<p>I am jewish, but i love duke university.</p>
<p>There is no religion requirement. In the past, Duke was affiliated with the Methodist Church, but it is not prevalent nowadays. I heard/mentioned on here that we are no longer affiliated with them, but I can't find any actual document to support me there.</p>
<p>I am Jewish as are a sizable portion of the student body (I heard around 15% but I can't verify that at all - it seems more or less accurate). There is also the Freeman Center for Jewish Life at Duke, which is a big building on campus. I haven't really been active in it, but they definitely have a strong Jewish community. You won't feel uncomfortable as a Jew at Duke. (Even our starting shooting guard, Jon Scheyer, is Jewish)</p>
<p>The two "stars" of the Religion department (Carol & Eric Meyers) specialize in Jewish/Old Testament archaeology; there are several Judaism courses offered, including a certificate program in Judaic Studies...so there are plenty of options if you <em>do</em> want to take a religion class.</p>
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The two "stars" of the Religion department (Carol & Eric Meyers) specialize in Jewish/Old Testament archaeology; there are several Judaism courses offered, including a certificate program in Judaic Studies...so there are plenty of options if you <em>do</em> want to take a religion class.
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<p>I'm taking a class with Carol Meyers now -- she is amazing. One of my good friends took the same class with her last year and loved her -- she is now taking Contemporary Jewish Thought with Eric Meyers (her husband) and loves it. Just throwing that out there.</p>
<p>No, there's no religion requirement, and most people I know never take a religion class while they're here. However, the religion department is outstanding, and some of the religion classes offered are so interesting that they can inspire those who previously had no interest in religion whatsoever (such as myself) to take a religion class -- or several.</p>
<p>I'm Jewish too, by the way. And I've never, ever felt like a minority at Duke. That's a pretty big accomplishment too, because I'm from Long Island (I heard once that in terms of Jews per capita of land, we're second in the world -- first is Israel). I feel like there's a HUGE Jewish population here.</p>
<p>Oh, ok. Because on collegeboard.com it says it's affilitated with the Methodist church.</p>
<p>it was founded under the methodist church, i don't think its still affiliated with them necessarily. i mean, our crest still has a cross and we still have the chapel in the center of campus, but outside of that... not religious at all.</p>
<p>bandcampgirl- are you in Women in Biblical Tradition? I'm absolutely dying to take that...</p>
<p>What is the "official" status regarding affiliation with the Methodist church? People keep asking me if it is and I don't have a good answer to give them...</p>
<p>Duke is very loosely affiliated, but in effect it is nonsectarian. </p>
<p>Emory is also affiliated with the Methodist Church.</p>
<p>Interesting. Thanks for the information!</p>