宗教塑造着人们诠释世界及其在世界中所处位置的方式。它决定了他们的感觉以及他们想象的可能，并告知了他们与他人的联系方式。宗教会影响社会和经济权力的组织，并决​​定当地和全球政治的进程。宗教可以指很多东西。它可以指历史传统或社会制度。它可以指生活哲学，个人追求，意识模式，与精神世界的联系方式或利用宇宙力量的方法。宗教不是少数，而是很多，它们很少停滞不前。宗教研究是对生命的教育，它揭示了大多数人赖以生存的非凡的意义世界，家庭和社区向他们介绍的世界，以及他们学习如何导航，研究和调整以应对重大事件事件。
Religion shapes the way people interpret the world and their place in it. It conditions how they feel and what they imagine to be possible and informs the way they relate to others. Religions and religious ideas are connected to every aspect of modern life and culture.<br><br>The major in Religious Studies enables students to develop the critical skills and strengths to thrive in an increasingly diverse and interconnected world. The Department of Religious Studies is committed to producing new knowledge about the world's religions. Students are exposed to local and global religious developments, long-standing and contemporary ethical issues, new perspectives on religious history, and innovative approaches to the discovery and interpretation of ancient texts.<br><br>We offer programs that are designed to help students think in new ways about religion, in all its diversity, how religion operates in peoples' lives, and how it shapes the communities in which we live.<br><br>Students can integrate the study of religious ideas and phenomena with other areas of interest, such as literature, art, music, politics, law, international studies, medicine, history, psychology, or business. Many students pursue a double major in Religious Studies and another field or minor in Religious Studies while majoring in a complementary area of study.