Religion
Why Study Religion at W&L?
Religious studies is an interdisciplinary field focusing on the study of specific traditions and the general nature of religion as a human phenomenon. It spans cultures around the world, ancient as well as modern. It also combines a variety of methodologies — including textual, historical, social, scientific, philosophical and art-historical approaches. It is an integral part of the liberal arts curriculum.
Majoring in religion provides excellent preparation for careers in law, journalism, business, politics, writing, medicine, teaching, counseling and the arts, as well as for advanced study in religious studies, the humanities or social sciences. Several of our graduates have gone on to pursue a profession as clergy, as well. Washington and Lee’s Religion Department helps students grasp the scope and impact of religion all across the world, past and present, with courses on many traditions. In short, religion majors learn to be well-informed and independent thinkers with strong research and analytical skills, which can be applied in many professions.
About the Department
The Religion Department’s goals are:
- To teach about the world’s religious traditions, introducing students to the thought, beliefs, institutions, symbolic expressions, worship, and social and moral implications of these traditions, and to illuminate their interaction with other social and cultural forms, including other religious traditions;
- To introduce students to the various methods employed in religious studies: historical, philosophical and theological, sociological and psychological, textual, hermeneutical and aesthetic, and comparative;
- To provide a place for addressing big questions of value, meaning and human cares, and for assessing the ways these are addressed in religious communities;
- To encourage students to think about religious ways of life tolerantly, sympathetically, and yet critically.
After W&L
Besides those (relatively few) students who go on to graduate study in religious studies, or train for the clergy, most of our graduates pursue a wide range of paths, including law, medicine, graduate study in other fields, teaching, public service, military service, business and more. Here are some examples:
- The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Strawbridge ’01 is associate professor in New Testament Studies at the University of Oxford.
- Kerry Egan ’95 is an author, blogger and media commentator on religion.
- Kathryn (Kate) Shellnutt ’08 is associate editor and contributor at Christianity Today.
- Jacob Spencer ’06 earned a law degree at Harvard and is now a law clerk in the federal judiciary.
- Lisa Reppell ’09 earned a master’s at Sabanci University (Turkey) and is a research officer at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
- Micaela Coffey McGlone ’09 is a research specialist at OpenStax.
- Christopher Washnock ’12 went on to get a master’s in religion at Yale; he is assistant director of outreach for the Council on Foreign Relations.
- Wayde Marsh ’13 earned a master’s in divinity from Duke and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science at Notre Dame University.
- Brett Bauer ’15 is a communications and legislative assistant for National Community Action Foundation.
- Leigh M. Dannhauser ’14 serves in the Peace Corps in Cameroon.
- Kelly T. Harris ’12 finished medical school at Johns Hopkins University and is now a medical researcher in urology at Johns Hopkins.
Opportunities for Students
Religion professors teach two interdisciplinary Spring Term Abroad courses. Caste at the Intersection of Economy, Religion, and Law allows students to spend four weeks in Nepal for a 360-degree survey of caste in South Asia. Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland immerses students for four weeks in the literature, religious traditions, history and culture of Ireland.
We also encourage students to consider semester and year-long study abroad options.
Sample Courses
Jesus in Fact, Fiction & Film
A study of representations of Jesus in history, fiction and film and the ways in which they both reflect and generate diverse cultural identities from antiquity to the present. The course begins with the historical Jesus and controversies about his identity in antiquity and then focuses on parallel controversies in modern and postmodern fiction and film. Readings include early Christian literature (canonical and non-canonical), several modern novels and works of short fiction, and theoretical works on the relationship of literature to religion. In addition, we study several cinematic treatments of Jesus dating from the beginnings of filmmaking to the present.
God & Goddess in Hinduism
This course explores the many ways in which Hindus visualize and talk about the divine and its manifestations in the world through mythic stories, use of images in worship, explanations of the nature of the soul and body in relation to the divine, and the belief in human embodiments of the divine in Hindu holy men and women. Topics include: the religious meanings of masculine and feminine in the divine and human contexts; the idea of local, family and "chosen" divinities; and differing forms of Hindu devotion for men and women.
Nature & Place
Through a consideration of work drawn from diverse disciplines including philosophy, religious studies, literature, art and anthropology, this course explores a variety of ideas about and experiences of nature and place.
Religion & Existentialism
A consideration of the accounts of human existence (faith and doubt; death and being-in-the-world; anxiety, boredom and hope; sin and evil; etc.) elaborated by philosophers, theologians and literary figures in the 19th and 20th centuries. The central figures considered are Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Attention is paid to their significance for future philosophers, theologians, artists and literary figures, and consideration may also be paid to forerunners in earlier centuries.
Law & Religion
Drawing on examples from diverse periods and legal cultures, this seminar addresses "law" and "religion" as two realms of life that have much shared history and continue to intersect in the modern world. Several important topics in comparative law and jurisprudence are covered, including authority and legitimacy, the relation between custom and statute, legal pluralism, church-state relations, and competing models of constitutional secularism. A selective survey of legal systems and practices rooted in particular religious traditions is followed by an examination of how secular legal systems conceptualize religion and balance the protection of religious freedom with their standards of equity and neutrality.
Visions & Beliefs of W. Ireland
This course immerses the student in the literature, religious traditions, history and culture of Ireland. The primary focus of the course is on Irish literary expressions and religious beliefs and traditions, from the pre-historic period to the modem day, with a particular emphasis on the modem (early 20th-century) Irish world. Readings are coordinated with site visits, which range from prehistoric and Celtic sites to early and medieval Christian sites to modem Irish life. Major topics and authors include Yeats and Mysticism, St. Brendan's Pilgrimage, Folklore and Myth, Lady Gregory and Visions, Religion in Irish Art, the Blasket Island storytellers, the Mystic Island, and others.
Meet the Faculty
At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
