Explore religious traditions in all of their complexity
About Us
We explore religious traditions in all of their complexity through comparative, contextual (in specific historical or cultural contexts), and thematic studies.
Give to Religious Studies
Your support enables the program to enhance the experience for undergraduate students. Gifts can help fund lectures and conferences, student research, distinguished speakers, and other program priorities. We will greatly appreciate and immediately put into use any gift, no matter the amount. Please consider a donation to the program Current Use Gift Fund.
Affiliated Programs at Cornell
Our program is closely connected through joint faculty members, cross-listed courses and collaborative events and projects to asian studies, classics, Jewish studies, and near eastern studies.
Religious Studies Alumni News
Program News
Alumni gift to A&S supports doctoral students in the humanities
A $5 million alumni gift will help to support doctoral students in humanities fields within the College of Arts & Sciences.
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Nexus Scholars Program applications now open
The program connects undergraduates in A&S with opportunities to work side by side on research with Cornell faculty from across the College.
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Students reflect on Marsalis visit: ‘He really touched my soul’
Wynton Marsalis visited campus Nov. 1-6 as an A.D. White Professor-at-Large.
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New A&S program expands undergrad research opportunities
The Nexus Scholars program will leverage the student-to-faculty ratio and the vibrant research enterprise in A&S to expand opportunities for students, while also enhancing the culture of collaborative scholarship at Cornell.
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New Courses: Spring 2022
View all coursesThe History of Religious Life in Imperial China(RELST/HIST 2208, ASIAN 2251) MW 2:45-4, 4 creditsIn this course we will learn about the rich varieties of religious life in imperial China, focusing on major historical transformations between the tenth and sixteenth centuries. We will investigate the organization of pantheons and...
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Call for Applications: Jewish Studies Course Development Grant
The Cornell Jewish Studies Program is accepting proposals for a new course development grant. Cornell faculty interested in developing a new course to be cross-listed with Jewish studies in 2022-23 are invited to apply. Jewish studies particularly encourages proposals for innovative courses in disciplines, fields, regions, or topics not already...
Read MoreLand acknowledgement
Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó:nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó:nǫ' dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó:nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters.