The Department of Religious Studies examines religious beliefs, institutions and practices using approaches from the humanities, arts, social sciences and sciences. The academic study of religion, combined with appropriate courses in other fields, provides an excellent background for any professional career—including law, engineering, medicine and health care professions, journalism, social work and others—and for graduate studies in a number of fields.
A major in religious studies provides a well-rounded liberal arts education or can be combined conveniently with a second major. Minors or sequences in religious studies complement and broaden any field chosen as a major.
Jewish Studies Open House at the New Gutenberg Annex – An Explore Event!
The Program in Jewish Studies invites you to an Open House event. Come have a “nosh” (snack), learn about the program, and create some fun letterpress prints to share for the new year. All are welcome!
Questions? Contact Professor Barbara Mann at bem71@case.edu
Thursday, September 25th at 5pm
in the New Gutenberg Annex/Bellflower 101
Refreshments Provided
Counts as Explore Credit
Dr. Deepak Sarma quoted on the front page of the New York Times
The New York Times recently reached out to Dr. Deepak Sarma to be quoted in the September 25th article, What Declines in Reading and Math Mean for the U.S. Work Force. Dr. Sarma commented that “My students now, they leave high school and don’t have the capacity to read a lengthy 25-page article. They don’t know what to do with it.” The article was printed on the front page of the Times on Friday, September 26th.
Read the full article for more on this national decline.
Baker-Nord Visiting Scholar: Diana Walsh Pulsuka 9/29
What happens when a scholar of religion is confronted with evidence that challenges the boundaries between science, belief, and the unexplained? In this provocative talk, “When the Evidence Changed: A Humanities Professor’s Encounters with Aerospace Insiders – and How They Transformed Her Scholarship and Belief“, Dr. Diana Pasulka, professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, recounts her unexpected journey into the world of aerospace insiders and emergent technologies that blur the line between the natural and the supernatural.
Monday, September 29th
12:45 pm
TVUC Ballroom C
Boxed lunches will be provided at 12:30pm. Registration requested.
Deepak Sarma on Ideastream – Clinical trials for pyschedelics
On September 4th, 2025, Dr. Deepak Sarma was featured on Ideastream’s Sound of Ideas, “Clinical trials and political will could mark new landscape for psychedelics.” The discussion centers around the landscape of psychedelics and how they’re being used in the medical sphere, clinical trials happening here in Northeast Ohio, and what mental issues are being targeted.
Highlights
RLGN 249: Sacred Places and Pilgrimage in Buddhism
Mondays & Wednesdays 12:45pm – 2:00pm
Professor Jue Liang
RLGN 249 is one of our newest courses being introduced this fall. Seats are still available!
What makes a place sacred? How do people interact with these sacred places and build community around them? What does it mean to be present? And what are the different expressions of presence in pilgrimage? It engages with practices of space and movement in its rich expressions — literary, artistic, somatic, and psychological, to name a few. Together, the instructor and students will construct a toolkit for experiencing bodily agency, empathy, and community building by approaching the themes of place and movement from a multitude of perspectives.
This course counts as UGER Human Diversity & Commonality
Questions? Email Professor Liang at jue.liang@case.edu
Alumni Spotlight 2025
Welcome to the Religious Studies Alumni Spotlight, where we celebrate the diverse successes and outstanding talent that define our alumni community.
This edition focuses on Chloe Gerus, a 2021 CWRU alumna and Religious Studies major, who has navigated her post-graduate journey with exceptional accomplishments