C52, Spring 1999

The Records of the Department of Religion fill sixteen and one-half boxes, spanning the years 1953 to 2004. The bulk of the records dates from the 1990s, with student work and courses during those years especially well-represented. The records are divided into eight subseries: Administrative Records; Correspondence; Visiting Professors; Lectures and Conferences; Faculty Appointments; Courses; Student Work; and Program Review.

Administrative records files span the dates 1972 to 1999 and document the day-to-day operations and structure of the department during those years. Records include annual reports; departmental brochures; class tabulations and course enrollment reports; correspondence regarding the Department's name change; a departmental fact sheet; Department handbooks; a student petition protesting changes in the Department; and materials relating to policies and requirements for majors. These files are arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically within each folder.

Correspondence files span the dates 1969 to 2001 and are divided into five categories: Inter- Department Correspondence; College of Arts and Sciences Correspondence; Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Correspondence; University Correspondence; and Subject Correspondence. These files include both ingoing and outgoing correspondence as well as agendas and minutes from various Department and University meetings. Also included is correspondence regarding faculty positions in Hinduism, Islam and African religions; and correspondence regarding the joint program between Northwestern and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. These files are arranged alphabetically within each category and then chronologically within each folder.

Visiting professor files span the dates 1972 to 1985 and contain correspondence and records regarding visiting professors in the Department. These files are arranged alphabetically by surname and chronologically within each folder.

Lectures and conferences files span the dates 1953 to 2004 and begin with general files arranged chronologically, followed by subject files arranged alphabetically and then chronologically within each folder. These files contain both correspondence and publicity fliers for seminars, lectures and conferences that the Department held.

All of the following folders are restricted and can only be used with permission of the University Archivist. Faculty appointment files span the dates 1968 to 1998 and contain departmental records and correspondence regarding faculty members who were considered for appointment. These files are arranged alphabetically by surname and then chronologically within each folder. Course files span the dates 1973 to 2000 and begin with general files containing materials regarding proposed courses, course descriptions, course listings and syllabi. These are followed by folders for individual courses that contain syllabi, exams and student papers and are arranged by course number and then chronologically. Student work files contain student papers, primarily master's essays and senior theses, and are arranged alphabetically by the student's surname. Program review files span the dates 1985 to 1996 and contain records from program reviews undertaken by the Department and are arranged chronologically.