Although the university does not offer a bachelor's degree in religious studies, the Individually Structured Major (ISM) affords students an opportunity to pursue the field in depth.

How the ISM Works

The individually structured major is an interdisciplinary degree program based on an individual contractual plan rather than a preset list of courses. The ISM program plan requires course work over two or three disciplines. Students declaring an ISM can list religious studies as one of their declared fields of specialization.

ISM students work with faculty advisors in each discipline to define the individually structured major, which must follow specific guidelines.

The ISM, Religious Studies and Your Career Goals

The ISM program plan must have an academic or career theme that ties course work together. A preparation in Religious Studies is an excellent basis for continuing on to graduate school in any number of fields, such as Religious Studies itself, or literature, art, history, social and political science, anthropology, and others. Students sometimes proceed to seminary programs from UC Denver, armed with critical methodologies that will help them become discerning, well-informed scholars.

All the Details

Read all the details on the ISM degree, and then contact the CLAS Advising Office to declare the major and begin the planning process. Current RLST minors may also want to talk with Religious Studies Director Sharon Coggan about how their earned credits would translate into an ISM.