Undergraduate Programs
The Department of Religious Studies offers an online major and minor as well as specialized concentrations such as in Religion and Nonprofit Leadership.
Faculty & Research
The faculty and students of the Department of Religious Studies at University of Tennessee, Knoxville engage is a wide range of research. We specialize not just in a wide range of geographical areas and historical religious traditions, but also a variety methods and approaches.
Events & Programs
The Department of Religious Studies at University of Tennessee, Knoxville hosts speakers and programs on a wide range of topics including endowed lectures in Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.
Charles H. Reynolds Distinguished Alumnus/a Award
Charles H. Reynolds served as department head from 1980 – 2001. In the wake of his passing on January 25, 2017 [TN Today | Knoxville News-Sentinel] the Department decided to create an award in his honor. Because he stayed connected to many of his former students, we decided to honor a distinguished alumnus or alumna each year. The award is handed out at the Graduation and Awards Ceremony in the spring.
Our 2024 winner is Rev. Larry J. Sykes, Jr., an alumni from the class of 2009.
Religious Studies in the News
- Radicals in Early Christian Conflict Redefined
A new book by religious studies Professor Tina Shepardson examines religious devotion and polarization within Christianity during late antiquity. - Religious Studies Professor Travels to North Africa
Assistant Professor Manuela Ceballos will bring a new perspective when she returns to the classroom for the fall semester at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. With a fellowship from the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA), she spent the summer in Morocco as a student and researcher. - The Conversation: ‘Video games teach students in this class how religion works in the modern world’
A man plays the Chinese action role-playing game ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ during its launch day in Hangzhou, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, on Aug. 20, 2024. STR/AFP via Getty Images… Read more: The Conversation: ‘Video games teach students in this class how religion works in the modern world’
Upcoming Events
Podcasts
- A Poetics of Nature: Religious Naturalism, Multiplicities, and Affinities
- Partners in Sacred History: The Nonhuman Other in Early Islam
- The Atrocity of Hunger
- Interview with Melissa Wilcox on Queer Religiosities
- Spirit Guide: African Islam, Social Justice, and the Rub of Modernity
- Spirit Guide: Tracy Pintchman on the Goddess Without Boundaries
- Kline Interview with Adam Kotsko: What is Political Theology
- Interview with Marla Frederick on Religion, Race, and Education