The Religious Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin cultivates future professionals and scholars that recognize religion's importance in society and cultureboth in the past and the present. Religious Studies courses encompass various approaches to the study of religion: they explore ritual and textual traditions, consider the early formation of religions, and investigate the interaction of religious beliefs and practices with political, social, cultural, and economic developments. Because of the field's inherently interdisciplinary qualities, our students have unique access to world-renowned experts within our core faculty as well as across the university and beyond. Whether they focus on contemporary forms of religiosity or on a forgotten religion of the ancient world, our students develop a skillset that serves them well in any career that values critical thinking, an ability to communicate clearly, and a sensitive awareness to cultural variation. Since the inception of the Religious Studies major at UT Austin in the Fall of 2000, students have obtained careers in public health, medicine, law, government, ministry, finance, the Peace Corps, and Teach for America. Others have been accepted into graduate programs, including those at Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Emory, the University of Chicago, and Columbia.<br>Students who major in Religious Studies are well-prepared for careers in the State Department and other branches of the government, health professions, the military, social services, journalism, and academia. Our graduates work as consultants, as government employees, as business owners, members of the clergy, lawyers, and teachers. They have enrolled in graduate programs in business, medicine, law, history, anthropology, psychology and, of course, religion.