Kenyon College Religious Studies Department

Kenyon College Religious Studies Department A page for current majors, minors, faculty and religious studies alumni to keep in touch and keep up The curriculum mirrors the diversity of the faculty.

The Department of Religious Studies at Kenyon College, based in Ascension Hall (pictured above), approaches religion as a global and pluralistic phenomenon. We understand the study of religion as a crucial element in the larger study of culture and history. Our goals include helping students (1) to recognize and examine the important role of religion in history and the contemporary world; (2) to e

xplore the wide variety of religious thought and a practice, past and present; (3) to develop methods for the academic study of particular religions and religion in comparative perspective; and (4) to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the nature of religion. Since the phenomena that we collectively call "religious" are so varied, it is appropriate that they be studied from a variety of theoretical perspectives and with a variety of methods. The diversity of areas of specialization and approaches to the study of religion among our faculty members ensures the representation of many viewpoints. Our courses investigate the place of religion in various cultures in light of social, political, philosophical, and psychological questions. We also encourage Religious Studies majors to take relevant courses in other departments, and our faculty members frequently team-teach with members of other departments. We offer courses in Judaism, Christianity, Religions of the Americas, Islam, Buddhism, South Asian religions, and East Asian religions. Majors are required to take courses in at least four religious traditions. In our courses we emphasize work with primary sources, both textual and nontextual. To this end, students are encouraged to study relevant languages, and to spend at least part of their junior year abroad in an area of the world relevant to their particular interests. Our courses require no commitment to a particular faith. However, students of any background, secular or religious, can benefit from the personal questions of meaning and purpose that arise in every area of the subject.

Congrats to our seniors majors who graduated today! We are so proud of all their hard work!
05/16/2026

Congrats to our seniors majors who graduated today! We are so proud of all their hard work!

Incredible evening at the faculty/senior dinner
05/14/2026

Incredible evening at the faculty/senior dinner

Congratulations to Amanda Kuo on the successful defense of her Honors Thesis, "How I Love [Our] Coat of Many Colors: Pas...
05/04/2026

Congratulations to Amanda Kuo on the successful defense of her Honors Thesis, "How I Love [Our] Coat of Many Colors: Pastiche, Secularism and American Judaism in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"! Her committee consisted of Profs. Hannah Kosstrin (OSU, director of the Melton Center for Jewish Studies), Noah Tetenbaum, and David Maldonado Rivera.

Congratulations to Thomas Metcalf on the successful defense of his Honors Thesis, "Navigating Politics on the Path to Pe...
05/04/2026

Congratulations to Thomas Metcalf on the successful defense of his Honors Thesis, "Navigating Politics on the Path to Perfection: How Disciples of the Budshishiyya Interpret Sufi Practices and Shape Moroccan Politics"! His committee consisted of Profs. Edward Curtis IV (Kenyon alum and recent recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship), Vernon Schubel, Noah Tetenbaum, and David Maldonado Rivera.

Religious Studies majors Charlie, Chloie, Thomas, Paolo, and Dalia had lunch this week with Kenyon alum and guest speake...
04/26/2026

Religious Studies majors Charlie, Chloie, Thomas, Paolo, and Dalia had lunch this week with Kenyon alum and guest speaker Joel Lee before Lee's talk

We are so excited to welcome Associate Professor of Anthropology at Williams College and Kenyon alum Joel Lee, who will ...
04/13/2026

We are so excited to welcome Associate Professor of Anthropology at Williams College and Kenyon alum Joel Lee, who will speak on:
"On the Art of Concealing Caste"

Description:
Caste structures the life chances of a fifth of humanity. Notoriously resilient, caste systems have accommodated social and political reform in South Asia while remaining inescapable in practice: you cannot change the caste into which you are born. But is there room for clandestine maneuver? In the colonial archive, Article 419 of the Indian Penal Code - "cheating by personation" - emerges as the legal instrument with which the state dealt with alleged “imposters” in land and inheritance disputes. In a high-profile case in 2017, a government scientist invoked IPC 419 to charge her domestic cook with "impersonating a brahmin." This talk follows that case alongside the life story of another domestic worker who, despite the risks, conceals her Dalit ('untouchable') origins and adopts a middle-caste persona in order to gain employment in privileged-caste homes in the north Indian city of Lucknow. Her experiences as an undercover observer - someone who inhabits two locations in the caste system at once - yields insight into 'passing,' personhood, and how caste functions as a form of property in the contemporary city.

Sponsored by Religious Studies, History, Anthropology, and International Studies and with generous support from the Roy T Wortman Professorship Fund

Congratulations to our 2025 Theta Alpha Kappa inductees!
12/04/2025

Congratulations to our 2025 Theta Alpha Kappa inductees!

Come check us out ai Sophomore Day and learn about the major!
10/14/2025

Come check us out ai Sophomore Day and learn about the major!

10/13/2025
It's time to induct this year's cohort for Theta Alpha Kappa, the national honors society for religious studies. Reach o...
09/18/2025

It's time to induct this year's cohort for Theta Alpha Kappa, the national honors society for religious studies. Reach out to Victoria Grimaldo if interested!

Address

O'Connor House 99 College Park Street
Gambier, OH
43022

Telephone

+17404275655

Website

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