¹ú²ú´«Ã½

The Religious Studies Department at Mount Saint Mary’s University offers degree programs that allow you to explore religion, culture and humanity, regardless of your intended career path. If you want to be a teacher, double-majoring in Education and Religious Studies will make you a better teacher. If you want to enter a career in healthcare, Religious Studies will give you valuable background into the beliefs and practices of diverse cultures. 

Double-majoring in Religious Studies and other disciplines makes you a more intelligent and insightful person in your chosen profession. Religion and religious beliefs affect every part of our daily lives. Everywhere you go you have conversations on faith, religion, different religious beliefs and practices. Work, family, politics, food, music, media — religion intersects all of these and more to create interesting aspects of life. If you understand diverse religious traditions that affect individuals, cultures and societies, you understand the world better. 

At the Mount, we believe that a liberal arts education is an excellent investment in a student's growing ability to think critically about their world and to anticipate the inevitable changes that life brings with all its complexity and diversity.  

A degree in religious studies challenges students to think critically about the question: "What does it mean to be human?" And our students study that question through the lens of global religious traditions. It’s in the understanding of music, art, prayers, rituals, liturgy, practices, texts and lived experiences that the revelation of the Divine is found in the human struggle for meaning and social justice. No one lives an isolated life. All of created reality is found in the study of religion.  

Earning a degree in religious studies is a great complement to professional preparation. Knowing more about religions empowers you to empower others through service leadership. 

Career opportunities 

Generally, people interested in religious work possess deep faith, want to go beyond filling their own personal needs and have an innate desire to make a difference. A bachelor's degree provides a background for careers in many fields — including many religious-affiliated organizations — while also preparing students for professional and graduate study in business, law, medicine, counseling, higher education and other fields. Listed below are several industries and service opportunities where you can put your degree to use. 

Graduate school

Many alumnae go on to graduate school and pursue programs such as a Masters in Social Work and a Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (PsyD).

Local ministries

Gain employment with local churches, synagogues and mosques and various religious organizations and boards.

Social services 

Gain employment with nonprofit organizations including ; churches, synagogues, mosques, religious hospitals and hospices, correctional institutions, shelters and nursing homes; youth organizations and camps; and adoption agencies, foster care and political organizations. 

Health and welfare ministries

Gain employment with hospitals, mental health treatment facilities, nursing homes, retirement homes, assisted living homes and children/youth homes.

Chaplaincy

Gain employment with hospitals, hospices, homes for children, youth ministries and senior centers, correctional institutions, police and fire departments.

Education

Become a teacher at religiously affiliated schools and preparatory schools; private, public or religiously affiliated colleges and universities; schools of theology and seminaries.

Business

Gain employment with local churches, synagogues and mosques; religious bookstores and publishers; boards/agencies; seminaries/schools of theology; religiously affiliated schools; hospitals, homes, schools, boards and agencies. 

Communications

Gain employment with boards/agencies; organizations; local churches, synagogues and mosques; publishing houses of books and magazines; publishing houses and radio, television and film industries. 

Religious communities

Join or work for groups including: 

• Roman Catholic
• Episcopal 
• Greek Orthodox 
• Buddhist 

Nearby Dioceses: