Religion Resources

Academic Jewish Studies Internet Directory

This database is a gateway linking students to over 300 research institutes, libraries and online archives covering texts and religious issues related to Jewish traditions. Furthermore, students can join online discussion groups and access scholarly Jewish periodicals through this directory’s link to RAMBI (an online index to journal entries and abstracts).

ATLA Religion Database

As the fundamental international index for world religions, ALTA provides students with extensive data including major religious faiths and beliefs, specific spoken and written languages and religious theologies. This database is available to UTSC students through the UTSC library website, specifically.

Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions E-Book

This online encyclopedia provides students with background information on unfamiliar religions, serving as a great tool for key ideas to further develop research topics. Whenever in doubt, this online E-book can also be used to provide students with detailed definitions and key terminology used in specific religions.

Encyclopedia of Islam

UTSC students can access this online Encyclopedia using the UTSC library website. Being specific to Islamic terminology and texts, students can access scholarly articles and abstracts written by Islamic scholars and include them in their own research proposals.

Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements

The Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements e-book is a useful tool for students in advanced D-level Religion classes who are encouraged to come up with their own unique research proposals. By providing students with modern day religious movements and issues relevant to both Eastern and Western religious traditions, students are provided with unique themes that can be used in their papers.

Handbook of Hindu Mythology

This handbook aids students with understanding the various perspectives and traditions of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.  Students will also have access to detailed spelling and pronunciation guides that can be used during oral presentations and collaborative group work. This is a great primary tool to narrow down the wide range of gods and goddesses present in this religion and grasp the fundamental beliefs relevant to each. Copy of this book is available through the U of T library.

Internet Sacred Text Archive

This site is an online database providing students with significant primary scriptures and texts associated with specific religions. The internet sacred text archive database covers an extensive list of texts including those relevant to Eastern, Western and Traditional religions.

Oxford Biblical Studies Online

The Oxford Biblical Studies Online website provides students with key dates and timelines, key scholars and biblical texts that cover texts including the Old Testament. This is a great resource for students needing in depth research on Christianity as it provides further references and readings in addition to images and maps of the biblical texts to provide students with a visual understanding.

Religion-Online

The Religion-Online database of over 5700 articles and chapters aims to educate a wide range of individuals including professors, students, religious scholars and curious knowledge-seekers, on religious issues and histories over the centuries. It serves as an easy and accessible resource for students to browse through and search texts by author and book or article title.

Religious and Theological Abstracts

This database can be used by students specifically for research assignments involving scholarly journals and abstracts. The literature includes Christianity, Hinduism, Jewish and a host of other world religions. This database is available for UTSC students using the library website.