Welcome Message from The Head of Department- Religious And Cultural Studies
Welcome, all of you to the new academic year! We are thrilled to be partnering with you as you participate in an exciting educational journey of discovery. Whether you are a staff, returning, first-year, or transfer student, you will find unlimited opportunities to enjoy campus life by learning, exploring, and engaging together.
We encourage one another to celebrate our differences and to foster a university community free of intolerance and discrimination. Together we work to promote a campus climate that is respectful, civil, supportive, and safe. These core values allow us to provide a living and learning environment where we can all pursue our dreams and reach our highest potential.
Your success is central to our mission. We are here to support you every step of the way in your journey to the graduation stage.
Prof. Chike A. Ekeopara
Head of Department
| Course Codes | Course Titles | Credit Hours |
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Mission / Vision / Philosophy / Objective
Mission
i. Advancement of knowledge through research
ii. Dissemination of knowledge through teaching
iii. Training of competent manpower for national development
iv. Service to the community
v. Promotion of creativity, hard work, self-actualization, patriotism and national consciousness
Vision
To be a Centre of academic excellence in the training of globally competitive graduates who are capable of contributing to human, social and cultural development.
Philosophy
1. The programme is designed to incorporate new ideas that will enhance progressive rationalization and professionalization of Religious Studies. The programme will assist the University to maintain a higher standard of accuracy and scholarship in Religious and Cultural Studies.
2. The primary objective of the Department is academic - that is the pursuit of truth, and the propagation of the virtues of integrity, honesty and patriotic citizenship.
3. The programme will develop in the students the capacity to think clearly and objectively, with a reasonable degree of sophistication about religious and cultural issues, concluding logically from an informed analysis of factual and descriptive situations.
4. The programme will develop in the students the capacity to distinguish between matters of fact and matters of opinion and between scientific (objective) statement and value judgment.
Objective
1. The programme will expand and fortify the intellectual horizon of the students to attain self-actualization, mental flexibility, openness to new ideas and dispassionate neutrality in the comparative study of religion and culture.
2. The programme will sharpen the intellectual potentials of the students to prepare them to be responsible citizens in the service of their country - that is people who can stand up to the spiritual, political and ethical problems that plague the nation.
History
The Department took off during the 1975/76 academic session when the University of Calabar became an autonomous institution like the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy. For three years, the Department ran a combined honours degree in Religious Studies and Philosophy with a handful of academic staff and students in both units. From the inception of the Department the following persons have served as Heads of Department in succession: Dr Laoye, Dr M. O. Ene, Prof. N. S. S. Iwe, Dr Ekarika, Prof. E. M. Uka, Prof. Innocent I. Asuozu, Late Dr E.B. Udoh, Prof. Friday M. Mbon, Prof. C. O. Ijiomah, Prof.PrlncewillAlozie, Prof. Andrew F. Uduigwomen and Prof. Godfrey O. Ozumba.
With the splitting of the Department in 2008, Prof.Essien A. Offiong was appointed as the pioneer Head of the Department for the newly established Department of Religious and Cultural Studies. In October 2013, he was succeeded by Prof. Christian O. Uchegbue as Head of Department. In October 2016, Dr Chike A. Ekeopara took over the mantle of leadership of the Department from Prof.Uchegbue and handed it to Prof, G. U. Ntamu in 2018. There are thirty-one (31) lecturers in the Department.
The student population at the undergraduate level now stands at about three hundred. Many of the graduates of the Department are presently occupying responsible positions in society. The Bachelor of Arts in Christian Religious Studies was approved by Senate and National Universities Commission in 2007 to create a platform for the academic study of Christianity.
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