Undergraduate Programs

Student Spotlight

Emma Young

I am in my third year at IU majoring in Religious Studies and Classical Studies. Some things I’m into: incongruity, metatheories, multiculturalism, self/other dichotomies, identity construction, wacky vocabulary, bookshops. How did I end up majoring in Religious Studies? It happened gradually. I came to IU with a strong humanities orientation but not much else in the way of direction. The first Religious Studies class I stepped into captured my attention, and before long I found myself browsing other course offerings. Then I found myself getting all my academic advising in Religious Studies, because it was so personal and helpful. I was impressed with each and every faculty member I encountered, impressed by the overall combination of scholastic integrity and a real commitment to teaching. I met a diverse array of students and became involved in URSA. In the end, I looked around and realized that this was where I wanted to have my home base at IU: a small, friendly department organized around a field that is flexible, inclusive, and multifaceted.

Among the most serendipitous aspects of my career at IU has been my involvement with the IU Ethics Bowl Team. The Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, as part of its annual conference, hosts a one-day undergraduate ethics debate competition. Forty teams from around the country get six weeks to study real cases of ethical difficulty and then meet to lock horns over them. These past two years, I have been fortunate to be a member of IU’s five-person interdisciplinary team, which is sponsored by the Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions. The competition and free travel are certainly great fun, but the preparation itself is uniquely rewarding. I have been inspired by the dedication, thoughtfulness, and sheer brilliance brought to the table by my team members, excellent graduate coaches, and wonderful faculty sponsor (Religious Studies’ own Richard Miller), not to mention the many Poynter Center friends who lend their encouragement and intellectual inspiration to the project. There is nothing like sitting around a table in concentrated discussion of the kinds of issues that challenge us constantly in the newspapers and in our own lives. What I’ve learned from those six weeks easily compares to a good full-semester class. Discovering those ways to combine eye-opening education and plenty of enjoyment is the main thing that makes these years at IU so special.

As a student of Religious Studies I can play with literature and text, history, anthropology, philosophy… the applied and the theoretical, subjectivist and objectivist viewpoints. Right now my interests include religious ethics, value theory, and relations between the religious, modernity, and pluralism. I’m looking forward to being challenged by novel material, inspired by top-notch faculty, enlightened by my brilliant peers, and of course to visiting the office for free coffee. If you see me salivating over the course bulletin in the hall, please say hi!