The Department of Religious Studies is the largest such department in the University of California system, and one of the most diverse in the world.

We encourage an interdisciplinary approach and are known for the breadth and depth of our course offerings, which include languages that are central to the study of religion, such as Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Punjabi, Sanskrit, and Tibetan.  

Undergraduates often double-major in religion and another field, including the sciences. Their studies prepare them for careers in law, medicine, journalism, and non-profit and NGO work. Students learn about the substance of religion in various cultures as well as the theories that help to solve the puzzles about spirituality and social organization throughout human experience.

We offer Bachelor of Arts degrees in two majors: Religious Studies and Middle East Studies. Many students complete double majors and combine religious studies with history, anthropology, political science, philosophy, or art. We also offer two minors: American Indian and Indigenous Studies and Jewish Studies.

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American Indian and Indigenous Studies
American Indian and Indigenous Studies

The American Indian and Indigenous Studies Minor provides students an understanding of the ideas, practices, experiences, and issues confronting native peoples of North and South America through the study of their histories, environment, cultures, languages, politics, and economies.

Religious Studies News & Features

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Diving into Nihilism and Terrorism: The Joker
Diving into Nihilism and Terrorism: The Joker

William Chavez, a doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara, has studied exorcism, dark fantasy and science fiction. Currently an Engaging Humanities Graduate Fellow at UCSB, he has been exploring terrorism’s links to nihilism – an absence of morals, values or beliefs - and how both are incorporated into the Joker, a fictional supervillain created in the 1940s for the comic book Batman.

The Best of Both Worlds: Finding Identity at College
The Best of Both Worlds: Finding Identity at College

Emily Hu is a third-year UC Santa Barbara student double minoring in Chinese and Religious Studies. Soon after arriving at UC Santa Barbara in 2018, Hu got a better understanding of her own family’s culture and history. She says that growing up in a predominantly Hispanic community never gave her the chance to fully cherish her Chinese heritage. After taking several UCSB courses, Hu has developed a strong connection to her Chinese identity.

A Time of Kudos for History of Art and Architecture
A Time of Kudos for History of Art and Architecture

A shout-out to the department of History of Art and Architecture for its recent awards and achievements, including a teaching award, a grant, and book publications.

Gagaku: A Look into Japan's Imperial Court
Gagaku: A Look into Japan's Imperial Court

Fabio Rambelli, the chair of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara, organized a series of workshops exploring the music, dance, costumes, and history of Gagaku, the music and dance of the Japanese Imperial Court. The workshops, held last week, were led by the Hideaki Bunno Gagaku Ensemble, a small group of renowned musicians from Japan.

A Scholar Activist: Meet the New Capps Center Director
A Scholar Activist: Meet the New Capps Center Director

With a new year comes new leadership for the Walter Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion and Public Life. Greg Johnson, formerly a professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado and board member of the American Academy of Religion, assumed the role of Director earlier this month, hoping to increase the Center’s engagement with UCSB’s undergraduate population and focus the Center around contemporary topics such as climate change and the collapse of democracy.

Buying a Prius Won't Solve the Climate Crisis
Buying a Prius Won't Solve the Climate Crisis

Small, individual acts of environmental consciousness ─ while worthwhile for the planet ─ are nothing compared to the massive policy change needed to solve the climate crisis, Northwestern University religion and culture professor Sarah McFarland Taylor told a UCSB audience earlier this month. The Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life hosted Taylor, who discussed her book Ecopiety: Green Media and the Dilemma of Environmental Virtue.

America's Jewish Women: Faith and Activism
America's Jewish Women: Faith and Activism

Pamella Nadell, director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University, spoke to UCSB and the larger community about the history of America’s Jewish Women. The talk was part of the Taubman Symposia, a lecture series dedicated to promoting Jewish culture.

AI Meets Ethics in a Human Simulation Project
AI Meets Ethics in a Human Simulation Project

Norwegian theologian LeRon Shults visited UCSB to share his work on Human Simulation, an interdisciplinary research project that combines the expertise of humanists and scientists to study the past and predict the future.

Sacred Spaces: The Convent Singers of Colonial Mexico
Sacred Spaces: The Convent Singers of Colonial Mexico

Cesar Favila, a UCLA musicologist who specializes in Central America, recounted moving stories of nuns who sang in convents in Mexico in the 1600s as he shared his latest research with a UC Santa Barbara audience last week.

'Shoah' Revisited: A Film 25 Years In the Making
'Shoah' Revisited: A Film 25 Years In the Making

Hosted by the Carsey-Wolf Center and the Religious Studies department at UC Santa Barbara, Brown University modern culture and media professor Regina Longo screened and spoke about her film “Shoah: Four Sisters” at an event recently at the Pollock Theatre.

“These films are points of confluence, death of family members and harshness of ghettos or concentration camps,” she told an audience of a campus and community members.

Religious Studies: Yasmeen Faris on the Course that Changed Her Life
Religious Studies: Yasmeen Faris on the Course that Changed Her Life

“Jesus’s words and deeds made him one of the most impactful historical figures in the world,” writes student Yasmeen Faris, in a personal reflection on the intersection between her secular studies and her own faith.

In this piece, Faris talks about how a course in the Religious Studies department at UCSB changed her outlook on Jesus Christ, expanding her understanding of his impact on her personal life and religion and the effect that he had on the history of the world.

Then and Now: A Retirement Tribute for Historian Sharon Farmer
Then and Now: A Retirement Tribute for Historian Sharon Farmer

Brown University historian Amy Remensnyder honored retiring UC Santa Barbara medieval studies professor Sharon Farmer at a recent colloquium hosted by UCSB’s History department. As a celebration of the professor’s career, Remensnyder and six of Farmer’s previous students presented their own research related to Medieval history.

An Environmental Approach to Chinese Rituals
An Environmental Approach to Chinese Rituals

In a two-day International Conference on Chinese Religio-Environmental Ethics and Practice, an array of speakers touched on environmental issues such as the extinction of animals and how traditional Chinese religious cultures view them. Panelists spoke about religious rituals like making trees and forests sacred, the care of animals, preserving sacred sites and native places, and the ethics of these religious practices.

Dennis Ross: Middle East peace requires more than a military approach
Dennis Ross: Middle East peace requires more than a military approach

Speaking at the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s Taubman Symposium in Jewish Studies, Middle East expert and former diplomat Dennis Ross Ross said that President Trump has “a policy — but not a strategy” for the Middle East.

He pointed out that Trump’s actions show a pattern – a tendency to favor counter-terrorism and counter-Iranian policies, as well as a desire to resolve to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. But, he said, there are flaws in the Trump administrations approach to all three of these Middle East policy areas, and those shortcomings prevent long-term progress.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Sabah Hamad, Religious Studies
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Sabah Hamad, Religious Studies

Languages build bridges, says Sabah Hamad, a UC Santa Barbara graduate student in Arabic, Hebrew Literature, and Black Studies. Hamad believes that being able to communicate with people from other parts of the world is rewarding and offers a better understanding of their beliefs and traditions.

Hamad is a Palestinian-American who believes that much of  the Israel-Palestinian conflict has to do with the misunderstanding and bias, made worse by ignorance of Palestinian and Israeli literature and languages. In a recent interview, she discussed these issues and how she is pursuing interests in Middle East cultures through the Religion Studies Department.