Religion

An ideal foundation for any field, the liberal arts teaches students to address issues clearly, using various perspectives, and to solve problems. As a religion major, you’ll find Augustana the perfect setting to focus on the diverse religious, theological and ethical issues of life.

Augustana offers a religion major/minor, a pre-seminary advising program and an experiential minor in interreligious leadership. Related minors include ethics, Greek for New Testament studies and Biblical studies.

Courses connect to fields throughout the liberal arts, and graduates pursue careers in medicine, law and public policy, social work, education, business, international relations, politics and public relations, non-profits and non-governmental organizations. Augustana also has a long and rich history of preparing students for entrance into seminaries and divinity schools to become ordained ministers and other church leaders.

Augustana’s diverse and welcoming campus community reflects spiritual traditions and religious thought of all kinds.

Distinctions

• Augustana was founded in 1860 by Swedish Lutheran settlers, and is affiliated with the ELCA. Today, members of all faith groups comprise the campus community.

• Augustana’s many student groups reflect the community’s broad range of religious thought, including the Catholic Organization for Religious Experience, Hillel (Jewish student group), the Muslim Student Organization, and Interfaith Understanding.

• The Quad Cities (pop. 450,000) is a metro community offering access to all of the world’s primary faith traditions. Students find many opportunities for internships and service learning such as tutoring, leading youth groups or activities, and working with social organizations.

• Augustana’s international programs range from yearlong exchange programs to 3.5-week J-term. Opportunities of special interest to religion majors include the Faiths in Dialogue course, which spends two weeks in Rome and Vatican City, and a program in Holden Village, where students study religion, ecology and U.S. history in this remote religious community in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. A $2,000 Augie Choice grant can help pay travel expenses.

• Many religion majors do a service-oriented gap year after graduating (such as Young Adults in Global Mission, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, Peace Corps, etc.) to further pursue their vocations and develop their skills.

Recent grads

Christine Vincent ’19 is an ELCA candidate seminarian at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Lenoir-Rhyne University, in Columbia, S.C.

Eileen Ruppel-Doan ’18 is pursuing a Master of Divinity at United Lutheran Seminary, Philadelphia.

Riley Ferguson '18 is a financial specialist at UW Credit Union, Madison, Wis.

Adiba Hasan ’18 is an event specialist at Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 

Kelsey West ’17 is a primary therapist at Center for Discovery in the Washington, D.C., area.

Kaitlyn Lindgren '16 is a Ph.D. student in religion/religious studies and a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Iowa.

Leah Berger ’16 is an IPS employment specialist supervisor at Behavioral Health Group in Aurora, Colo.