Department of Religious Studies

Department of Religious Studies

The Department of Religious Studies offers Richmond students the opportunity to study a broad range of religions from an academic perspective.

Our faculty and staff reject racial bias, hate speech, religious intolerance, and all other expressions of bigotry. The academic study of religion promotes a community founded on the values of inclusivity, equity, and diversity.  Religious Studies courses help students understand the complex and sometimes volatile relations of difference, and we model substantive intellectual responses to it. 

Major & MinorCourses

Mid-century Modern stlye announcing open house event

Religious Studies Open House

The Department of Religious Studies is hosting an Open House on Tuesday, October 21, from 4:00- 5:00 PM in the Religious Studies Lounge (Suite 102, Weinstein Hall).


Stop by to say hello, learn about our upcoming courses, and grab some tasty fall treats! Everyone is welcome!

Spooky Flyer Ft. Movie moster for Taken

Halloween Film Night

Join the Department of Religious Studies for a fun Halloween Film Night on Tuesday, October 28th at 7:00 pm in Jepson Hall, Room 118.
Flyer for event featuring Song of Songs V by Marc Chagall

Thinking with Art: Biblical Poetry and the Song of Songs

The Department of Religious Studies invites you to attend a talk by Dr. Elaine James, Princeton Theological Seminary: Thinking with Art: Biblical Poetry and the Song of Songs.

The Bible is often characterized as didactic literature: it aims to teach, or it provides rules for its followers. But people often forget—or perhaps they never knew—that much of the Bible is poetry. It is art. How we describe this art matters: it matters to how we read, it matters to how we interpret, it matters to how we value religious life and practice. It might even help us think about what we ourselves make, and why. 

This talk will take place on Tuesday, November 4th at 12:00 pm in the Brown Alley Room, located on the third floor of Weinstein Hall (313). 

 

Religious Studies and Science!

Reghan Ruf, '21, majored in biology and religious studies at the University of Richmond. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in biogeochemistry at the University of Akron. Listen to her insights on how her studies in religious studies and biology have complemented each other.

Faculty Highlights

Dr. Rhiannon Graybill
Graybill selected as co-editor of a forthcoming book series

Rhiannon Graybill, Marcus M. and Carole M. Weinstein & Gilbert M. and Fannie S. Rosenthal Chair of Jewish Studies, was tapped as founding co-editor for a new Bloomsbury book series called Sexing Scripture. The series publishes cutting edge research on gender, sex, sexuality, and religious texts.

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Dr. Mimi Hanaoka
Hanaoka named ACS Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow

Mimi Hanaoka, associate professor of religious studies, has been named Associated Colleges of the South Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow for 2025–27.

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Dr. Rhiannon Graybill
Graybill Published

Rhiannon Graybill, Marcus M. and Carole M. Weinstein & Gilbert M. and Fannie S. Rosenthal Chair of Jewish Studies, published Narrating Rape: Shifting Perspectives in Biblical Literature and Popular Culture by SCM Press.

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Scholarship Repository Readership

The University of Richmond's Scholarship Repository shares faculty publications with a world-wide audience. The map below shows where articles from religion faculty are being read around the globe.

Upcoming Courses

  • Law & Order in China: Ancient Roots, Modern Impact
  • Occult America
  • Religion, Sports, and Social Justice
  • Sex and the Hebrew Bible
  • The Hebrew Bible, the Climate, and the End of the World as We Know It
  • Introduction New Testament
  • Richmond: City of the Dead
  • God is Dead

Contact Us

Mailing address:
Department of Religious Studies
Weinstein Hall, Room 102
231 Richmond Way
University of Richmond, Virginia 23173

Phone: (804) 289-8325
Fax: (804) 287-6504

Interim Chair: Manuella Meyer
Academic Administrative Specialist: Emily Peebles

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