Religious Studies

Religious studies is a detailed and sympathetic examination of theworld's religions. In one form or another, these religions are at theheart of every one of the world's cultures, providing concepts of humannature, ritual, morality law, cosmology, and visions of salvation.Majors study the history, beliefs, and practices of the major religioustraditions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,Daoism, and Native American and African religions.

Religious studies is a popular minor, which fits well with any major.

St. Mary's Project (SMP)

Projects for religious studies majors often combine elements of themajor with ideas inspired from the study of other disciplines such asphilosophy, anthropology, and psychology. Examples include:

• Arya Tara: A feminist reconciliation of Tibetan Buddhism
• Eating Christian: Finding God through food
• Feminism and the Bible in dialog
• Lutheran Women in Ministry
• Religious approaches to death
• Cell phones and Coca-Cola in the land of prayer wheels: Tradition and modernity in contemporary Tibet

Travel Abroad

Religious studies majors participate in the study programs around theworld, including at Oxford, Italy, China, or Thailand. Many travel toBerlin and Krakow with a St. Mary's faculty member for the summerprogram on the Holocaust.

Life After St. Mary's

Half of all St. Mary's students go on to graduate or professionalschool. Our recent majors in religious studies have studied in thefollowing graduate programs:

• Catholic
• Claremont
• Harvard (Divinity)
• Hebrew Union
• Narola (Buddhist)
• Yale (Divinity)

Religious studies majors enter a host of careers upon graduation, including teaching, crisis counseling, the law, and personnel management. The Peace Corps attracts other graduates. (More than 30 St. Mary's graduates have volunteered in the last dozen years.)

For more information, visit the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department Web site at
http://www.smcm.edu/philrelig/index.html