Department of Religious Studies - Northwestern University

Why Study Religion?

International and Interdisciplinary Scholarship

Painting of a reclining scholar studying

Religion shapes, and is shaped by, every other dimension of human society. It is impossible to fully understand politics, law, history, or science without understanding religion. We invite you to learn more about the most interdisciplinary field in the university: Religious Studies.

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Our Curriculum

Undergraduate Program

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Graduate Program

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Featured Story

Championing resilience: Dr. James Howard Hill, Jr. reflects on self-actualization, empowerment

Northwestern alumnus Dr. James Howard Hill, Jr. embodies many titles: a first-generation college graduate, a North Texas native, a husband and a father to two beautiful children. Now, he takes on yet another title: an assistant professor of religion and African American studies at Boston University.

Click here to read more about Dr. Hill's 2022 dissertation, his time at Northwestern and how he encourages his students to figure out the conversation they want to have with the world.

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Find Your Direction

Alumna Adina Goldman had a path that led her from pre-med to English literature and biological anthropology and then to religious studies and music.

News and Events

Faculty in the News

Professor James Bielo was recently awarded a Luce-AAR Public Scholarship Grant for his ‘Secondhand Religion’ project!

Click below to see Professor Bielo's designation as a 2024 grant recipient for 'Secondhand Religion: The Public Exhibition of Divested Religious Material Culture.

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