Nathan Katz, chairman of FIU's Department of Religious Studies, sees the increased enrollment as a sign of the resurgence of spirituality in the last decade.

''We are the most technically advanced in the world and we are also the most religious, by many measures,'' he says.

Gen Y'ers -- who at about 70 million number almost as many as their Boomer parents -- also seek religion classes out of curiosity and a need to understand current events.

Piedmont, trained in personality psychology and motivation, considers spirituality a fundamental component of o­ne's makeup, as much as other characteristics psychologists usually measure when developing personality profiles: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.