At Occidental College, religious studies students examine how people make meaning through belief, practice, and community. Study religion across time and place on the Occidental campus in Los Angeles while building strong research, writing, and critical thinking skills.
Earn Your Religious Studies Degree From Oxy
As a religious studies major at Occidental, you’ll explore how religion shapes communities, identities, and public life. Faculty approach religion as lived experience, using methods from history, anthropology, sociology, literature, gender and sexuality studies, and more. Courses introduce major religious traditions while engaging core themes like life and death, race, sex and gender, politics, law, medicine, and the environment.
The Occidental religious studies undergraduate program emphasizes critical reading, strong writing, and well-reasoned judgment. You’ll conduct in-depth research that may draw on local archives, museums, and cultural organizations, culminating in a Senior Comprehensive project. Graduates of Occidental College's religious studies program pursue graduate study and careers in law, medicine, business, government, NGO work, social services, education, and other fields where cultural understanding and clear communication matter.
