The major in religion allows concentrators the opportunity to study diverse cultures, texts, and ideologies. Some examples are African-American religions, the literature of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, the Gnostic gospels, ancient Israel, modern Jewish thought, history and contemporary American religion, philosophy of religion, religious and philosophical ethics, political thought, gender and the body in American religions, and the roles of women in contemporary Muslim societies. The interdisciplinary nature of the department and its faculty, whose backgrounds and research interests in the study of religion include history, anthropology, philosophy, literature, politics, and ethics, means that we tend to attract a diverse group of majors. Despite a range of interests and approaches, the department has a strong sense of community and collegiality that is actively fostered by faculty, staff, and students, both undergraduate and graduate.

Religion majors, like most liberal arts concentrators at Princeton, follow many different paths after graduation. Most go into careers such as law, medicine, business, advertising, journalism, politics, teaching, foreign affairs, publishing, and creative writing. Some choose to take a year or more off and spend their time working for social service programs such as Teach for America and the Peace Corps. A few go on to graduate school in religion, history, literature, philosophy, area studies, and anthropology. A small number of our graduates enter seminaries and rabbinical schools. We see the diversity of our majors' interests and the many paths they choose after graduation as evidence that the major in religion teaches skills of thinking, communicating, and understanding.