Program Overview

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Doctor of Philosophy

Overview

The Doctor of Philosophy is an advanced research degree for students aspiring to work in teaching, research, and leadership in college, university, and seminary-level education, as well as professionals in government, law, religious leadership, NGOs, libraries, and media seeking high-level credentials as an expert in religious and theological studies.

Areas of Study

The Theological School's Graduate Division of Religion (GDR) supports graduate research in the following disciplinary areas of specialization:

Bible and Cultures

• Cultivate a biblical hermeneutic that is historically informed, theoretically infused, politically attuned, and contextually relevant.
• Explore the Bible's rhetoric, material and political contexts, interpretation in diverse cultures, representations of gender, sexuality, social status, the natural environment, group identity, and cultural Others.
• Develop disciplinary depth and intellectual breadth, as well as practical skills in teaching, research, writing, public presentation, building and maintaining a public professional presence, and translating transdisciplinary knowledge and insights into socially, politically, and ethically relevant resources.

Religion and Society

• Focus on the dynamic interactions of Christianities and religions, emphasizing decolonial historical, eco-critical, and intersectional approaches to religious studies, Christian social ethics, critical social theories, and just community practices.
• Examine the diversity of expressions and constructions of gender, sex, and sexuality in religious texts, doctrines, practices, and communities, as always experienced in relation to class, race, ethnicity, age, ability, social location, ecological context, and cultural and national identity.

Theological and Philosophical Studies

• Foster a transdisciplinary community of inquiry among students, with emphases on philosophical, constructive, pluralist, comparative, and systematic approaches to theological themes.
• Explore the intersections of queer and feminist theories in and around Paul's letters, as well as ancient Greek and studies ways of teaching Greek as a "living language."

Transdisciplinary Signature Areas

To deepen transdisciplinary work, all students also declare a Signature Area major in one of the following:

Africana/Black Studies of Religion

• Explore African and African-derived religious practices and ideas, philosophical and intellectual traditions, and relationships among African ancestored persons in the U.S. and in other parts of the world.
• Examine issues of nationality, race, sexuality, and gender with a specific interest in the manifestation of these issues as African-American, African, and African Diasporic.

Women's/Gender/Sexuality Studies

• Examine the diversity of expressions and constructions of gender, sex, and sexuality in religious texts, doctrines, practices, and communities, as always experienced in relation to class, race, ethnicity, age, ability, social location, ecological context, and cultural and national identity.
• Engage theoretical and methodological insights of feminist and womanist thought and gender and queer scholarship that include the lives, voices, and perspectives of women and gender and sexual minorities in order to expand justice practices and thought.

Ecology, Religion, and Justice

• Examine the mounting planetary crisis of environmental degradation, mass extinctions, and climate change in relation to religious practices and discourses.
• Pursue ecological justice and planetary health in their intersections with struggles of race, economics, coloniality, gender, and queerness.
• Rethink Earth with respect to theories and theologies of animality, space, matter, ethics, food, politics, and ecospiritualities.

Decoloniality and Critical Theory

• Explore an assemblage of interdisciplinary strategies that aim to decenter, deconstruct, and decolonize Eurocentric paradigms of thought.
• Engage critical theory as recently unfolding in decolonial, (post-)poststructuralist, and new materialist perspectives, bringing an intersectional pluralism of social, political, and ecological contextuality to theoretically undergird inquiry into the particularity of faith and the multiplicity of religions.

General Information

Program Requirements

• All PhD students take 44 credits of coursework, including a common seminar in the History of the Study of Religions and courses in both disciplinary and signature areas.
• The normal course load for full-time study is three courses per semester.
• Further requirements for the PhD include proficiency in either one or two modern languages of scholarship, comprehensive examinations, a dissertation, and oral defense.
• All requirements for the PhD degree must be completed within a period of seven years.

Graduate Division of Religion Goals

• The GDR aims to equip persons for vocations of teaching and research in theological schools, colleges, and universities, or for the scholarly enhancement of ministerial practice and religious leadership.
• A student who has successfully completed the degree requirements should be able to:
  • Contribute scholarly research to an area of study in religious and theological studies.
  • Analyze religions, religious and theological studies, and social contexts through a transdisciplinary area of study interested in transformation of the academy, religions, and society.
  • Utilize scholarship relevant to student research in at least one language other than English.
  • Produce a comprehensive teaching portfolio.
  • Develop and make progress on a professional development plan.
  • Participate in collaborative inquiry and scholarly exchanges in academic settings or professional societies.

100% Tuition Support

• Fellowship Stipends
• Research Assistantships
• Teaching Assistantships
• Professional Internships

Career Opportunities

As a Doctor of Philosophy student engaged in your first three years of coursework and comprehensive exams, you can expect to receive a combination of the following opportunities that provide financial, intellectual, and career-focused support as you transition to life as a PhD student and hone your craft.