4+1 Graduate Program with Grand Valley State University

The Department of World Religions and Cultures at Western Michigan University is pleased to announce the creation of a 4+1 graduate program with the Department of Religion at Grand Valley State University. Under this program, students majoring in religion at GVSU will be able to transfer up to 12 credit hours of work towards their master's degree in comparative religion at WMU. The first students to take advantage of the program will begin their graduate studies at WMU in 2019.

Course transfer

Up to six credit hours may be transferred directly for credit from GVSU to WMU upon the successful completion of at least two of the following GVSU courses with a grade of B or better:

REL 305–Christianity: Scriptures and Traditions
REL 306–Hinduism and South Asian Religions
REL 310–Jewish Scriptures and Traditions
REL 335–Sacred Texts, Global Contexts
REL 340–Religion and Popular Culture in the United States
REL 380–Special Topics in Religious Studies

To receive up to six credits at WMU as REL 5000 equivalents, students from Grand Valley State University will be required to submit an examination as defined below for each course for evaluation by the WMU Department of World Religions and Cultures faculty. The work will be graded "credit" or "no credit." "Credit" will be posted on the transcript as "Credit earned by examination" without letter grade or honor points. Examination fees are assessed on a credit hour basis and are the same for all students.

REL 300–Contemporary Theories and Issues in Religious Studies:
Students will be administered an exam by WMU Department of World Religions and Cultures faculty for evaluation.

REL 495–Religious Studies Senior Seminar:
Students will submit their final research paper for this course to the WMU Department of World Religions and Cultures faculty for evaluation.

Questions?

Contact graduate advisor Dr. Anderson Hagler for more information.