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Three Divinity School Alums on Why Religious Studies Matters at Work
October 1, 2026
Haley Segall, Shradha Jain, and Shannon Smith Page
Shradha Jain, Hayley Segall, and Shannon Smith Page, who earned their MDivs together at the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2023, have written an essay for Interfaith America on what studying religion has meant for their work. Responding to recent questions about how to measure the value of a field of study, the three friends answer with their own careers.
Jain, a manager of corporate strategy at CDW, draws on Jonathan Z. Smith’s account of how scholars have categorized religions when she helps companies classify technologies and markets.
“Religious studies taught me that categories are never neutral,” she writes.
Segall, an advancement coordinator at Interfaith America, studied South Asian traditions and now relies on the religious literacy and empathy she built at the Divinity School in her work with donors and foundations. Page, a priest at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Wilmette, Illinois, brings a course on ritual to the weddings she officiates, where joy and grief often share the room.