The study of religion prepares you for more than a career—it prepares you for life.
Religion can inspire and provoke, unite and polarize. It is the primary expression of humanity's quest to find meaning and purpose. Understanding this phenomenon helps us explore the most basic questions of our existence. From politics and art to science and war, the study of religion opens a gateway to understanding the world around us.
A religious studies degree equips students with skills to enter a wide range of careers including law, education, medicine, journalism, government, the non-profit sector, and spiritual leadership. Religious studies alums are civil rights activists, Hollywood film writers, motivational speakers, and college professors. Read about what our graduates are doing.
Start Here.
Our Gateway Courses
Want to grapple with profound ethical and theological questions? Or learn about the ideas, rituals, and people who shape religion? Begin with our gateway course Religion Around the Globe. Or try, Is Stanford a Religion?, which examines how the university's culture resembles a religion through its myths, rituals, and taboos, or the Religious Life of Things, which looks at how religions around the world understand the objects that surround us. Discover the various other "frosh friendly" courses through our Explore Majors page!
Digging deeper
Our Exploring series introduces the world's great religious traditions, like Exploring Zen Buddhism, Exploring American Religious History, or Exploring Global Christianity. Follow up with courses that examine how religion relates to essential aspects of culture, gender, politics, and identity, like Gender in Islam, Chuang Tzu, or The Bible and Its Interpreters.
Beyond the Classroom
From exploring sacred sites around the world (like our summer course in Madrid) to participating in lively events on campus, enhance your understanding of religion's role in history and society. In addition to events supported by the department, we also work closely with several affiliated centers. Read more about our affiliates.
Cultivate skills for your future.
"Expect to examine texts critically that you may not be accustomed to reading critically (e.g. scripture). Expect to employ an anthropologist's open-mindedness when reading source texts, and have whole worlds open up to you when you do. Expect to grapple with very complicated questions pretty much all the time. Expect the unexpected--like accidentally becoming the family museum guide because you know what's going on in most of the pictures. Expect to answer a lot of stupid questions from people asking you "how do you plan to make any money with that degree?" but being 100% sure of your decision anyway." -Magali Ferari, '10
