Morningside University

Morningside University is a private, four-year liberal arts institution in Sioux City, Iowa, affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Morningside University is a private, four-year liberal arts institution in Sioux City, Iowa, affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The Morningside University experience cultivates a passion for lifelong learning and a dedication to ethical leadership and civic responsibility.
The program in Religious Studies at Morningside University challenges students to develop a greater understanding of diverse religious traditions, personal and community ethics, and analytical approaches in the study of religion.

The programmatic mission statement is in line with the University mission statement in so far as it promotes ethical and civic engagement and encourages means of thinking about the role of religion in public and private life. It also supports the vision statement of the University to promote spiritual discernment, critical thinking, and ethical action. We work to accomplish our mission through rigorous academic classes, highly flexible and diversely applicable major and minor, and unique co- and extra-curricular offerings that serve a wide range of students.

The program page on the Morningside website leads with the idea that: “Religious studies majors and minors examine religious beliefs, institutions, and practices using approaches from the humanities, arts, social sciences, and sciences.” This task aligns with the mission of the University by fostering an examination of key human activities that will be a part of students’ lives and careers. The variety of approaches all keep the program accountable to ethical leadership and civic responsibility.

The program seeks to create religious literacy in a broad cross-section of Morningside students, foster religious studies achievements in our minors, and foster fluency in religious studies concepts and practices for majors– preparing them for professional or parochial religious work or a broad range of types of study. Encouraging students to explore new methods of study and applying them to religion in courses from beginning through more advanced work allows this to happen.

The program works to accomplish understanding of the diversity of religious expressions among humans, as well as the way we study religion as scholars. Our students are prepared for careers in religious institutions, non-profits, academia, and service as lay members of a wide variety of religious traditions which makes our approach unique among our neighboring institutions (which are either mostly pre-seminary or theological departments). We are also proud of our intentionally interdisciplinary approach, which allows students to see religious studies as not simply a single method, but a diverse field of inquiry aimed at a better understanding of human beliefs and values.

These goals are internal to the curriculum and program and supported by extra-curricular activities. The Theta Alpha Kappa Religious and Theological Studies Honor Society (TAK) highlights and supports high-achieving religious studies students, regardless of their major or minor status.