Temple University’s Religion Department was created in 1961, one of the first Religion Departments to be organized at a public university. Although it evolved out of what was a theology department in a former private Baptist college, the department has always seen itself as distinct from seminaries and religion departments in religiously based institutions. The department’s program has been global in its scope, and includes a diverse range of religion scholars from most of the world's major religious traditions. The department has always been fueled by the wisdom that if you know only one religion, you really don't know any, and by the notion that scholars who are also engaged in religious cultures are in the best position to teach about them, emphasizing the study of world religions and the dialogue among them.  

Doctoral students come from every religious tradition imaginable (and from many countries around the world) with the goal of understanding religious traditions other than the ones in which they were raised and deepening their understanding of their own through critical analysis. Graduates of this department are some of the leading scholars of religion both in the United States and abroad. These graduates can teach about the religions of the world in any university or seminary setting. The great strength of the department is providing students, graduate and undergraduate alike, with a broad background about many religious traditions, and a heightened awareness of the way religion functions in American society and in the world – most critical in today’s global context.  

www.temple.edu/religion/