Mission
The objective of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University is to encourage greater intellectual exchange and interdisciplinary scholarly studies about religion among faculty and students in the humanities and social sciences.The Center is committed to scholarly research and teaching that examines religion historically and normatively in its diverse manifestations. The Center aims to facilitate understanding of religion through an integrated program of support for Princeton faculty to pursue research and teaching on thematic projects, awards for Princeton graduate students to complete dissertation research, interdisciplinary seminars, undergraduate courses, public lectures, and opportunities for visiting scholars to affiliate with the Center.
Left to Right: Jenny Wiley Legath, Associate Director; Anita Kline, Center Manager; Robert Wuthnow, Director
The Center for the Study of Religion builds on and consolidates Princeton University’s unique resources in the humanities and social sciences. Faculty and students in a wide range of departments at Princeton have earned distinction for their scholarly contributions to the study of religion. In addition to Princeton’s Department of Religion, which provides a nucleus of scholars with expertise in the world’s major religions, more than fifty faculty members in a dozen other departments and programs contribute regularly to the understanding of religion through their various scholarly perspectives. These faculty in Anthropology, Art and Archeology, Politics, Sociology, History, Classics, Philosophy, Music, Comparative Literature, English, Near Eastern Studies, East Asian Studies, Architecture, and Romance Languages, and in such programs as Creative Writing, Women's Studies, Latin American Studies, African American Studies, Medieval Studies, American Studies, and Jewish Studies, among others. The university's commitment to diversity, as well as its distinction as a private nonsectarian institution, makes Princeton particularly well-suited for this endeavor.
