Global Cultural Knowledge

The Department of Religious Studies prepares students to lead social change and navigate cultural differences. Religious Studies offers a wide variety of classes in global religious and cultural knowledge and a one-of-a-kind Nonprofit Leadership career track.

We offer

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Small Class Sizes

Individual attention from award-winning faculty & staff and advisors.

Individualized Research

Program is dedicated to deepening your understanding of religious phenomena, and broadening your global cultural knowledge.

Nonprofit Leadership Career Track

Religious Studies will help you on your path to a future career in Nonprofit and NGO leadership.

Degree Areas

Nonprofit Leadership, Religion, and Social Change BA 

This interdisciplinary degree prepares students for leadership in nonprofit, philanthropic, and community-based sectors. Students develop intercultural competence, strategic thinking, and practical skills for creating meaningful social change at local and global levels.

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Religious Studies BA 

Learning about religions means that you understand different cultures and develop a more global perspective. Religious Studies is the ideal major for those who seek a career in international & interdisciplinary fields.

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Nonprofit Leadership Concentration

The Concentration in Nonprofit Leadership is unique at Michigan State University, that will appear on your official transcript, and that gives you additional career options available only as a Religious Studies major at Michigan State University.

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Religious Studies Minor

To study religion is to develop cultural knowledge that will be of value both to you and to your future employer. We offer minors in both Religious Studies & Religion in the Americas.

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Nonprofit Leadership Online Graduate Programs

Our professional degree programs train and empower nonprofit leaders to tackle local and global challenges through an ethical lens while building intercultural competence and knowledge of human and ecological systems.

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Religious Studies BA 

Learning about religions means that you understand different cultures and develop a more global perspective. Religious Studies is the ideal major for those who seek a career in international & interdisciplinary fields.

Nonprofit Leadership Concentration

The Concentration in Nonprofit Leadership is unique at Michigan State University, that will appear on your official transcript, and that gives you additional career options available only as a Religious Studies major at Michigan State University.

Religious Studies Minor

To study religion is to develop cultural knowledge that will be of value both to you and to your future employer. We offer minors in both Religious Studies & Religion in the Americas.

Global nonprofit leadership M.A

Our Global Nonprofit Leadership M.A. is offered 100% online and our competency and knowledge-based curriculum allows you to build on your previous knowledge and experience while learning in a unique five-week course sequence that builds your skills and knowledge.

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Nonprofit Leadership

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What is Religious Studies?

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“My emphasis on Nonprofit Leadership has given me immense perspective about how to help bring people together using the skills learned throughout my Religious Studies major, including learning about people’s beliefs and traditions.”

Liv Swanton

Religious Studies Major with Nonprofit Leadership Focus

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featured News

2026 award recipients Avery Riehl (left), Emma Wilkins (center), and Alliah Woodside (right) stand together smiling in front of a projected College of Arts & Letters slide. Riehl wears a black short-sleeve top with long red hair down; Wilkins wears a black blazer over a white top with curly hair and clear-framed glasses; Woodside wears a white ribbed fitted dress and an ornate blue and gold head wrap. A green Department of Religious Studies table is partially visible in the foreground.

Religious Studies Students Honored for Outstanding Achievements

The Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University celebrated undergraduate excellence at its 2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium and Awards Ceremony on April 17, recognizing students whose academic achievements and community commitments reflect the department’s core values. Three students — Alliah Woodside, Emma Wilkins, and Avery Riehl — were each presented with awards at the event for their outstanding achievements.

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A grid of four headshots of the 2025-2026 Fintz Award recipients. Top left: Laura Yares, smiling, with shoulder-length brown hair and blue earrings, against a yellow background. Top right: Jonathan Choti, smiling, with a navy blazer. Bottom left: Nerli Paredes Ruvalcaba, smiling, with long pink-tinted hair. Bottom right: Aaron Schultz, smiling, with a beard and glasses

Four MSU Faculty Honored with Fintz Award for Teaching Excellence

Four College of Arts & Letters faculty have been selected as this year’s recipients of the Fintz Award for Teaching Excellence in the Arts and Humanities in recognition of their exemplary Integrative Arts and Humanities (IAH) instruction. Presented each spring by the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities (CISAH), the Fintz Award, which is student nominated, recognizes outstanding faculty who engage students in arts and humanities ways of knowing while helping them develop critical thinking and effective communication skills.

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