About Us

The Department of Religious Studies at The University of Texas at Austin fosters scholarly inquiry about religion.  Established in 2007, it provides a venue within the University and the community for the exploration of the historical, intellectual, social, and cultural aspects of religions and for the dissemination of knowledge about religion and religions.

The Department of Religious Studies offers a multidisciplinary curriculum that explores the ways in which the formation and practice of religious ideas, texts and behaviors are embedded within particular cultures.  Our faculty combine indepth knowledge of specific religious texts, traditions, beliefs and practices with interests in the movement of religious phenomena across regions and in the development of comparative and theoretical perspectives for the study of religion.

The Department offers an undergraduate major in Religious Studies leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree as well as a Graduate Porfolio in the Study of Religion.  A Graduate Program offering stand-alone Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Religious Studies is pending state approval.  These programs educate students in a knowledge of particular religious traditions, in the historical and cultural contexts of these traditions, and in the thematic, theoretical and comparative dimensions of the study of religion.