Program Overview
Religious Studies
Explore how people make meaning, shape communities, and engage life's biggest questions while developing the critical thinking and communication skills valued across professions.
Ask Big Questions
Explore religion through history, ethics, culture, politics, and everyday life.
Shape Your Own Path
Work closely with faculty mentors to build a program around your interests and goals.
Think Across Differences
Develop critical thinking, communication, and cross-cultural understanding that prepares you for a wide range of careers.
Why study Religious Studies at Wooster?
Religious Studies at Wooster combines close faculty mentorship with opportunities to connect classroom learning to real-world experiences.
Students design a course of study that reflects their interests while exploring topics such as identity, justice, sustainability, ethics, global cultures, and community life. Off-campus study, internships, and community-engaged learning allow you to examine religion as a lived experience, while Independent Study brings your academic journey together through an original research project that often connects directly to your future career goals.
As one of the few stand-alone Religious Studies departments in Ohio offering both majors and minors, the program also collaborates closely with the College's Religious and Spiritual Life office, Pre-Ministry Program, and Office of Sustainability.
Featured Courses
Explore religion through courses such as:
- Meet the Bible
- American Religious Communities
- Religious Thought and Action
- Religion, Violence, and the Nation-State
- Religion and Ecology
- Religion and Bioethics
- The Bible and Popular Culture
- The Pursuit of the Good Life
- Death and the Afterlife
- Religion In and Around Museums
- Decolonizing Fashion
- Sports, Gender, and Religion
Students can also begin exploring their interests through the department's Religious Studies Connections seminar.
Explore questions that matter to you.
Independent Study allows Religious Studies majors to pursue original research on topics that connect with their academic interests and future aspirations.
Students also deepen their learning through internships, off-campus study, community-engaged experiences, and partnerships across campus, helping them understand religion not only as an academic subject but as a lived and evolving part of communities around the world.
Ready to Explore Religious Studies?
Whether you're interested in graduate school, ministry, public service, healthcare, education, law, or nonprofit leadership, Religious Studies prepares you to think critically, communicate thoughtfully, and engage meaningfully with a diverse world.
Career Opportunities
Because religion intersects with culture, politics, healthcare, ethics, and community life, Religious Studies graduates pursue careers across many fields.
Many graduates also continue to graduate or professional school.
Key Areas
Graduates go on to careers in:
Education and teaching
Healthcare
Medicine
Nursing
Social work
Counseling
Law
Public policy
Environmental sustainability
Museums and cultural heritage organizations
Nonprofit and community organizations
Business
Scholarships & Student Opportunities
Religious Studies students may be recognized through awards and scholarships including:
- J. Arthur Baird Prize
- Maud Knight Prize in Religion
- Swan Prize
- Leslie Gordon Tait Scholarship
- Paul DeWitt Twinem Bible Award
- Covenant Scholarship (for eligible incoming Presbyterian Church (USA) students)
Sarah Mirza
Associate Professor of Religious Studies; Middle Eastern and North African Studies; South Asian Studies; Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
smirza@wooster.edu
Chan Sok Park
Associate Professor and Department Chair of Religious Studies, Classical Studies, Middle Eastern and North African Studies, and Director of Pre-Ministry Program
cpark@wooster.edu
Jeremy Rapport
Professor of Religious Studies
jrapport@wooster.edu
Terry H. Reeder
Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies
treeder@wooster.edu
Mark Graham
Lincoln Chair of Religion; Associate Professor of South Asian Studies; East Asian Studies; Co-Liaison to the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway; Associate Dean of Academic Advising
mgraham@wooster.edu
Connect With the Department
| Interested in Religious Studies? We'd love to help you learn more about faculty mentorship, Independent Study, internships, and opportunities to explore religion in local and global contexts. |