves as the capstone in the concentration.

The University is home to the Center for Religion and Environment (CRE). CRE's threefold mission is to help students and the broader community integrate religious belief with care for the environment, to prepare students across the curriculum for environmentally conscientious work and ministry, and to serve as a focal point for University-wide initiatives related to religion and the environment. 

Core CURRICULUM
Old Testament I: From Prehistory to the Promised Land Old Testament II: Prophets, Exile, and Aftermath
New Testament I: The Gospels in Context New Testament II: The Gospel after Jesus
Church Histories I: Asia & Africa Church Histories II: Europe & America
Systematic Theology I Introduction to Moral Theology
Research Project
ELECTIVE CURRICULUM
Environmental Theology (Select One) Environmental Science (Select One)
Many Sides of Sustainability Field Investigations in Biology
God and Nature Advanced Conservation Biology
Readings in Contemporary Eco-Theology Ecology (Lab)
Creation, Evolution, and God Biodiversity: Pattern & Process (Lab)
Reading in Teilhard de Chardin Introduction to Forestry (Lab)
Physical Geology (Lab)
Environmental Policy (Select One)
Water Resource Policy & Law Comparative Religious Environmentalism (Select One)
International Environmental Policy Religion Environmentalism
Environmental Policy & Law Religion & Ecology
Environmental Economics Buddhism and the Environment
Environmental Ethics (Select One) Additional Approved Electives (Twelve Hours)
Environmental Ethics (PHIL 230)
Environmental Ethics (CEMT 560)
Climate Ethics

 

Learning Outcomes

  1. Students demonstrate a knowledge of religious heritage.

  2. Students demonstrate academic proficiency in theological disciplines in order to produce a thesis or capstone project in their chosen field of study. 

  3. Students will demonstrate an advanced degree of competence in the synthesis of religious traditions with environmental studies and practical environmental issues.

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Live Together In Unity

Commitment to Diversity

What does it mean to be the University of the South? The answer to that question changes from one generation to the next and from one individual to the next. Being “of the South” means that we are both the beneficiaries and the critics of a rich tradition. While we are deeply invested in this region, we also engage with other communities, locally and globally. Diversity and variety—of the South and of the world—inform and underpin our institution, and all our community’s citizens must confront this question on some level.

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Inclusive Language Policy

Language matters. It shapes our sense of reality and is therefore crucial for our understanding of God and others. Through language we forge and maintain our relationships with God and one another.

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The Roberson Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation

The Roberson Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation at the University of the South is a six-year initiative investigating the university’s historical entanglements with slavery and slavery’s legacies. Our Project’s name memorializes the late Professor of History, Houston Bryan Roberson, who was the first tenured African American faculty member at Sewanee and the first to make African American history and culture the focus of their teaching and scholarship.

About the Project