Join us as we confront the big questions
If you want to study humans, study religion. In the Religious Studies program at Eckerd, we explore how religion intersects with virtually every other area of human activity. We study religion from multiple disciplinary perspectives, analyzing politics and culture around the world in discussion-based courses and student-centered classrooms that foster close reading and comparison.
The Religious Studies discipline opens its arms to uncertainty, inviting those from all religious traditions (or none at all) to think through some of the most important questions of life.
From Palestine to India to Florida, we promise it’ll be one amazing trip.
Only@Eckerd
High-impact learning experiences
Ours is one of the only Religious Studies programs in the country to require both an internship and an independent research project of our students. You’ll leave here well prepared for whatever lies ahead.
Recognized experts
All of our Religious Studies professors are authors well known in their field. Look to them for the latest thinking.
100% placement after graduation
Religious Studies graduates make use of the skills they learn at Eckerd every day. Our graduates go on to careers in a multitude of fields and industries, including: business and finance, nonprofit and community organizations, information technology, medicine and nursing, legal professions, teaching, government and public administration, and more.
In Their Own Words
“Pursuing religious studies at Eckerd helped set me up for an exciting career in education tech. Ultimately, it’s the study of people. The major gave me robust frameworks for understanding what drives people, and alongside my minor in entrepreneurship it helped me develop a deeply empathetic, consultative approach to my work in sales. All of my employers have loved seeing religious studies on my resume. The program gave me a unique and nuanced edge in a professional landscape saturated with business management degrees.”
Sam Bannon ’20, Client Sales Executive, Small Business Founder
Beyond the Classroom
Eckerd College offers more than 300 study abroad destinations every year, including a three-week course in India and Nepal that focuses on Buddhism and social concerns, taught by Religious Studies faculty. Religious Studies students also can explore the history of U.S. National Parks, with a focus on spiritual ideas and practices, while visiting multiple parks in the western states.
Study Abroad Pics on FlickrAll majors are required to do an internship to test their career plans. For example, you could be a/an:
- administrative intern at a community development agency
- case management intern at a local public defender’s office
- community service intern at a homeless outreach program
- educational services intern at a nearby retirement community
- editorial intern at an online publishing company
- program development intern at an interfaith community program
- special projects intern at a local radio station
Students engage in independent research of their own design in the Religious Studies discipline. Students often present their work in Eckerd’s annual Humanities Symposium. Here are some recent topics:
- Atheism in America
- Classical Buddhist ideas about queer identity
- Gender and sexuality in New Religious Movements
- Religion and American science fiction films
- Religion and eco-feminism
- Religion and race in American Islam
- Religion, gender and food
- Sexual abuse in Buddhism
- Sports as religion
Popular classes
Buddhism Gender and Sexuality
Students explore sex and gender in Buddhist traditions. Topics include female leadership, the status of transgender persons in Buddhist communities, the role of sexuality in Buddhist practice, and Buddhism’s current sexual abuse crisis.
Charismatic Christianities
This course examines charismatic and Pentecostal Christian practices around the world—including speaking in tongues, miraculous healings, snake handling and more. Focus will be on the contemporary world, with some historical context.
Outcomes
What can I do with a religious studies degree?
- Arts and culture organizations
- Business and finance
- Government and public administration
- Information technology
- Legal professions
- Medicine and nursing
- Mental health and social work professions
- Nonprofit and community organizations
- Print and online journalism
- Teaching (K-12 and higher education)
Where our religious studies majors go to graduate school
- Agnes Scott College
- Brown University
- City University of New York School of Law
- Columbia Theological Seminary
- Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs
- Emory University
- Georgetown University School of Law
- Hamline University
- Harvard University
- Iliff School of Theology
- King’s College, London
- Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
- Mass General Hospital Institute of Health Professions
- St. Petersburg College
- San Jose State University
- Southern New Hampshire University
- Stetson University College of Law
- Tulane University
- Union Theological Seminary, New York
- University of Denver
- University of Florida
- University of Louisville School of Law
- University of Maryland
- University of Missouri–St. Louis
- University of South Florida
- University of Virginia
- Vanderbilt University
- Wesley Theological Seminary
Where our religious studies majors go to work
- Alaska Public Defender’s Office
- American Council on Exercise
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch
- Department of the Navy, Office of Special Counsel
- Equinox Open Library Initiative
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Hewlett-Packard
- Huffington Post
- Law Offices of Robert M. Geller, P.A.
- LGBTQ+ Religious Archives Network
- Metro Theater Company
- Montreat Conference Center
- Museum of Science and History
- National Wildlife Federation
- Nuance Communications
- Pinellas County Schools
- Public Broadcasting Corporation
- ReadyWorks Health
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
