Philosophy & World Religions

Welcome

As Department Head, I want to be the first to welcome you to the Department of Philosophy & Religion at the University of  Northern Iowa (UNI). 

I have been “at the helm” of this department for almost ten years now, and I am proud of the faculty who teach here and of the students who take our courses.  Professors here are committed to good teaching, and they are all first-rate.  In addition, because we are a relatively small department, with about 75 majors, we get to know our students very well, and we dote on them!  We keep up with our students once they graduate because they become our friends while they are here.  And our students become very accomplished.  Each year we send a few to the best graduate schools in the country, and others we send into good jobs in the business, non-profit, and government sectors.  This department—faculty and students—constitutes a close-knit community committed to the exploration of life’s most important issues and central mysteries.  The study of philosophy and the world’s religions prepares one in deep and long-lasting ways for all that life may hold.  On top of that, our students graduate with well developed critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills—skills which employers in all fields seek.

The department offers two majors—one in Philosophy and one in The Study of Religion.  In addition we offer a minor in each.  Another popular program is the interdisciplinary Ethics Minor.  Students from many different majors take an Ethics Minor.  We think it’s a good thing to take some time in college to reflect on ethical issues that most of us will face at one time or another.  In addition, the department offers a certificate program in Youth Development in Religious Settings, which gives students training to work with young people in churches, YWCA/YMCA, camps, and other religious organizations.

Medium-sized universities are best

One of the most important reasons to attend a medium-sized university such as UNI is that it combines the best of a large state university with the best of a small liberal arts college.  UNI has over 600 faculty members, which means that each department has enough professors to provide many courses and specialized instruction.  For example, many liberal arts colleges have only a few faculty members in either philosophy or religion; we have seven in each. This allows us to teach a host of electives that would not be regularly available from smaller departments.  On the other hand, UNI is not nearly as large as the big state schools, such as those in the Big Ten.  Because we enroll only 11,000-12,000 students, students here are more than simply a number. In fact, we are small enough to keep our average undergraduate class size in the 20s.  So at a medium-sized university like UNI, students get the advantages of a large state school (size of the faculty and a wide range of courses) with the advantages of a small college (small classes and getting to know professors personally).

Please explore our web site, and contact me if you want additional information or have questions.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Betty DeBerg, Ph.D.

Professor of Religion & Head of the Department

betty.deberg@uni.edu