World Religions is an introductory course that explores the origins and growth of the world’s major religious traditions, including Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Students will engage with both primary sources (sacred texts) and secondary sources (chapters and articles), and class time is centered on discussions in which students are encouraged to ask hard questions, reflect, synthesize, and further deepen their understanding of the material while actively listening to one another. While one of the primary objectives of the course is to acquire a fundamental understanding of the great world religious traditions, the hope is that students will also develop empathy and respect for religious philosophies that may differ from their own belief systems. Additionally, we use this course to further develop and strengthen student writing and thinking skills by completing a variety of writing assignments.