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RELIGIOUS STUDIES
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

About the Program

Why study religion?  One recent study by the American Academy of Religion predicts that by 2050 80% of the world’s population will identify with one of four religions (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism).  The B.A. in Religious Studies provides an interdisciplinary grounding in the histories, scriptures, rituals, mythologies, ethics, and beliefs of world religious traditions as they have been situated in specific geo-political contexts through the millennia. 

Students are trained to become global thinkers with a deeper understanding of the world’s cultural, political, and social differences.  Students are encouraged to double-major and graduates often go on to pursue graduate work and employment in a number of fields, including law, medicine, politics, ministry, non-profit and service-related industries.

Fast Facts

  • Over 80 percent of Americans answer yes to the question: “Do you think people should learn more about religions other than their own?”

  • The number of students majoring in Religious Studies at public universities grew by 40% between 1996 and 2005 (with 9/11/2001 right in the middle)

  • The Pew Research Forum finds that those who identify as highly religious know the least about their religion and about the religions of others

  • Religion/Theology was the central academic discipline of the Western liberal arts education from the medieval period until the Enlightenment

  • Religious Studies is still the quintessential interdisciplinary humanities discipline where philosophy, theology, sociology, psychology, ethics, economics, politics, anthropology, and cultural studies meet.

  • “Religion” is the first-listed discipline on the front of Sikes Hall.

  • In a 2009 study, Religious Studies and Philosophy majors ranked second only to physics and math students on the LSAT.

  • 92.8% of students who majored in Philosophy or Religious Studies while in college, according to a recent Georgetown University study of the 2010 U.S. census data, were employed in the middle of the recent recession.

Advising

Dr. Benjamin L. White, 
Advising Coordinator for Religious Studies

BWHITE5@CLEMSON.EDU

126D Hardin Hall
Clemson University
Clemson, SC 29631
864-656-2001

Students should apply to the CAH with an expressed interest in majoring in Religious Studies.

To begin the application process, visit the Admissions web page.

Scholarship and financial aid information.

Department of Philosophy and Religion
Department of Philosophy and Religion | 126D Hardin Hall, Clemson, SC 29634