Our department focuses on the in-depth, academic study of four religious traditions—Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. We teach a range of courses on these religions and their complex histories, using a variety of theoretical approaches.
Our majors gain a close knowledge of a particular religion, including both its ancient and modern forms. Students often complete a double major, such as in history, psychology, math or biology.
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Seniors have the option to complete an intensive, self-directed research project related to their specific concentration within the major.
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Because the study of religion is cosmopolitan and cross-cultural, we strongly encourage our majors to spend part of their Amherst career studying in another country.
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Our alumni go on to careers in business, medicine, teaching, law, social work, academia, the ministry and more.
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Amherst offers research funds for current religion majors, as well as fellowships for alumni who enter divinity school.
Learn MoreCompare a theme across multiple religious traditions. Trace a trajectory from ancient to modern sources, drawing from relevant media, historical moments and cultural movements.
Investigate the three-way convergence between religion, environmental thinking, and democracy through the loose and often plural tradition of romanticism in the United States in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Study the foundational texts that were composed within the intellectual traditions of Islam (800–1200) and which have stimulated intellectual discourse in Islamic cultures until today.