MTSU’s Religious Studies degree program is celebrating its first anniversary in 2018, and one of its professors explained its growing popularity on a recent “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Dr. Rebekka King

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Rebekka King, an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, first aired May 15 on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and online at www.wmot.org. You can listen to their conversation above.

King teaches an undergraduate course on religion and society at both the honors and non-honors levels. She also will teach a new comparative religions honors course beginning in spring 2019, along with the program’s existing undergraduate comparative religions course.

Her areas of specialization are North American religions, cultural anthropology, sociology of religion, discourse analysis, and religion and diversity in the public sphere.

“Religious studies is a discipline that gives us a lot of experience and knowledge about different traditions,” King said. “No matter what career you’re going to go into, you’re probably going to be interacting with clients, with students, with customers, with employees or employers, patients, various people who come from different traditions.

“Having that capacity to connect to someone and to say, ‘Hey, I understand who you are and what your world looks like,’ what we call cultural literacy, is really valuable.

“We really see religious studies as the ideal second major to go with any discipline or program of study.”

MTSU’s new Religious Studies major is the first for a public university in middle Tennessee. Students can earn a Bachelor of Science or a Bachelor of Arts in the discipline, which is part of the College of Liberal Arts.

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.