Andrea Brooks, who majored in Religion and graduated from Gettysburg College in 2006, enrolled in the graduate program in Religion at the Claremont Colleges in California. At present she is finishing her M.A. degree in Religion at Clarement. Andrea explains how her Religion major prepared her for graduate education:
I must say Gettysburg has given me an immensely strong foundation That allowed me to move successfully and confidently move to the next level of academia. The professors provided me with the tools to question, critically analyze secondary sources to said question, and how to research proficiently in order to add my own voice to the discussion. In addition, the small classes allow one to feel comfortable enough to initiate and maintain conversation, a skill much needed in graduate school where the classes consist of 4 or 5 individuals; which can be very intimidating if one has not made themselves comfortable which such an environment.”
Katie Poticher graduated with a major in Religion from Gettysburg in December of 2005 before heading to Princeton Theological Seminary. She is currently completing a dual program at Princeton Seminary that will confer on her a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree plus a Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.) degree. Katie will continue her study or religion and education in a Ph.D. program in the coming years, and she hopes to contribute to the field of education as a Christian educator or professor of religion and/or education at a liberal arts college. Katie explains the value of her religion major with these words:
My Religion major prepared me for my education at Princeton Seminary in many practical ways. I received an academically sound foundation for reading and interpreting the Bible and practiced the art of exegetical research at Gettysburg. I gained some exposure to religions outside of my own Christian tradition through classes in Native American religions and American religious diversity. I also learned some more abstract, but perhaps more important, lessons in how to understand people through various interdisciplinary lenses and how to encounter people and things that are “other” than what I have experienced in my life. As someone preparing for some kind of Christian ministry, I have found that the diversity of Gettysburg’s religion curriculum was helpful for expanding my worldview and helping me to ask important questions that I’ll be striving to answer throughout my life.”