Resources For

Study of Religion

Faculty

Brad Gregory

Dorothy G. Griffin Associate Professor of Early Modern European History

Widely regarded as the brightest and most promising Reformation-era scholar of his generation, Historian Brad Gregory focuses on 16th- and 17th-century Catholics, Protestants, and radical Protestants in England, France, the Low Countries, and Germany. » Read More
Faculty

Margot Fassler

Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Music History and Liturgy

Renowned for her work at the intersection of musicology and theology, Margot Fassler is an internationally recognized expert in sacred music of all periods, but in particular of the medieval period. » Read More
Student

Brandon Vaidyanathan

Ph.D. Student and Mellon Fellow

Sociology graduate student Brandon Vaidyanathan obtained funding from the Mellon Foundation-Notre Dame partnership [see box below] for Summer 2011 dissertation research on the role of religion in rapidly globalizing cities in Asia. » Read More

“Whatever your particular interest in religion, graduate students here find that Notre Dame is a place that takes religion seriously—not uncritically, but seriously.”

Bob Brenneman, Ph.D., Sociology, 2010

Mellon Foundation Funding

To ensure that Notre Dame continues to recruit and support outstanding graduate students who take advantage of the Universityâs distinctive strengths in the academic study of religion, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Notre Dame a major grant to support an initiative in religion across the disciplines. The funding includes generous support for incoming graduate students whose records are exceptional and whose work on religious topics will be integrated with their academic disciplines. Support for Mellon Fellows includes summer stipends, research funding, and special workshops. In addition, summer Mellon funding is available to current Notre Dame graduate students.

More information is available at the Notre Dame Mellon website; on the Graduate School Select Fellowship webpage; and in the press release announcing the program.

Departments and Programs

As the premier university in North America for the academic study of religion, the University of Notre Dame has scores of faculty members across departments whose scholarly work focuses on religion. Their research and teaching encompasses the many facets of religion as well as its connectivity with numerous other fields. The focus of the study of religion on our campus may be medieval Europe, colonial America, 21st-century Africa, the Middle East, or Latin America—or any number of points that exist in history or geography between these disparate worlds. Whatever your particular interest in religion, graduate students here find that “Notre Dame is a place that takes religion seriously—not uncritically—but seriously.”

Several of Notre Dame’s graduate programs offer a disciplinary home for students who wish to study various aspects of religion—whether that study is grounded in one particular discipline or at the intersection of two or more disciplines. Depending on your background and interests, you may apply to one of the following departments or programs:

Centers and Institutes

A wealth of Notre Dame centers and institutes focus on the study of religion. Just three examples are the Medieval Institute, the Center for Philosophy of Religion, and the Center for the Study of Religion and Society.