Students will investigate typologies of 'religion', distinguishing between 'world religions' and other 'religions' (particularly indigenous religions), and recognise that these classifications resulted from European colonialism and the encounter of Christianity with other religions (in Asia, the Americas, and Africa). Religions with scriptures, priesthoods, and institutions paralleling those of Biblical traditions were privileged over oral cultures and indigenous religions. Students study methods of textual criticism and historical investigation of the 'origins' of religion, from which emerged the discipline of 'religious studies'.