The graduate department formerly called the Committee on Higher Degrees in the History and Philosophy of Religion has been renamed the Committee on Higher Degrees in the Study of Religion, the faculty announced this week.

The change reflects the department's gradual shift away from philosophy and toward sociology. This evolution has taken place since the formation of the department in 1934, but more particularly since 1955, when the scope of the courses was explicitly redefined.

Krister Shendahl, John H. Morison Professor of New Testament Studies, explained that the former title too heavily emphasized the philosophical aspect, and did not do justice to those scholars concentrating in Akkadian, Sumerian, and Religion and Society.

The program in religions is jointly sponsored by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education.