Welcome to the Department of Religious Studies!

In 1870, Max Müller, one of the founding fathers of the academic study of religion, told his audience at the Royal Institution in London that: "He who knows one [religion], knows none."  As the field of religious studies has developed, this dictum has referred to the need to study religion comparatively as well as to view religion through multiple lenses – through history, literature, ritual, art, and ethics, as well as in relation to issues of power, gender, class, and ethnicity.

The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee embodies this comparative enterprise as our classes offer students the opportunity to examine the histories of a number of different religious traditions as well as to develop the critical thinking skills necessary to understand the role of religion in the contemporary world.  We teach a wide variety of classes on specific religious traditions, such as "Christian Thought in Late Antiquity," "Islam in the Modern World," and "Zen Buddhism"; classes on the religions of particular geographic regions, such as "Religion and Culture in the United States," "African Religions," and "Religion and Culture in Southeast Asia"; and classes on important topics within religious studies, such as "Women and Religion," "Topics in African-American Religion," and "Voices of the Holocaust."

In contemporary America, scholars argue that too many Americans lack access to knowledge about the world's religious traditions.  As a result, many struggle to understand how religion relates to some of the most pressing issues of our time, from the impact of Osama bin Laden's interpretation of the Qur'an to religious battles over human rights, environmental conservation, and an end to global poverty.  The mission of the Department of Religious Studies is to provide UT students with this information so that they are well equipped to participate in an ever-changing global society. As part of a Research Land Grant University, the faculty of the Department of Religious Studies promotes its mission through research, teaching, and service to the community of Knoxville and the state of Tennessee.

The Department of Religious Studies ranks among the top programs in our discipline. Please visit our undergraduate program web site for more information.

Contact Information

Department of Religious Studies
Gilya Gerda Schmidt, Ph.D.
Professor and Head
501 McClung Tower
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-0450

Phone: 865-974-2466
Fax: 865-974-0965
Email: dbinder@utk.edu