About the Department

David Brakke , Department Chair

The Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington is one of the oldest and largest departments of religious studies in the nation and continues to be recognized as a leader in the field today.  Our faculty study religious traditions across the globe, from Asia to Africa to Europe and North America, from antiquity to the present, and from a variety of perspectives.  Some of us are primarily historians, who explore how particular religions originated and developed; others of us are ethicists or philosophers, who bring religious texts and practices to bear on questions of abiding and immediate interest; and others of us are ethnographers or anthropologists, who analyze how communities make meaning through religious beliefs and rituals.  Most of us combine all of these ways of thinking about religion in our work, and we all are interested in the role that religion plays in culture and society more generally.

As chair, I am proud of the scholarship and teaching of my colleagues and of the achievements of our students and alumni/ae.  I invite you to participate in the life of our department.

If you are an undergraduate, our courses will help you to learn about the diverse cultures of our increasingly connected world and perhaps to explore your own religious tradition more deeply.  The size of our department means that you can form close relationships with your professors and fellow students even in a large university.

If you are interested in graduate work in religious studies, you can use this web site to investigate how the research and teaching interests of our faculty may help you to reach your own scholarly and professional goals.

If you are an IU graduate student in another department, courses in religious studies or a doctoral minor can enhance your knowledge of your chosen area of study and expand your methodological resources.

I encourage our alumni/ae to remain connected to this intellectual community.  Please keep in touch and let us know what you are doing, and if you return to Bloomington, please stop by Sycamore Hall and say hello.

Finally, I invite anyone who comes across this site to explore the work of my colleagues in their books and articles.  It is increasingly clear that we cannot fully understand ourselves or other people and cultures without some knowledge of religion in all its diversity.

For more information, contact the department staff.

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