番茄社区

Student outside

Discover your edge in Religion, Culture and Society

Religion, Culture and Society opens your mind to new perspectives. Morgan Mikkelsen says religious studies challenges you to examine social issues from varied points of view.

Become a student
Monks

Study what interests you

Curious about the traditions of major world religions? We offer fascinating courses that explore religion and culture from historical and contemporary perspectives.

Courses
Undergraduate student Zo茅 Duhaime at the BC Legislature Buildings

Explore topics you're passionate about

Undergraduate student Zoé Duhaime’s JCURA research project explored diverse methods of timekeeping, and how they can be minded and navigated within the secular state.

Our program
West Coast forest

Research and initiatives

Dr. Paul Bramadat (professor and director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society) is studying west coast eco-spirituality and the place of religion, reverence and reason in Cascadia.

Our research
Student walking down UVic building steps

Opportunities and resources

Students in the Religion, Culture and Society Program have a range of opportunities to enhance their studies through participation in events, scholarship programs and wide selection of eligible electives.

Current students
Program director Shamma Boyarin

Meet our faculty

Faculty from departments across campus come together to explore contemporary and historical perspectives of religion. Professor Shamma Boyarin's research looks at the influence of religion in heavy metal.

Our people

Change the way you see the world

Religion, Culture and Society is an interdisciplinary program focusing on the integral place of religious traditions within culture and society–today and in the past, from local to global settings.

By exploring various dimensions of religion, including how it is experienced, practiced, and manifests throughout the world around us, we look at the vital role that religion plays in the social, political, artistic, and intellectual spheres of most human communities.

Studying religion connects us to politics, identity, literature, and the big questions: why are we on earth (and what lies beyond), what happens after we die, how can we lead a good life, and how are we linked to one another? As global events and processes like political upheaval, COVID-19, and climate change prompt us anew to seek meaning, connection, and paths forward, thinking about religion could not be more timely.
—Shamma Boyarin, and Andrew Wender, past and current program directors

Our program reflects the growing diversity of religions within Canada and an interconnected world, underscoring the need to understand differences, similarities, and relations among religious traditions.


We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.