Religion has been and remains to this day one of the most powerful forces shaping human history. The spread of religious movements and the clash of religious ideas have had a profound affect on the world’s cultures, societies, and civilizations. Countless wars have been fought and lives have been sacrificed in the name of religion, and the role that religious beliefs play in contemporary conflicts continues to be substantial.
Religion, however, has been more than just a destructive and violent force. Many of the world’s greatest thinkers, poets, and visionaries have been religious figures. Religion continues to serve as a rallying cry for social activism and support for those in need. For many individuals and communities, religion provides a framework in which to structure and make sense of their lives and experiences. Surveys consistently show that a vast majority of Americans believe in God and practice religion in one way or another.
Religion, far from becoming irrelevant in the modern world, continues to shape world events, national policies, daily life, and cultural production in communities throughout the world. Militant movements with religious overtones have altered the political landscape of the twenty-first century, and religion plays a critical role in conflicts in Bosnia, China, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel/Palestine, and Sri Lanka, to name but a few. The European Union is debating whether to refer to God in its new Constitution, and a U.S. court has objected to the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance. The debate in this country over teaching evolution in public schools and the propriety of abortion or contraception continues, and the federal government has begun funding faith-based organizations. Closer to home, religion has shaped the skyline of Morningside Heights and the schedule of days our streets are cleaned.
The way in which religion shapes human thought and action, human history and current events, is exceedingly complex and vital to understanding the world around us. The Columbia University Department of Religion invites you to join us in exploring these issues.
Why the Department of Religion?
The contemporary academic study of religion strives toward objectivity in its examination of religious traditions and how they shape the lives of their adherents. Its purpose is not to promote or “disprove” religion in general or any belief system in particular, but rather to understand how religion or a belief system functions and develops over time. There are no “confessional prerequisites” to studying in the Religion Department; your beliefs—or lack of—are your own business. In fact, Columbia’s Religion Department is unique in that serious study of Religion is pursued outside the context of a divinity school.
If you are interested in learning about a variety of religious traditions, how these traditions have shaped our society and others, how religious individuals and communities have made sense of the world around them, or what different religious thinkers have to offer to the contemporary discussion of ethics, values, and our conception of reality, becoming a student in the Department of Religion may be the right academic choice for you. The Department provides interdisciplinary as well as multi-disciplinary approaches to the study of religion, and its faculty cultivate the critical examination of and disciplined reflection on the religious dimensions of cultures, societies, and individuals. Religious studies majors graduating from Columbia command an impressive range of knowledge about Western and non-Western cultures and traditions, and exhibit great ability to analyze and interpret texts, social life, and cultures. Recent graduates are pursuing careers in documentary film, law, medicine, the philosophy of science (graduate school), public policy, and teaching.
For more information on the Religion Department, visit:
http://www.college.columbia.edu/bulletin/depts/religion.php?tab=advise