The short answer is that you'll better be able to understand the world in which you live. For in truth, there are few significant streams of human endeavor that do not have a religious component. How much of contemporary politics intersects with religion and religious concerns? And what of history, art, music, literature, philosophy, anthropology, and sociology? No grasp of these subjects would be complete without attending to the religious influences that have shaped them. There are religious issues that come up in the law, there are religious dimensions of medicine and social work. Those in the corporate world, especially marketing, need to attend to religious issues and sensibilities. New advances in biology, genetics--even physics--have all had their practitioners asking religious questions. If you seek to understand your world or to participate in the one or more of the above streams of human endeavor, studying religion becomes eminently practical.

At Saint Mary's College, Religious Studies is taught in the tradition of the liberal arts. That is to say, the emphasis in all Religious Studies courses will be on careful reading of texts, well crafted writing, and involved discussion. Any career or post-graduation opportunity that values skilled reading, writing, and speaking will benefit from a Religious Studies Major. In this way, a Religious Studies major gives the student a broad and enriching course of study from which she can launch any one of a great variety of professions.

In recent years, Religious Studies majors have gone on after graduation to

• work in the corporate world

• graduate school in religion (or in the area of the student's second major)

• a year of volunteer work

• ministry of various sorts

• law school

• high school teaching

• journalism

• publishing

• apply to medical school

• work in medical ethics

You can hear from some of our past majors, who address the question of what their Religious Studies major has meant for their life and career.