Our Alumni
What Do Religion Majors Do After Middlebury?
Some religion alumni continue their study of religion in academic settings or train to become clergy, but most of our alumni pursue a wide variety of professions. In fact, many students have found that the study of religion provides an excellent base from which to take full advantage of a liberal education.
In a survey conducted in early 2015, over sixty religion department alumni from the classes of 1990 and after reported on their varied studies and professions:
Law
Our alumni include an assistant district attorney, a civilian attorney for the Navy’s General Counsel, a clerk for a state supreme court justice, and attorneys specializing in real estate, immigration, commercial bankruptcy, family, environmental, and corporate law.
Education
Our alumni include public and private school teachers from pre-K to the high school level, an elementary school principal, and professors of Buddhist studies, English, and sociology. Other education-related careers include university development and fundraising, school operations, professional development for K-12 teachers, and study abroad advising.
Medicine
Our alumni include a family physician, a radiologist, an academic Emergency Medicine physician, a nurse-midwife, and a medical school student.
Business
Our alumni include those working in data analytics for a tech startup, at marketing/PR firms, at a solar electric installation company, at Amazon, in qualitative market research in Beijing, in executive training and international business consulting, at an internet company that offers support to the U.S. military community, and at an adventure activities company. Our alumni have also started an investment fund, a firm that supplies significant dinosaur fossils and specimens to museums, a commercial meadery, and a hard cider company!
Nonprofit/government
Our alumni include those working in global health in Kenya, monitoring and evaluation, and non-profit consulting and international development. Alumni also work for Habitat for Humanity, the Aspen Institute, the Peace Corps in Malawi and Mongolia, and the city of Chicago (as an urban planner).
Stay-at-home Parents
A few alumni—an elementary school teacher, a lawyer, and the owner of a film research business—report that they are home with children.
Graduate School
Our alumni are studying for advanced degrees in Islamic studies, Tibetan Buddhist studies, theological studies, counseling psychology, English literature, teaching English as a second language, and business administration.