Courses and Requirements

Courses

The Department of Religion offers students a broad range of course options in recognition of the variety of academic approaches to the study of religion, including courses that engage the category of religion through textual analysis, sociology, historical studies, ethnography, material and popular culture studies, and philosophy, among others. In addition, department faculty participate in many of the college's multidisciplinary programs, including Africana Studies, American Studies, Asian Studies, Environmental Studies, Jewish Studies, and Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and students are encouraged to take advantage of the resources available in these and other programs.

View Courses, Major Requirements, and Correlate Sequences in the Vassar College Catalogue.

Goals

The Religion Department’s goals for all students enrolled in religion courses include:

Developing tools for understanding and interpreting religions in varied historical, cultural, and social contexts and for identifying and interpreting patterns across religious histories and cultures.
Engaging critically the various ways in which scholars of religion have attempted to understand and evaluate the nature and functions of religion as a vital force in human society, behavior, and global politics, both in the past and present.

The department encourages all students to apply study abroad. Majors are expected to develop breadth and depth in their studies, both in terms of methodology and traditions.

Download the Majors Handbook (PDF)
Download the Thesis Handbook (PDF)

What do students say about the department?

Mathew Thomas ’18

“Professor Kahn put it best when he said ’religion at Vassar is about understanding people’s texts, people’s narratives. In life, you’ll have the opportunity to learn another’s text, and religion provides you a framework with which to appreciate that text, regardless of how different it is from yours.’”

Kristiana Bowman ’18

“The academic study of religion is a thought-provoking lens through which to learn about the history, customs, and beliefs of people all around the world. I am particularly interested in how religious texts influence legal discourse and practice.”

James Christon ’19

“I chose to study religion because it is one of the most expansive disciplines that I know of. Whether it be literature, cognitive science, or really ’out there’ forms of studying, there’s always something that I find interesting when studying religion. Despite this, religious studies is also a very humble field, it’s always about humanity and how humanity tries to figure itself out. I’m never lost in some abstract world of metaphysics because I always know that something about what I am studying directly relates to a lived experience in this world.”

Study Abroad Options

The Religion Department encourages studying abroad. Students must start planning their year abroad in the first semester of sophomore year, but it is never too early to begin researching interesting programs. To help with your search for a program that suits your academic interests, below is a partial list of programs that our majors and correlates have gone on in recent years.

Students must apply to Vassar as well as to the specific abroad program to receive permission to take a semester or year of academic leave. This requires dealing with applications, transcript records, and recommendations, so best not to leave any of this until the last minute.