Fall 2026 Course Descriptions

REL 4300/BIC 4389 Theology in the Public Square: An American Tradition

American public life is marked by polarization and deep disagreements over core values that weaken democratic trust. Academic, systematic, and confessional theologies offer intellectual depth, yet in a pluralistic, politically charged society they often speak past one another, reinforcing division rather than contributing to a shared vision.

This course explores American public theology as a reflective, mediating institution that orients diverse theologies toward a common sense of transcendence and civic involvement. Public theology identifies religious values that can be articulated and deliberated among citizens who do not share ultimate commitments, offering guidance during turbulent times.

Readings are drawn from major figures in American religion as well as voices from philosophy and science that illuminate the transcendent aspirations and moral imagination of public life. Authors include: 

Students will learn to: 1) distinguish public theology from academic, confessional, and other theologies; 2) interpret theological assumptions embedded in American political culture; and 3) assess when religious and moral arguments enrich democratic discourse—and when they divide.

The course is “seminar-styled,” emphasizing primary readings and class discussion.

For further info contact Dr. Charles 'Chuck' McDaniel


BIC 4389 Remixing the BIC: Booktok, Literacy, and New Media

When you think about it, the BIC really is about epic world-building. From the sweeping journeys across space and time in World Cultures to the political intrigue of Social World, from the questions of what makes us human in Natural World to interrogations of justice and power in Rhetoric, the BIC as a program mirrors the fantasy worlds that are so popular in contemporary fiction. In “Remixing the BIC,” we will use popular fantasy (and maybe a little romance) to look back through the epic journey of the BIC, and consider cultures, themes, and concepts through a new lens. What happens if we place a terrifying female pirate at the helm of Arabian Nights? Or if we uncover lost histories of slavery through the lens of Arthurian legend? Could we explore the reality of corrupt regimes through a series of games and trials? We will examine all of this and more as we look at the BIC through fresh eyes.

Remixing genre is only part of the project, however. We will also take on larger conversations about the role of popular culture in academic study. How do we talk about what we read, and what is worth reading? How does new media (such as Booktok and Bookstagram) change the ways we interact with books, welcoming new audiences or reinforcing hierarchies of literary value? Assignments in this class will require you to engage with texts in new ways, and consider what intellectual contributions look like outside the walls of the classroom. You began the BIC seeking the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. We’ll talk about how to continue that journey after Baylor … perhaps with the help of a dragon or two along the way.

For further info contact Dr. Sarah Walden.


BIC 4374: World Cultures V

This course will broadly survey religious cultures in Africa, and the important role that religion has played in relation to the vexing questions of modernity and progress in the continent. In doing so, we will specifically situate Christianity and Islam within African cultural and traditional matrix. We will study the evolutionary and revolutionary trends of African religious cultures – Christianity, Islam, Indigenous African religion (s) – in Africa and interrogate their relationship with topical issues in the continent, including, but not limited to, issues of gender and modernity. There are many questions on the subject that we will not be able to answer in this course, but generating further questions than answers is precisely part of the learning process embraced in this course. 

For further info contact Dr. George Njung.