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Why should I major in Religious Studies? What can I do with it? Here are some answers from a January/February 1991 issue of the Hobart and William Smith alum magazine, The Pulteney Street Survey. The article is edited for presentation here and entitled Major Benefits.

What students have written Honors theses in recent years?

For additional information on former students, please see "News and Notes."

Major Benefits

Winter term is the time when sophomores declare their majors and seniors search for a concrete answer to the age old question "What are you going to do when you grow up?"

For those whose undergraduate studies have been directed down a specific career path, this question is quickly answered, but form many, if not most, the answer is elusive. Some will be limited by their vision of what is possible, while others will have difficulty narrowing their prospects. For some, the path will be straight, for others winding, and for all, including those who they have it all figured out, this first choice is unlikely to be their last.

In order to be better able to assist their current students in grappling with this difficult decision, faculty members of the Department of Religious Studies decided (in 1990) to query some relatively recent graduates on what they were doing with their religious studies majors and to find out whether they felt that the major had served them well.

The Lawyers

Reflecting on his choice of undergraduate majors, Steven M. Herman '82, a real-estate and corporate finance lawyer in New York City, admits that an economics or business major might have been more directly applicable in his present position, but he defends his choice.

In practicing law, organization, careful writing, and reading are major tools of the trade. Reading Hegel was probably one of the best preparations I could have chosen.

Clisson Rexford '82, a law student at the University of Michigan, also found his religious studies major to be good preparation.

Much of my law school learning involves interpreting, analyzing, and criticizing written and oral arguments and fashioning my own response. Religious studies provided that kind of training.

Prior to entering law school, Clisson pursued a Master of Arts at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he found that

in comparison to my fellow grad students, my Hobart and William Smith education was topnotch.

Gary S. Kessler '82, a supervising appellate attorney in Vermont, chose religious studies rather than the more usual political science major for pre-law students. Working as a prosecutor for the state of Vermont, he drafts legislation that he hopes will improve the judicial process. Kessler believes that

[my] major helped [me] see the importance of giving something to society.

At the time of the survey (1990), Jeffrey K. Levine '88 was working as a paralegal in Brooklyn and continuing his study of Jewish mysticism after hours. He was a law student at Loyola University thereafter. Jeffrey expected to apply his double major in religious studies and psychology to the practice of litigation and felt that

[religious studies] broadened [his]cope and patterns of thought. . . and [enabled him] to fully understand potentially far-reaching abstract ideas.

As he put it,

Religious studies offers ways of seeing the world and life in a way that no other major at Hobart and William Smith can. More specifically, history and personal outlooks on a wide range of events can be learned, developed, and utilized without limitation.

 

The Clergy

Next to law, paths that led to ordained ministry were the most common among respondents in 1990.

The Reverend Julie E. Calhoun-Bryant 82, for example, is an Episcopalian priest who chose to major in religious studies in preparation for entering seminary.

Many of my classmates [at Yale Divinity School] neither knew what a concordance was nor had ever seen a commentary. Not only was I familiar with biblical exegeses, but I had employed them in the numerous papers [that] I wrote at William Smith.

Although Brian Lynch '88 chose a similar route, he admits that his career path beyond Yale Divinity School remains open. His response speaks directly to current and prospective students, whom he encourages to accept the challenge of a religious studies major. He tells them that this will require that they

go beyond mere descriptive analysis and instead empathize and identify fully with those persons that they are studying. [He warns that] it will not be enough to know how they act, you must penetrate the motives for their actions.

For Episcopal priest assistant Bradford D. Clark '82, courses in religious studies

began the process of discerning vocation. The religious studies major assured me that my most compelling questions could be pursued in my studies (not placed on the shelf for times when I was not studying) and that they would find a grammar to be expressed and integrated into my life. By kindling these questions, much to my surprise, I came to be a disciplined student.

 

The Others

Sandra Scherzer Gross '85, a banking sales representative for Manufacturers Hanover's electronic banking services in Los Angeles says

It's not what I learned in religious studies that helped me get where I am today, it is how the courses helped me to think, perceive, question, and articulate. [She adds that her major prepares her to be] ...open-minded, grasp technical concepts, and explain them in human terms.

Sandra says that her employers fins that she can be easily cross-trained because she picks up new concepts readily.

Bradford F. Mills '83 worked for a white-water rafting company for a year before entering a graduate program in agricultural economics at the University of Connecticut where he earned his master's degree. After graduate school, he worked in a homeless shelter and went to Gambia with the Peace Corps. Then he entered a Ph.D. program in agricultural economics at the University of California at Berkeley. Bradford considers his liberal arts background one of his greatest assets:

The ability to analyze a problem from different perspectives is far more difficult to learn than the calculus. . .

Former weaver, world traveler, editorial assistant and full time mom, M. Creighton Taylor '80, considers her time at William Smith the most intellectually stimulating period of her life.

I learned, with the help of the professors in the religious studies department, how to question things, how to judge for myself what was right or wrong, in short how to 'think' for myself. In that sense, I use my education every day and my life is greatly enriched because of it. And, although very few people know what it is exactly, I still brandish the concept of 'ontological flashes' with abandon!

Elizabeth Blumberg '86, found her background in religious studies useful during her time as assistant to the dean of student life at Wesleyan University. As she put it

When I help an individual with a problem, and he or she feels more clear about an issue and how to begin working through it, I know that the knowledge, ideas, and 'spirit' that I have gained from my studies play a significant role in my ability to be a skilled educator.

Blumberg says that religious studies would still be her choice if she were asked to do it all again.

Stockbroker Charles Smithers III '78 admits that his second major -- economics -- is probably more directly applicable in the technical aspects of his job. He points out, though, that

the successful art of choosing sticks is half interpretive and half qualitative. The ability to sort through the masses of numbers and come up with an opinion requires not only an expertise unknowing the technical lingo but [also an ability] to balance [that expertise] against the critical factors of mass psychology.

Smithers feels that his study of religion helps him in that process.

G. Graham Vest '82 says that his degree has been more helpful than he imagined as an undergraduate. It helped, for example, with his culture shock in the Peace Corps in Morocco. And provided him with an openness to diversity that serves him well in his present position as a high school social studies teacher in Harlem

Though many still find it esoteric, or misunderstand it as a prelude to seminary, [my major] has provided me with insight into the world around me. Undergraduate education is a basis for further growth and my experiences [at Hobart] opened many avenues for me to explore.

Daniel T. Williams '79 "fights the good fight from left field." Working as a front desk supervisor in a mountain resort in Vermont, he too has found ways to apply his background in religious studies.

Was I ever able to cut my labor costs by referencing the Dharmapada? Maybe not, but by practicing the openness to change and an understanding of individual needs on a daily basis, the staff creates options my superiors never envisioned.

Daniel's awareness of the complexity of human interaction enables him to intervene on the behalf of other employees and guests and thus prevent his workplace from becoming a "breeding ground for alienation." Satisfied with his life choices so far, he wonders

Isn't there something pedagogically wrong
with a deliberate path in life?

Religious Studies Honors Projects

The Honors Program is a distinctive feature of the Colleges, open to qualified students who wish to achieve a high level of excellence in their departmental major. Working closely with an Honors advisor for an equivalent of one course per term for two or three terms, the student designs a project that produces a focused scholarly work. Honors students take a written and oral exam as well as producing an Honors paper.

Recent recipients include:

Eric Kisskalt ('98) "Hegel: Speculative Thought and Its Empirical Foundation " (Honors advisor: Mary Gerhart)

Spencer Foote ('97) "Spinning A New Space: From Patriarchy to Matriarchy" (Honors Advisor: Susan Henking). For an update on Spencer, see News and Notes.

Honors projects are available for perusal at the Hobart and William Smith Library.