Welcome!

In the Department of Religion, faculty and students study the religious traditions of the world and explore the nature and function of religion in human experience. Through multidisciplinary methods engaging sacred text, theology, ritual, belief, culture, history and more, we investigate the ways religion enriches and complicates the lives of people as a major source of people's values, ideals and practices. Students acquire skills in thinking and reading, speaking and writing, how to approach and understand cultures radically different from their own, and learn to listen and understand the differences in and between people.

Religion majors and minors go on to become teachers, pursue law, diplomatic, social and counseling services, journalism and business, while others pursue careers as religious leaders or become active in the non-profit sector, and still others to graduate school in a variety of diverse arenas.

The program in religion is pluralistic and multifaceted. Sacred texts studies are complemented by offerings in theology, ethics, methods and history. Students have the opportunity to study Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, the religious traditions of Native America, and more, as well as to explore the interaction between religion and the contemporary world.