From Leaders of the American Academy of Religion
2 July 2025
Dear Members of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education:
The leadership of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), the premier professional association with a world-wide membership of over 6000, writes to express its concern that the Commission has announced its plans to suspend or consolidate/merge the Religious Studies Bachelor Programs at Ball State, Indiana University Bloomington, and Indiana University Indianapolis. The AAR is dedicated to advancing the academic study of religion and fostering the public understanding of religion, a commitment it has maintained and refined over more than a century since its conception in 1909. We have reminded the public of the relevance and significant contributions religious studies makes to higher education in our public statement issued in 2020.
The research and public engagement of religious studies scholars makes it very clear that the study of religion is more than ever before essential to the mission of the university, to the understanding of global challenges such as violence and poverty, and to making the world a place of respectful co-existence. To eliminate religious studies is to foreclose an opportunity to participate in creating a more just world. We respect the fact that Indiana’s public universities are committed to the ideals of rigorous scholarship as well as positive societal impact, and we would like to call on the fourteen members of the Commission to continue your support of religious studies as you seek to fulfil a commitment to a forward-thinking and practical university curriculum and liberal arts education.
IU Indianapolis, IU Bloomington, and Ball State are leading research universities and innovative public education institutions that offer more than practical degrees. Ball State prided itself in promoting higher education as “the beginning of a lifelong quest for personal development” and seeks to offer “the foundation for a fulfilling career and a meaningful life.” IU Bloomington advertises that it is a place “where you’ll get an education in everything” and seeks to “prepare students for the real world.” IU Indianapolis, rightfully proud of its record of research and innovation, states that it “is leading the way toward some of the 21st century’s most important advancements…[including in] the arts and humanities.”
The academic study of religion is critical to this education, providing not only transferable skills and competencies but a special vocabulary, historical depth, and informed perspective to lead in global and local conversations on various kinds of community needs, meanings, and innovations.
We recognize that as part of the public university system of Indiana, your Commission and these universities have obligations beyond providing basic career preparation. They are responsible for helping shape thoughtful, engaged, and critical citizens. Eliminating bachelor programs that have at their center intercultural literacy and critical consciousness of world religious traditions goes counter to the public record of distinction of the University. We urge you to recognize that religious studies is a strong ally, and enabler, of the mission and vision of the university. In the spirit of constructive partnership in higher education, we ask you to not eliminate but to support these programs in religious studies.
Sincerely,
Leela Prasad, President of the American Academy of Religion
Laurel Schneider, President-Elect of the AAR
Angela Sims, Vice President of the AAR
Nikia Robert, Treasurer of the AAR
Kathleen Sands, Secretary of the AAR