Religion

Undergraduate

To study religion is to ask questions about the many ways women and men have sought to make sense of their lives.

Program Overview

Examining religious traditions — their notable leaders, their valued texts, and the social behaviors designed to embody their visions — is a central way to study the profound questions that direct so many areas of human endeavor. The study of religion is an excellent way of organizing a liberal arts education so that diverse cultures, artistic expressions, political forces, and gender assignments can be questioned and set in historical and changing contexts.

Community Voices

Spotlight on Religion students and alums

Our courses

We offer introductory courses (100 and 200 level) in major religious traditions and texts as well as contemporary topics such as ethics and public policy, spirituals and the blues, and women and Buddhism. These courses usually have no prerequisites. We welcome first-years into our 100 and 200 level courses. 

Advanced courses (300 level) offer a more in-depth study of particular topics and traditions. We regularly offer courses in a wide range of fields, including Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and African-American traditions.

Courses and Requirements

Learning Goals

The Religion major is, by its very nature, intercultural and comparative, multi-disciplinary, critical, integrative, creative and constructive. Students are expected to:

  • Explore more than one religious tradition and engage the phenomena of religion comparatively across and within cultures.
  • Understand and apply a range of methodological and theoretical approaches to religious phenomena.
  • Examine and engage religious phenomena, including issues of ethical and social responsibility, from a perspective of critical inquiry and analysis of both the other and the self.
  • Apply theoretical knowledge of religious phenomena to lived, practical contexts, both historical and current.
  • Employ knowledge of religious phenomena and the skills of religious studies in the solving of complex problems, including those raised in the personal and social engagement of issues of life, death, love, violence, suffering, and meaning.

Contact us

The Department of Religion helps students organize a liberal arts education so that diverse cultures, artistic expressions, political forces, and gender assignments can be questioned and set in historical and changing contexts.

Natalina Tulik
  • Academic Department Coordinator

Next steps

Apply to Mount Holyoke

Mount Holyoke seeks intellectually curious applicants who understand the value of a liberal arts education and are driven by a love of learning. As a women's college that is gender diverse, we welcome applications from female, trans and non-binary students.

Financing your education

Everyone’s financial situation is unique, and we’re here to make sure cost does not get in the way of an exceptional education.