Religious Studies Major and Minor

Why Study Religions at Albion?

Religion has shaped and driven individuals and institutions in every culture. As a religious studies major at Albion, you’ll consider the most challenging questions of existence. Where did we come from? Why is there pain and suffering? Why are we not treated equitably? You’ll learn how different religious traditions have sought to answer these questions throughout history. You’ll analyze primary texts, religious literature, and philosophy. You’ll benefit from rigorous discussion in our small classes, build close relationships with your professors and peers, and develop keen critical and analytical skills.

What Will You Learn as a Religious Studies Major?

You’ll examine the perennial questions and answers posed by people around the world and throughout history. Why do we suffer? What is the purpose of life? What happens to us after we die? What does the past mean to us now? You’ll engage these questions through scriptures that have changed and continue to guide the course of human history, including the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Qur’an, the Ramayana, the Bhagavad Gita, the Daodejing. You'll relate them to religious practices including rituals such as baptism, pilgrimage, worship, yoga, burial, cremation, and almsgiving. You'll approach the study of religion through comparison and consider how to answer these questions for yourself.

You’ll study the debates and dynamics of global religious traditions in their social and historical contexts, including their formative myths, sacred texts, spiritual practices, and rituals.

You’ll build your curriculum based on themes like gender, justice, and morality in expert-led courses about Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, Jain, Sikh, Christian, and Daoist traditions.