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Department of Global Religions

Why should students think about studying Global Religions?

Global Religions opens doors for students to explore the vast diversity of religious experiences and thought around the world.  Students grow as global citizens -- aware, conversant and sensitive to many outlooks and ways of seeing the world. They develop skills most urgently sought after in today's workplaces (critical thinking and problem-solving, fluent communication, ethical awareness, collaborative skill and experience). Courses guide students to learn about the historical roots of world religions, and further engage students with urgent social realities of today's world. Prospective teachers, lawyers, business-people, health-care providers, those seeking work in the non-profit world, and anyone planning to enter graduate school will be very well served through exploring a minor (5 courses) or major (9 courses) in Global Religions. See our Student Spotlight page for stories about where the Global Religions programs are taking our students!

The Global Religions Experience

Your study will take you around the world as you explore the nature and function of religion in human experience. You will learn many different methods to investigate religious texts, theologies, rituals, beliefs, cultures, histories and more, as you question the ways religion enriches and complicates the lives of people as a major source of their values, ideals, and practices.

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"What are you going to do with that major?" Take a look below!

Taking one or more courses in the Religion Department will increase your capacities in the following areas that are highly desired by employers in today's world:

  • We work to develop student internships that build a post-college vision for work and life;
  • In your capstone you create a project that creates a pathway to your future;
  • You will develop intercultural understanding,
  • practice with addressing life's big questions,
  • critical thinking,
  • excellent and flexible writing skills,
  • abilities to read any kind of text,
  • opportunities for moral deliberation regarding complex and thorny human dilemmas,
  • and the application of all these skills to new global contexts and lived behaviors.

You're encouraged to bring your own questions to the building of skills in thinking and reading, speaking and writing, and approaching and understanding cultures radically different from your own. Our study helps us learn to listen and understand the differences in and between people.

Public Programming and the Study of Religion

Kin Cheung, Associate Professor of East and South Asian Religions, has been selected by The National Committee on United States-China Relations to join their Public Intellectuals Program.  

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Igniting a New Model for Islam

Arash Naraghi, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, speaks about his work to influence positive solutions to the push-pull of tradition and modernity in the Middle East as countries struggle to redefine themselves for the 21st century.

Read the story

In-Focus Global Seminar Japan: Exploring Culture and the Legacies of War

Follow along as ten students travel to Japan and explore Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto, and Osaka.

Apply for the Humanities Fellowship!

˿Ƶ’s Humanities Fellowship supports the talents and interests of students who have passion for both the humanities and social justice, and who wish to make this central to their college experience.

Fellows receive special advising, participate in specialized HF-designed courses, create educational “maps,” and serve as part of a cohort of up to 12 students who will collaborate in unique projects, courses, travel experiences, service learning, and activism. 

View the requirements and application info

"Over the arc of a career, humanities and social science graduates earn as much or more than those in professional fields, a new study shows, and are equally employed."

"Liberal Arts Grads Win Long-Term," Inside Higher Ed

"What most matters in a person's higher education, is learning now to critically think--and this is our focus in the humanities! Whatever skills a person learns are likely to become quickly outdated in our fast-paced challenging world."

"Job Ready University Degrees May Not be the Tertiary Education Solution We Are Hoping For," ABC News, Sept., 2020.

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