Religion

Joyce Kloc Babyak, Francis W. and Lydia L. Davis Associate Professor of Religion; chair

Emilia Bachrach, Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies and Religion
Corey L. Barnes, Robert S. Danforth Associate Professor of Religion
Cynthia R. Chapman, Adelia A. F. Johnston and Harry Thomas Frank Professor of Religion
Nan K. Lin, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion
Andrew Macomber, Assistant Professor of East Asian Religions
Albert G. Miller, Associate Professor of Religion
Shari Rabin, Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Religion

Visit the department web page for up-to-date information on department faculty, visiting lecturers, and special events.

The Department of Religion at Oberlin College seeks to train students in globally-engaged critical interaction with enduring topics in religious studies. Students explore religious meaning and values, history and cultures, systems of thought and practice, approaches to self and world, and the power dynamics at play in the interaction of the above.

See information about Research, Internships, Study Away, and Experiential Learning (RISE).

Explore Winter Term projects and opportunities.

Majors and Minors

Curriculum

Employing various religious studies methodologies, our courses challenge students to think both critically and charitably and equip students with the skills necessary to understand and communicate effectively across differences, in diverse settings, and to various audiences.

The religion department offers courses at all curricular levels.

Our first-year seminars and 100-level courses introduce students to multidisciplinary approaches within religious studies through specific themes, regions, or traditions.
Our intermediate (200-level) courses have no prerequisites and offer focused treatments of the complicated and intersecting realities of religion as a lived and historically enduring phenomenon.
Advanced seminars (300-level) provide immersive engagements with narrowly-defined topics of broad significance, cultivating depth of knowledge and skills.
Our capstone courses (400-level) further refine this knowledge and these skills through faculty-mentored and peer-supported individual projects.

Religion

Majors and Minors

Curriculum

Courses