Religious Studies
Offered at IU Bloomington by College of Arts and Sciences.
About
The Master of Arts program in the Department of Religious Studies is designed for students looking to engage in the academic study of religion beyond the bachelor's degree.
Students undertake the M.A. with a variety of goals, including continuing to the Ph.D. Many join the program to understand how religion informs and enriches the world, applying their knowledge to an array of professional fields.
Most of the faculty and students are involved with more than one of the following:
- Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Religions
- Buddhist Studies
- Chinese Thought
- Comparative and Transnational Studies of the Muslim Tradition
- Ethics, Philosophy, and Politics in the Study of Religion
- History of Christianity
- Jewish Thought and Culture
- Religion in the Americas
- Religions of South Asia
- Religion, Textuality, and Cultural Imagination
- Religion, Science, and Technology Studies
IU's Department of Religious Studies believes that the study of religion means asking complex and far-reaching questions that illuminate human experiences, cultural differences, and the process of meaning-making. The M.A. program comprises graduate students and faculty dedicated to their roles as researchers, teachers, and mentors.
By cultivating a multidisciplinary, thematic approach to the study of religion, the department prepares its graduate students for careers in higher education and in any profession that requires deep knowledge, broad-mindedness, critical engagement, and research and communications skills. Students become not only specialists in their areas of interest, but also well versed in an array of theories, topics, and traditions related to a key focus of the department: being human.