Catawba College offers new incoming students and transfer students the opportunity to be considered for the Religion & Philosophy scholarship up to $2,500. This great scholarship not only offers Catawba students assistance with their tuition costs, but also provides the ability for the funds to assist with a study abroad opportunity in their junior or senior year. The amount of Catawba's Religion & Philosophy scholarship varies, but students who are eligible to apply must have an academic grade point average of 3.0 or above.
Apply for this ScholarshipReligious Studies + A Philosophy Major – The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Religion & Philosophy with Two Concentrations
Gain a greater depth of knowledge and commensurate skills in Religion and Philosophy.
If you want to learn from two disciplines that serve as a bridge between every idea in every discipline that exists, then you have found your major at Catawba College when you pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion & Philosophy. The Religion & Philosophy major illuminates practical aspects of today's world, provides a broad liberal education, prepares students for graduate work, and well positions students for employment after graduation.
The Religion & Philosophy Department’s purpose is to introduce a broad range of students to religious and philosophical dimensions of human existence and to encourage these students to develop a greater depth of knowledge and commensurate skills in our disciplines.
Perhaps most importantly, the Religion & Philosophy bachelor’s degree programs are offered at an institution that U.S. News ranks as #4 among Best Regional Colleges in the South and that The Princeton Review perennially includes in its annual Best Colleges guide.
You can focus your Religion & Philosophy major in one of these two concentrations:
Christian Ministries
Choose the Christian Ministries concentration if you’d like to use your Religion & Philosophy bachelor’s degree to pursue a career that involves building community in a faith-based organization. Coursework offered allows students plenty of hands-on opportunities through a required internship and practicum to put their classroom learning to work in a future career setting. Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with this concentration gets you ready to begin a vocation related to Christian Ministries and can also pave the way for you to pursue graduate or divinity school.
Theology and Philosophy
Select this concentration for extensive coursework in Philosophy through the ages, studies in Near Eastern and Far Eastern religions, the history of the Christian Church, and the works of 20th and 21st century Christian theologians. A Bachelor of Arts degree with this concentration is the perfect foundation for graduate or divinity school.
Minor in Religion & Philosophy, Religion, or Philosophy
Catawba offers three different minors directly related to this major:
Religion & Philosophy Minor
Pursuing a Religion & Philosophy minor helps you understand our very identity, the culture that has shaped us, the world we live in, what we should think, and how we should live. Both disciplines examine essential aspects of a culture, and both are central to a liberal education and aid in preparing students for future vocations.
Religion Minor
Pursuing a Religion minor allows you to study the nature of the Ultimate, our relationship to the Ultimate, and how religions have worked out these issues. Religion helps us discover needed meaning and value in the world and in our lives.
Philosophy Minor
By pursuing a Philosophy minor, you will study the boundaries of our worldview, the limits within which we think and act. Philosophy shows us these limits and helps us evaluate them and reconstruct them, and how our worldview affects everything about us.
Program Highlights
Catawba’s Religion and Philosophy major helps undergraduates develop strong critical thinking skills, strengthens their ability to communicate and work with others, enhances reading and writing skills, and heightens students’ awareness of diversity and the various viewpoints present in our multicultural society. In short, inspiring faculty and small class sizes guarantee personal attention necessary to prepare students with workplace skills most desired by employers.

Catawba’s Religion & Philosophy majors have opportunities to gain real-world, hands-on experience by completing internships such as being a youth director, an assistant music director, a minister to children, an associate director of a mission program, or serving on staff of an outdoor ministry site such as a camp or retreat center. Additionally, those interested in serving during on-campus Chapel services may be part of teams that prepare and help lead the services. Other opportunities to assist with these services or other religious services in the life of the college, such as Commencement Weekend’s Baccalaureate Service, are also available.
Through Catawba’s Lilly Center which is directed by the College Chaplain, Religion & Philosophy majors are offered additional opportunities to engage in theological and ministerial pursuits. Several programs geared towards assisting students who desire to explore their vocations or contribute to the general Salisbury/Rowan County community include: The Year of Inquiry Program, the Retreat Leadership Corps, Catawba Outdoor Adventures, Volunteer Catawba, and the DISCOVER Program. For more information on these opportunities and others available, please visit the Lilly Center website.