The Council of Societies for the Study of Religion (CSSR) is a federation of learned societies founded in the early 1970s. Its executive office is hosted by the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University.

Its aim is to coordinate work among scholars who study religion, past and present. The Council therefore provides a forum for scholars to exchange ideas and information about religion and its study. The CSSR played this crucial role in the founding of the North American field in the early 1970s and continues to help scholars to share the results of their research, across differing specialties and approaches.

To accomplish this mission, the Council publishes two quarterlies: Religious Studies Review (the field's main source of book review essays and critical book notes) and the Bulletin of the CSSR (a non-refereed, quarterly periodical that specializes in timely and provocative essays and discussions). It has also publihed the Directory of Departments and Programs of Religious Studies in North America (last edition, 2002)--the only such directory in the field. The Council also offers administrative services to its member societies.