BA in Religious Studies in Stanford United States | Stanford University

The department provides a Bachelor of Arts program with options to major, minor, or pursue honors in Religious Studies, as well as a combined major with Philosophy. Religious Studies courses at the undergraduate level aim to connect with students on a personal level while helping them explore intellectual, ethical, and sociopolitical aspects of global faith traditions. Faculty members equip students with frameworks for examining the dynamic interactions between religious beliefs, practices, communities, and their historical and cultural influences. Coursework introduces students to: fundamental concepts in religious scholarship like deities, rites, sacred texts, prophecy, and religious leadership, methodological perspectives from anthropology, history, psychology, philosophy, and phenomenology that enable deeper religious inquiry, and significant themes, historical developments, characteristics, and key figures across world religions. The department promotes language learning for studying sacred texts and interpretive traditions, along with opportunities for overseas study at Stanford's international campuses where religions can be encountered in their modern settings.