There is a Wealth of Opportunities for Comparative Religion Majors & Minors

Where can I go with a Comparative Religion Major?

Comparative Religion Majors are historians, ethicists, cultural analysts and/or global comparativists, depending on their choice of concentration of courses in our program.

Interdisciplinary: Comparative Religion is the academic study of the significant ways in which religion and culture shape our world in history and today, including:

Global studies – Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Middle East

Cultural studies – art, architecture, literature, history, performing arts

Social studies – identity, community, conflict, peace

Behavioral studies – values, practices, ethical decision-making

The double-major option: Several of our Majors are double-majors with fields in the Sciences and Social Sciences. The skills Comparative Religion Majors master are vital:

  • Being a Major in a Humanities discipline is synonymous with excellence in reading comprehension; accuracy and persuasion in oral and written communication; expertise in information literacy and research; skilled use of technology to perform, critically analyze, and present research and information; experience and leadership in project planning and teamwork.
  • Being a Comparative Religion Major is, in addition to the Humanities skills, synonymous with excellence in knowing and analyzing global cultures and issues to meaningfully contribute to global solutions, understanding and managing diversity in the workplace, and engaging in ethical behavior and ethical decision-making at work and at home.

Scholarships and Grants

  • Harriet Gilbert Davis Scholarship at Drew. Endowed in 1990 by her daughter, Catherine Davis Bridwell C’67, and Mrs. Davis’s family to be awarded to a woman with need, majoring in religion. Nomination by the Chair of the Religion department. (Note: Current Baldwin Honors, Civic or Governor’s School Scholars are not eligible.)
  • Roothbert Fund Scholarships. Based in New York City. “Scholarships may only be applied to study at an accredited institution based in the United States [Drew is accredited]. The Fund seeks candidates who are `motivated by spiritual values’, and works to foster fellowship among them. . . .While the Fund does not emphasize any particular form of religious practice or worship, it seeks to provide support to persons motivated by spiritual values. The Fund has awarded grants to persons entering a wide range of careers. However, preference will be given to those who can satisfy high scholastic requirements and are considering careers in education.”
  • The Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship, “established in 1987, is a highly-competitive national fellowship program that provides college graduates with the opportunity to gain a Washington perspective on key issues of peace and security. Twice yearly, the Fellowship’s Board of Directors selects a group of outstanding individuals to spend six to nine months in Washington. Supported by a salary, the fellows serve as full-time junior staff members at the participating organization of their choice. The program also arranges meetings for the fellows with policy experts.” The competition is open to seniors.
  • Other prestigious awards – Information on Fulbright Scholarships, Mellon Fellowships, Goldwater Scholarships, Marshall Scholarships, Rhodes Scholarships and Beinecke Brothers Scholarships on a webpage put together by Professor Louis Hamilton, Student Scholarships and Grants Coordinator, and former SSG Coordinator Professor Erik Anderson, here.

Overseas Study Opportunities

  • Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship – The Gilman Scholarship Program offers awards for undergraduate study abroad and was established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000. This scholarship provides awards for U.S. undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study abroad programs worldwide.
  • Boren Scholarship Awards for International Study – Boren Scholarships provide American undergraduate students with the resources and encouragement they need to acquire skills and experiences in areas of the world critical to the future security of our nation, in exchange for their commitment to seek work in the federal government.
  • Freeman-ASIA provides scholarships for U.S. undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need to study abroad in East or Southeast Asia.
  • Critical Language Scholarship Program – A program of United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program will offer intensive summer language institutes overseas in thirteen critical need foreign languages.

Internship Opportunities

  • American Medical Association Ethics Group Internship Program, Chicago
  • The Asia Society, New York City
  • Humanity in Action Fellowship – Humanity in Action Fellowship programs will take place for five weeks in the summer of 2013 in Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Paris and Warsaw. The Humanity in Action Fellowships will run from May 31 through June 30, 2013. Intensive and demanding, the Humanity in Action Fellowship programs bring together international groups of college students and recent graduates to explore national histories of discrimination and resistance, as well as examples of issues affecting different minority groups today.
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art (including the Cloisters Museum), New York City
  • The Newark Museum, Newark NJ
  • The Pluralism Project, Harvard University
  • Public Religion Research Institute, Washington, D.C.
  • Religions for Peace, New York City
  • Rubin Museum of Art, New York City
  • Tanenbaum, New York City. Internships in a variety of fields, including Communications, Religion and Conflict Resolution, Development, Religious Diversity in Healthcare, Religious Diversity in the Workplace, Religion and Diversity Education
  • US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Washington, DC. “The Commission was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress.”
  • WATER Internships – Feminists in Religion, Silver Spring MD

Fields in Which Our Majors Are Currently Employed:

  • Arts (Theatre – Performance and Management)
  • Business (Examples: a major who just earned her M.B.A. and is Consulting; a major who owns her own India Import-Export Company; a major who is a Project Manager for a pharmaceutical company)
  • Communications (University Communications)
  • Counseling
  • Development (Institutional)
  • Event Planning (Examples: a major who is performing Event Planning at Clinton Global Initiatives in NYC; a major who is the Event Coordinator for The Grouber Foundation at Yale University)
  • Education (Example: NEWS FLASH! Read Prof. Tim Marquis’s – CLA 2000 – just published, acclaimed study of Paul, Transient Apostle: Paul, Travel and the Rhetoric of Empire, Yale Univ Press 2013)
  • Humanitarian Aid & Human Rights (International Examples: Physicians for Human Rights; Satellite Sentinel Project; Harvard Humanitarian Initiative)
  • Human Resources
  • Journalism
  • Several of our current Majors and Minors are going into Medicine. Several of our current Majors and Minors are interested in Law.
  • Current majors know that if they are interested in any of these fields we will put them in touch with these graduates.