Skip to main content

American Religions

Northwestern University’s program in North American Religions specializes in:

  1. The study of religions in the North American past
  2. The historically informed study of contemporary North American religious cultures
  3. The study of American religions at home and abroad

Students elect a primary focus either on religious history or contemporary religions. We invite applicants in all areas of American religious life from the colonial era (across the continent) to the present and in various religious traditions.

Possible areas of specialization include: religion and ecology, Black religions, American Catholic history and contemporary life, history and practice of the study of religion in the United States, urban religions, religion and migration, Latino and Latina religions, the religious lives of children and adolescents, the history of American moral life and conflict (for example, war and peace in American religion, religion and dilemmas of the body in sickness and health), the relationship between religion and American popular culture; and American religion in global and transnational contexts.

Core Faculty

Support Faculty