The Department of Religious Studies at UT promotes the critical and comparative study of religion, and does not favor one religious tradition at the expense of others. Drawing upon a range of perspectives – historical, anthropological, textual, and theoretical – the Department highlights both the variety and complexity of religious beliefs, practices, communities, and institutions. The faculty's expertise is wide-ranging. Their research and teaching interests span religious traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and indigenous traditions; geographic regions such as the Americas, Africa, the Ancient Mediterranean, and Asia; and thematic topics such as the relationship of religion to politics, gender, violence, sports, media, and the arts.
