The study of religion is crucial to understanding every part of life: politics, economics, the arts, law, medicine, technology, the environment, cultures past and present and around the globe. We believe that the study of religion means asking complex and far-reaching questions that illuminate human experiences, cultural differences, and the process of meaning-making.

We are proud of the scholarship of our faculty and the achievements of our students, and we invite you to participate in the life of our department. Here you will find support for pioneering ideas and research. Our courses help you learn about the diverse cultures of our increasingly connected world and to examine your own commitments and beliefs more deeply. Our faculty includes historians, anthropologists, ethicists, and philosophers. We study religious traditions from Asia to Africa, to Europe and the Americas, from antiquity to the present. In all our diversity, what we share is a commitment to studying religion’s many-faceted dimensions and its extraordinary influence on humanity and nature.