Undergraduate Overview
The Department of Religion at Rice University engages students in the study of diverse religious phenomena and their historical, social, political, economic and cultural contexts. From small seminars to large lectures, students gain exposure to a fascinating range of religious traditions, texts, peoples, and practices and disciplinary approaches to studying religion that hone their critical, comparative, and communicative skills.
Religion at Rice features an undergraduate major that brings undergraduates into dynamic community with distinguished faculty and their distinctive lines of research. Religion majors collaborate with faculty advisors to construct individualized concentrations of study close to students’ interests and faculty expertise. They also talk regularly with faculty and graduate students at monthly teas, majors' dinners, open houses, and alumni guest lectures.
Training in the study of religion equips majors to think critically, creatively, and comparatively about religious practices, beliefs, and traditions. Engaging discussion with faculty, undergraduate peers, and graduate students, majors come to hone their academic interests and see how the knowledge and skills they build in the major contribute to myriad professions and shape them as religiously literate individuals. So what exactly do Religion majors do after graduation? They go on to professions across the fields of medicine, law, journalism, education, politics, public policy, non-profits, and even the academic study of religion.
Contact David Cook (dbcook@rice.edu), Director of Undergraduate Studies