Major: Religious Studies
Minor: Religious Studies
Program Director: Dr. Brock Bingaman, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Faculty
Religious Studies is the critical inquiry into cultural expressions – such as myth, ritual, symbols, and sacred texts – that address fundamental human concerns. The student of religion develops a broad methodological base from areas such as history, philosophy, sociology, and literature to address comprehensively and cross-culturally such issues as the origins of religious communities, their similar and divergent practices and beliefs, and their literature. For information about specific courses offered, please see our Academic Catalogue.
Faculty
 Michael P. Muth Associate Professor of Philosophy. B.A. (Philosophy) University of the South 1989; Ph.D. (Philosophy) Duke University 2001. My primary research focus is medieval metaphysics and ethics, especially the work of Bonaventure. This research has led to further interest in the contemporary revival of virtue ethics and the reclamation of medieval metaphysics and ethics in some contemporary philosophers and theologians (such as Alasdair Macintyre, C.S. Lewis, and the “Radical Orthodoxy” group). Tate 210. mmuth@wesleyancollege.edu
 Vivia Lawton Fowler Professor of Religious Studies, Dean of the College, and Vice President for Academic Affairs. B.A. (Religion and Sociology) Columbia College 1976; M.A. (Religion) The Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary 1980; Ph.D. (Psychological and Philosophical Foundations of Education) The University of South Carolina 1994. My disciplinary interests are in biblical studies, women's studies, and philosophies and practices of religious education. In higher education, I am interested in issues related to student success and retention, especially in the first year of college. Tate 122. vfowler@wesleyancollege.edu
 Brock Bingaman, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. B.A. Religion, Southern Nazarene University; M.Div., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Ph.D., Loyola University Chicago. My research centers on the links between Christian spirituality, theology, and theological anthropology, as well as interreligious dialogue, particularly around various Christian and Muslim mystical traditions. I am also interested in pneumatology, and the influence of eschatology in popular culture. Currently I am editing (with Bradley Nassif) a volume of ecumenical essays on Eastern Orthodox spirituality, The Philokalia: Exploring the Classic Text of Orthodox Spirituality, which is under contract with Oxford University Press (forthcoming 2010). bbingaman@wesleyancollege.edu
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