Department of Religious Studies

Are you interested in religion and how it continues to shape our experience of the world?

Are you interested in how religion impacts politics, the environment, cultural values and social practices?

The Religious Studies program at Mount Allison involves the academic study of religion and the ongoing role it plays in shaping cultural experience, thought and practice, and human self-understanding. In short, religious studies considers how spiritualities bring the deepest and most basic questions of human existence to bear on our most significant contemporary challenges and achievements.

Profoundly interdisciplinary, the research and teaching in our department intersects with history, philosophy, environmental studies, critical theory, art and creative practice, community engaged learning and so much more in order to explore such areas as the following:

War and conflict
Gender and sexuality
Ecology and the climate crisis
Secular and post-secular phenomena
Material culture
Cultural traditions and practices
Philosophy and religious thought
Spiritual expression
Archival legacies and futures

Our Faculty are active and successful researchers and have been recognized with numerous teaching and educational leadership awards. The study of religion at Mount Allison involves some of the most innovative and engaging learning experiences available at the University.

Dr. Andrews named a 3M National Teaching Fellow!

Toni Roberts, Director of the Purdy Crawford Teaching Centre, and Dr. Susan (Susie) Andrews, Department of Religious Studies, have been named 3M National Teaching Fellows. Established by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) in 1986, the award recognizes exceptional teachers in post-secondary institutions across the country. Ten recipients are recognized annually.

Read the full article here.

CEWIL Canada provides funding for community engagement

Partners in History sees students in Dr. Susie Andrews’ Sacred Stuff religion class collaborating with local educators and their preschool and elementary school students to explore materials from the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) collection.

Photo: Mount Allison student Shannon Goguen helps deliver a History Box from the Canadian Museum of History and focused learning invitations to preschool and elementary school partners

Read the full article here.

Religious Studies class helps design green roof on campus.

Work began earlier this academic year on a project that will blossom come spring into a little oasis on the roof of the Wallace McCain Student Centre. Mount Allison’s first green roof will feature a garden accessible off the main foyer. The project already served as an experiential learning opportunity for one Mount Allison class this fall. Barb Clayton, professor of religious studies, incorporated it into her third-year Religious Ethics and the Environment class.

Read the full article here.

Fourth-year student Oorja Gonepavaram has been invited to speak at the University of California, Riverside’s 2022 Conference on Queer and Transgender Studies in Religion (UCR-QTSR IV) in February. She is the only undergraduate student presenting at the international event. Congrats, Oorja!