religious studies phd

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The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program is jointly offered by HDS and the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Find detailed information about PhD fields of study and program requirements on the Committee on the Study of Religion website.

With a focus on global religions, religion and culture, and forces that shape religious traditions and thought, the PhD prepares students for advanced research and scholarship in religion and theological studies. 

Resources for the study of religion at Harvard are vast. We offer courses in the whole range of religious traditions from the ancient Zoroastrian tradition to modern Christian liberation movements, Islamic and Jewish philosophies, Buddhist social movements, and Hindu arts and culture. Some of us work primarily as historians, others as scholars of texts, others as anthropologists, although the boundaries of these methodologies are never firm. Some of us are adherents of a religious tradition; others are not at all religious. The Study of Religion is exciting and challenging precisely because of the conversations that take place across the complexities of disciplines, traditions, and intellectual commitments.

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• Ph.D. Program in Religion

For students seeking their Ph.D. in Religion, the Graduate Program in Religion —part of the Duke Graduate School—offers a Ph.D. program. Although this program is not housed with the Department of Religious Studies, it is a collaboration between the Department and Duke Divinity School. The program includes the following 9 fields of study, also called tracks, in which students can concentrate their studies:

• American Religion
• Asian Religions
• Christian Theological Studies
• Early Christianity
• Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
• Islamic Studies
• New Testament
• Religion, Aesthetics, and Society
• World Christianity

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Department of Religious Studies

About the phd program, about the ph.d. program.

Our Ph.D. program is designed to prepare the very best candidates for successful careers in research and teaching at the university level. We have been ranked among the top 5 doctoral programs in Religious Studies in the country, and admissions is highly selective to produce incoming classes of 4 to 8 students. All doctoral students are admitted into one of the Department’s fields of specialization and must fulfill the specific requirements of that field:

Ancient Mediterranean Religions

• Ancient Near East
• Hebrew Bible
• Early Judaism
• Archaeology
• Greco-Roman Religions
• Early Christianity (including New Testament)
• Religions of Late Antiquity

For more on this field of specialization, click here .

Core Faculty:

Bart D. Ehrman ; Joseph Lam ; David Lambert ; Jodi Magness ; Hugo Méndez ; Zlatko Plese

Associated Faculty:

Evyatar Marienberg

Islamic Studies

Additional resources for the comparative study of Islam in the area include the following:

Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies programs at UNC and in the Triangle are coordinated by the  UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies , housed in the  Global Education Center .  The Middle East Center collaborates with the Duke University Middle East Center to form the Consortium for Middle East Studies  at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a federally funded Title VI National Resource Center. Another affiliated resource is the  Duke Islamic Studies Center .

University of North Carolina Press  has launched a  book series  on Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks edited by Bruce Lawrence and Carl Ernst.

For more detailed information on the Islamic studies field, see the remarks of Carl Ernst on “ Graduate Admission Information for Islamic Studies at UNC .”

Youssef Carter ; Carl W. Ernst ; Juliane Hammer ; Waleed Ziad

Jodi Magness

Affiliated Faculty:

Charles Kurzman , Sociology (UNC); Omid Safi , Asian & ME Studies (Duke)

Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Jessica A. Boon ; Evyatar Marienberg

Barbara R. Ambros ; Carl W. Ernst ; Brandon Bayne

Religion and Culture

Andrea Dara Cooper ; Randall G. Styers

Jessica A. Boon ; Lauren G. Leve ; Todd Ramón Ochoa ; Brendan Jamal Thornton

Jason Bivins , Philosophy and Religion (NSCU); Christian Lundberg , Communication Studies (UNC); Barry Saunders , Social Medicine (UNC)

Religion in the Americas

Scholars in other Departments or programs at UNC such as Afro-American Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, English, Folklore, History, Latin American Studies, Political Science, and Sociology, regularly offer courses and participate in graduate examinations in the field.

There is a large and well-developed program in American religious history at nearby Duke University. Students at both institutions routinely enroll in each other’s graduate courses and participate in a series of jointly sponsored colloquia each semester.

The Southern Historical Collection, the North Carolina Historical Collection, and the folklore and ethnomusicology collections at UNC attract researchers from all parts of the nation. Specialized resources such as the Wesleyan collection at Duke, the Primitive Baptist collection at Elon College, the Friends collection at Guilford College, and the Southern Baptist collections at Wake Forest and at Southeastern Baptist Seminary, are easily accessible.

Yaakov S. Ariel ; Brandon Bayne ; Todd Ramón Ochoa ; Brendan Jamal Thornton

Juliane Hammer

Jason Bivins , Philosophy and Religion (NCSU)

Religions of Asia

Barbara Rossetti Ambros ; Lauren G. Leve

Carl W. Ernst

Across these specific fields we have a range of strengths in regions, traditions, methodologies, and themes. Graduate students regularly develop expertise in these areas by taking thematically-focused courses within and beyond the graduate fields in which they were admitted. We encourage applicants to consider how faculty strengths across concentrations provide resources for projects situated in a particular concentration:

In addition to pursuing your interests in your concentration through coursework in our department, other UNC departments, and at Duke, students will also receive a broad grounding in Religious Studies as an interdisciplinary field. All incoming students enroll in RELI 700 (“Theory and Method in the Study of Religion”), and all take “gateway” courses that introduce important themes and methodologies relevant to a particular concentration. For more information about coursework, please see the graduate program’s Policies and Procedures .

For more information about language requirements and doctoral exams, please click on the specific concentration above. For more information about the dissertation process and time to degree, please see the graduate program’s Policies and Procedures .

All students must have earned a bachelor’s degree prior to registration. In addition, note that:

• We admit students for Fall semester only (not for the Spring).
• We can accept only full-time students who will be in residence.
• Students admitted to the program who have not already earned an M.A. in the study of religion must earn an M.A. in the Department before advancing to the Ph.D. phase of the program. (We offer the M.A. only as the beginning of work for the Ph.D.; we do not offer a terminal M.A. degree.)
• Students enrolled in the Department’s M.A. program can petition to enter the Ph.D. program after successful completion of all M.A. requirements, or they may be admitted into the Ph.D. program after successfully petitioning to bypass the M.A. degree. Information about our M.A. requirements, including the process for bypassing the M.A., can be found here .

Because our department is committed to bringing a broad range of perspectives into the study of religion, we particularly encourage applicants from minority perspectives.

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Religious Studies, PhD

The graduate program in Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania offers unique research opportunities for students to become first class scholars, teachers and expositors in the field. Our program is situated within one of the largest and finest research universities in the country, easily accessible to other research centers along the eastern seaboard. At the same time, the Department of Religious Studies provides students with a great deal of individual attention from faculty members, and the opportunity to interact with students from diverse subfields.

Within this context of extensive resources and personalized guidance, each student works with an advisor to design his or her own course of study. The structure of the PhD program currently consists of six core full time faculty members, and a graduate group comprised of faculty across the University of Pennsylvania campus whose research and teaching significantly involves the study of religion and who actively participate in the training of graduate students in Religious Studies.

The typical doctoral program in Religious Studies is funded over a five-year period, over which students are expected to engage in coursework, complete teaching assistantships, and attend the graduate colloquium. Requirements for the program include a minimum of two languages, qualifying examinations, preliminary examinations (with an oral examination component), and an oral dissertation defense.

Graduate students in Religious Studies have the benefit of a wealth of resources unrivalled by any major research university. In addition to possessing one of the best research libraries in the world, Penn is also home to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the oldest institution of its kind in the United States. Within the city of Pennsylvania, research centers include The Library Company of Philadelphia an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries.

For more information: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/religious_studies/graduate

View the University’s Academic Rules for PhD Programs .

Required Courses

A total of 20 course units are required for graduation. A minimum of 12 course units must be taken at the University of Pennsylvania.

Take at least one 5000-level or above course in a tradition other than area of specialty.

The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2023 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.

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Religious Studies, PHD

On this page:, at a glance: program details.

• Location: Tempe campus
• Second Language Requirement: No

Program Description

Degree Awarded: PHD Religious Studies

The academic study of religion is a central component of the humanities and has become increasingly recognized as a critical tool in understanding society and politics in a globalized world.

The PhD program in religious studies helps graduate students develop greater expertise regarding the nature and role of religion around the world. The program provides supplementary training that includes history, anthropology, political science, journalism, secondary education and justice studies.

Doctoral focus areas in the study of religion approach the study in a variety of contexts. Specifically offered are areas in:

• anthropology of religion
• global Christianity
• Islam in global contexts
• religion in Asia
• religion in the Americas

Degree Requirements

84 credit hours, foreign language exams, a written comprehensive exam, an oral comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation

Required Core (6 credit hours) REL 501 The Study of Religion I: Genealogies, Disciplines and Power (3) REL 502 The Study of Religion II: Epistemology, Practice and Mediation (3)

Other Requirement (3 credit hours) REL 700 Research Methods (3)

Electives (51 credit hours)

Research (12 credit hours) REL 792 Research (12)

Culminating Experience (12 credit hours) REL 799 Dissertation (12)

Additional Curriculum Information Students must choose one of the five focus areas that are listed in the program description, and they select courses for the focus area as part of their electives in consultation with their supervisory committee.

As part of electives, students may include up to three credit hours of REL 690 Reading and Conference. Additionally, students may select up to six credit hours of graduate-level courses from a related discipline that support the student's research.

Other requirement course REL 700 may be substituted with approval of the academic unit.

When approved by the student's supervisory committee and the Graduate College, this program may allow up to 30 credit hours from a previously awarded master's degree to be used for this program. If students do not have a previously awarded master's degree, the remaining coursework will be made up of electives and research.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree in any field from a regionally accredited institution. Transcripts must show evidence of having completed the equivalent of 15 credit hours of undergraduate work in the study of religions, including advanced courses in both western and Asian or other nonwestern religions. Applicants who have not met this requirement may be required to take additional coursework beyond program requirements to remedy this deficiency.

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program. The most competitive applicants have a GPA of 3.50 or higher.

All applicants must submit:

• graduate admission application and application fee
• official transcripts
• statement of purpose
• curriculum vitae
• writing sample
• contact information for three references
• proof of English proficiency

Additional Application Information An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency regardless of their current residency.

The statement of purpose should be approximately 1,000 words describing the applicant's academic background, the reasons for wishing to pursue a doctorate in religious studies, the proposed area of specialization, and specific research topics the student plans to engage in at Arizona State University.

The writing sample should be a work of original scholarly writing, approximately 15 to 30 pages in length. It should represent the student's best academic writing.

Students are required to submit contact information for three academic references who are qualified to provide detailed, accurate evaluations of the applicant's potential as a graduate student in religious studies. Professors, particularly faculty advisors, are preferred. Recommenders are contacted by the Graduate College with a request to complete a reference questionnaire. Letters of recommendation can be submitted in addition to answering these questions online.

Next Steps to attend ASU

Learn about our programs, apply to a program, visit our campus, application deadlines, learning outcomes.

• Students will analyze and present theories and methods in the study of religion through in-class discussion, oral presentation and submission of an original written seminar paper.
• Students will critically analyze religions by formulating research questions, examining various kinds of qualitative data, and drawing connections to relevant secondary literatures.
• Students will conduct original research through a doctoral study drawing connections to relevant secondary literature, collect and analyze primary data, communicate, and defend responses to research questions.

Career Opportunities

Graduates possess training and knowledge relevant to careers in a variety of different roles and in a range of employment sectors. Some typical employers include government agencies, especially the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; nongovernmental organizations; schools, colleges and universities; charities and nonprofit organizations; social services; and churches and other religious organizations.

Career examples include:

• book editor
• case management director
• church administrator
• foreign service employee
• global affairs writer
• nongovernmental organization professional
• nonprofit manager
• professional researcher and writer
• university instructor

Global Experience

With over 250 programs in more than 65 countries (ranging from one week to one year), study abroad is possible for all ASU students wishing to gain global skills and knowledge in preparation for a 21st-century career. Students earn ASU credit for completed courses, while staying on track for graduation, and may apply financial aid and scholarships toward program costs. https://mystudyabroad.asu.edu

Program Contact Information

If you have questions related to admission, please click here to request information and an admission specialist will reach out to you directly. For questions regarding faculty or courses, please use the contact information below.

• [email protected]
• 480/965-5778

What are you looking for?

Suggested search, the doctoral degree program.

USC’s doctoral degree program in Religion offers instruction in methods and theories for the study of diverse religions, as well as specialized training in three areas of study:

Asia Pacific Religions

Christian studies, global islam.

In addition to instruction within the School of Religion, we promote interdisciplinary study in related fields. Students may also take advantage of our faculty’s participation in the many research centers and institutes at USC, which sponsor lectures, seminars, and fellowships.

We support all of our doctoral degree students with five-year funding packages. Students in our program gain professional training and mentoring aimed at employment as well as the cultivation of scholarly credentials.

Our hometown of Los Angeles offers an ideal setting for the study of religious life. L.A. is one of the most religiously diverse cities in the world and features a splendid variety of museums, archives, and specialized libraries with resources for the study of multiple faith traditions.

Download the flyer

The Doctoral Degree program begins with seminars introducing students to Religious Studies and intensive study within each student’s chosen track. Students who require additional language training should complete it in the first few years of degree work. Typically, students proceed to qualifying examinations before the end of their third year in the program. After they propose and defend a dissertation prospectus, they spend approximately two years researching and writing the dissertation.

Requirements for the Degree

• 64 units of course work (including units of previous graduate work for which credit may be allowed.)
• REL 500 , 592 , 593
• Successful completion of qualifying examinations
• REL 794 Doctoral Dissertation (4 units required, may take up to 8 units for credit)
• Courses required for selected track of study

No more than two language courses at the 400 -level and no more than two non-language courses at the 400 -level (ie. 16 units.) Period of residency is contingent upon the background and preparation of the student.

In addition to the mandatory courses, students are expected to take elective courses in areas that will support their dissertation work in the School of Religion or in related departments across the university (these should be selected in consultation with the primary advisor.) Relevant outside departments and programs may include, but are not limited to: American Studies and Ethnicity, Anthropology, Art History, Classics, East Asian Languages and Cultures, History, International Affairs, Middle Eastern Studies, and Sociology.

Students may take up to two 400 -level courses for credit toward the PhD degree pending approval of their primary advisor.

Language Requirements

Each track determines its own language requirements. Students are expected to be capable of conducting research in their primary research language(s) by the time of admission. Some work in additional relevant languages may also be required. For more information, consult the requirements of specific tracks with the program.

PhD Learning Objectives – click here

Trains students in the foundational texts, histories, worldviews, socio-political and cultural impact of religions in the pre-modern and modern Asia Pacific. These religious traditions include Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religious movements in the region as well as their global manifestations.

Mandatory courses for students in the Asia Pacific Religions track include REL 545 , 645 , and a one course from the 652 / 653 / 654 / 655 series.

Trains students in the vast global range of historical and contemporary Christian traditions often grouped together homogeneously as Christianity. Rather than focusing exclusively on textual and intellectual traditions, this track integrates the social, cultural and material dimensions of religion in its study of plural Christianities, and challenges students to frame their research in transnational and transhistorical terms as a matter of course.

Mandatory courses include REL 535 , 635 , and 651 .

Trains students in the “global” dimensions of the Islamic tradition, from the traditional confines of the Middle East, Africa and South and Southeast Asia to include Islam, Islamic thought, Muslim culture and Muslim communities in the modern Western world.  In addition to the acquisition of traditional skills for the study of religious texts, doctrine, and spiritual life of believers, students will learn how Muslims negotiate concrete spaces and contexts they inhabit in the modern world.

Mandatory courses for students in the Global Islam track include 525 , 625 , and 650 .

Administrative Assistant II Linda Wootton [email protected]

Project Specialist Johnna Tyrrell [email protected]

USC School of Religion

825 Bloom Walk, ACB 130 Los Angeles, CA 90089 [email protected]

Director of Undergraduate Studies Sheila Briggs [email protected]

Director of Graduate Studies Cavan Concannon [email protected]

Graduate Programs

Religious studies.

The Department of Religious Studies maintains exceptional strength in the study of religion in antiquity, Asian religions, modern religious thought and the theoretical study of religion.

The graduate program in Religious Studies at Brown is one of the finest in the nation. From among a large pool of highly qualified applicants, the department admits four to six doctoral students a year. Current graduate students have distinguished themselves by publishing, presenting papers at international conferences, and earning recognition and support from prestigious external funding organizations. Department's graduates have an excellent placement record, teaching in such institutions as Harvard, Stanford, Indiana University, University of California, Brooklyn College, Reed College, Haverford, Rice University, University of Washington - St. Louis, and University of Wisconsin (Madison).

We offer Ph.D. studies in four areas:

• Asian Religious Traditions (ART) Islam
• Society and Culture (ISC)
• Religion and Critical Thought (RCT)
• Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (RAM) (including Ancient Judaism, early Christianity, early Islam, and numerous others)

Additional Resources

The department maintains close working relationships with other Brown departments. Students often supplement their work with courses in history, anthropology, classics, philosophy, political science, sociology, Judaic studies, East Asian studies, art history, comparative literature, and the Institute for Archeology and the Ancient World. Through the University exchange program students may also take courses at other local universities. A monthly seminar, Culture and Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean, brings together students and faculty from across the University.

Application Information

Brief Zoom or phone interviews may be required as part of the application review process.

Application Requirements

Gre subject:.

Not required

GRE General:

Writing sample:.

Required (of 25 pages or less). Some tracks also require previous language study.

Dates/Deadlines

Application deadline, completion requirements.

All areas require three years (six semesters) of full–time study beyond the baccalaureate degree, including RS200; reading competence of at least two scholarly languages (typically French and German, depending on the track) and relevant other languages; preliminary examination; dissertation; oral defense; one year of teaching experience. Tracks also have additional specific requirements: for details, see the Religious Studies website and the Graduate Handbook.

Alumni Careers

Contact and Location

Department of religious studies, mailing address.

• Program Faculty
• Program Handbook
• Graduate School Handbook

Doctoral Program

Religious Studies typically admits three or four doctoral students each year, and at any one time has about twenty-five students in the program.  Learn more through the below boxes.

Requirements

Fields of study, graduate handbook.

Religious Studies

You are here, graduate program.

Director of Graduate Studies

Linn Tonstad linn.tonstad@yale.edu

The Department of Religious Studies at Yale University has trained several generations of  intellectual leaders working inside and outside the academy.  The Graduate Program in the Department of Religious Studies is organized into ten  Fields of Study . Each Field of Study has its own requirements for admission and its own curriculum. Applicants must specify when they submit their online application the field to which they are applying. Students who believe their areas of research interest fall between two existing Fields of Study should e-mail the relevant faculty in advance of their application to consult about how to submit their application. All specific information about Field of Study and its admission requirements and curriculum can be obtained by clicking on the appropriate Field of Study .  

The only common requirement among all of the fields of study is RLST 510, Method and Theory. This course may be taken at any time during a student’s time at Yale, however faculty highly recommend that students take it in their first year of course work. The purpose of the course is to encourage rigorous conversation about religion among students with a diverse set of disciplinary and documentary interests. 

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has prepared a guide to the advising process that we recommend admitted students review. The Graduate Program in the Department of Religious Studies involves faculty from across Yale University, with special ties to the faculty in Yale Divinity School (YDS). However, the Graduate Program application is distinct from application to YDS. Students interested in YDS should refer to this page.  

Graduate Department of Religion

  Alert Content Goes Here

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Religion

Areas of study.

Degree programs are offered in:

• Critical Studies in Asian, Islamic, and Jewish Traditions
• Ethics and Society
• Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel
• Historical Studies  
• Homiletics and Liturgics
• Jewish Studies (M.A.)
• New Testament and Early Christianity 
• Religion, Psychology, and Culture
• Theological Studies

Interdisciplinary studies, both within religion and in other areas of knowledge, are encouraged. The study of religion can be pursued at Vanderbilt both as a critical, humanistic discipline, employing a variety of methodological perspectives, and as a theological discipline, interpreting the biblical religions and their historical, theological, and ethical heritage.

Degree Requirements

Candidates for the Ph.D. degree must demonstrate a reading knowledge of two modern languages: A. a modern language of research (normally French, German, Spanish, or Modern Hebrew); and B. one of the following:

• another modern language relevant to the field of study;
• a biblical or other relevant ancient language;
• the student's native language, if not English;
• a research method such as statistics when appropriate.

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General Catalog

Religious studies, phd.

This is the first version of the 2024–25 General Catalog. Please check back regularly for changes. The final edition and the historical PDF will be published during the fall semester.

The doctoral program in the Department of Religious Studies trains participants to become advanced practitioners of the study of religion as researchers, scholars, teachers, and facilitators of informed public discourse. Some graduates become professors at colleges or universities while others bring a nuanced, critical understanding of religion and its influences to such careers as health care, law, diplomacy, ministry, social advocacy, journalism, counseling, and informatics.

PhD students train to analyze the ways in which diverse religious traditions originate, develop, and interact over time, and learn to identify and use multiple methods for the study of religion, including historical, philosophical, ethical, literary, linguistic, psychological, ethnographic, and digital approaches. Students typically draw on the expertise of several different members of the religious studies faculty and also are encouraged to work with faculty members in other UI departments who specialize in their areas of interest. Many PhD students work, for example, with scholars in the departments of Anthropology; Asian and Slavic Languages; Classics; Communication Studies; English; Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies; and History.

The program offers a collegial intellectual community, including a departmental colloquium series, a collaborative reading group in critical theory, and an ethos of mutual support among graduate students.

Graduate study in the Department of Religious Studies is highly flexible and personalized, and is shaped to individual students’ interests concordant with existing faculty expertise.

Areas of Current Faculty Expertise

Religions of southwest asia, north africa, and the mediterranean.

Religion, law, and politics in the Islamic world; the history of interpretation of the texts and traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Greco-Roman and Egyptian religion and culture; digital humanities.

Religions of East Asia

Religious traditions of China and the political, social, and economic factors that have shaped them; modern religion and culture in Korea, most notably Christianity; religion and gender in transnational perspective; religion and empire.

Religions of the United States and the Atlantic World

History and ethnography of religion in the United States; African American religious traditions (Christianity, Islam, and African diaspora religions); West African religions; religion, media, and the negotiation of technological change; Latina/o/x Christianity.

Religion, Ethics, and Society

Religion and morality; religion, emotion, and affect; human rights; religion's relationship to gender, race, and ethnicity; ethics of medicine and biotechnology; religion and health.

Graduate study also is developed by theme. Popular themes include religions’ relationships to public life, gender, race, media, technology, and human health and well-being.

Learning Outcomes

• Teaching success: students gain expertise in how to teach religious studies in a liberal arts setting, and if they serve as teaching assistants (TAs) during their graduate program, they show effectiveness in reaching a diverse audience of students.
• Critical knowledge of the field: students become familiar with foundational texts in their field, as well as influential scholarship that critically engages these texts and seeks to move the field in new directions; students identify ways in which they can contribute to the corpus of texts that compose their field.
• Academic skills: students develop skills to read carefully and think critically, and they write in clear and compelling ways about topics related to the study of religion; students have hands-on opportunities to develop key skills in public engagement.
• Religion and social equity: students gain a critical understanding of the historical entanglement of global religions with racism and misogyny; they can articulate religions’ relationships to unjust power structures, as well as religions’ contributions to greater social justice.
• Professional engagement: students demonstrate successful participation in the life of the department, their subfield, and the broader field of religious studies; they communicate about their learning with students from other fields.

For more detailed information on graduate programs in religious studies, contact the Department of Religious Studies or visit Graduate Programs on the department's website.

The doctoral program in the Department of Religious Studies requires a minimum of 72 s.h. of graduate credit. A maximum of 24 s.h. of relevant graduate work may be transferred from another accredited graduate school or professional program, as approved by the director of graduate studies. A maximum of 12 s.h. of thesis writing credit may count toward the 72 s.h. requirement. Students must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.40.

All PhD students are required to demonstrate competency in English and at least one other language that is relevant to their advanced research; more specific language requirements are set in consultation with an advisory committee.

Students are supervised initially by a three-person committee consisting of an advisor and two additional faculty members; often these members serve also on the student's five-person comprehensive exam and dissertation committees.

All PhD students must complete the following six courses.

Students select remaining coursework depending on their interests and in consultation with their advisory committee. PhD students must submit and have their departmental program of study approved in the fourth semester of their study to be permitted to proceed in the PhD program. Those who are approved are expected to write and orally defend comprehensive exams (by the eighth semester), a dissertation prospectus (by the ninth semester), and a doctoral dissertation (by the twelfth semester).

Students working toward a PhD may receive an MA upon completing at least 30 s.h. of coursework and passing their comprehensive examination.

It is the expectation that PhD students complete their studies in six years; five for those who are accepted into the program with an MA and transfer credit.

Applicants must meet the admission requirements of the Graduate College; see the Manual of Rules and Regulations on the Graduate College website.

Application materials must include an application form; a transcript of all undergraduate and graduate work (one copy must be sent to the university's Office of Admissions , and a second copy must be sent to the Department of Religious Studies ); an application or waiver of consideration form for graduate assistantships; three confidential letters of recommendation; and a writing sample that demonstrates the applicant's ability to engage in critical analysis. Applicants also must submit a statement of purpose that explains their objectives for graduate study and states which area of graduate study in religion best suits their objectives. Students may indicate one of the department’s traditional areas of concentration or an area that is defined more by theme .

Students are advised to view the Department of Religious Studies website, most notably the faculty pages, to ascertain whether their area of interest is well-supported by faculty expertise. Moreover, students are encouraged to contact relevant faculty members prior to applying for graduate study in order to explore areas of mutual interest. It is helpful to include information about such contacts in their statement of purpose. The strongest applications show how students would benefit from working with multiple members of the faculty. For details, see Graduate Admission Process and Graduate Funding  on the department's website.

All application materials must be received by Jan. 15 to receive full consideration for fall admission.

All PhD students in religious studies receive funding for at least four years. The department offers financial support for graduate students primarily in the form of teaching assistantships.

Every few years the department awards the Gilmore Scholarship for doctoral students who study the intersection of religion, the visual arts, and humanistic values.

The department also has a number of annual scholarships that it awards to graduate students for excellence in teaching and scholarship. In addition, PhD students can apply for funds from the department for research and conference travel expenses.

The department also assists PhD students in applying for funding that provides them time off from teaching to focus on exams and dissertation writing.

Graduate students in religious studies acquire a wide range of competencies that are useful for almost any career they pursue. Students gain research skills; they master the craft of writing; they learn to plan, manage, and complete large projects; they gain teaching skills that are useful both inside and outside the academy; they learn to argue persuasively; they gain the ability to communicate with others about controversial issues; they learn how to understand and mediate differences in religious perspectives and values; they acquire rare language skills; and they gain expertise in the use of digital technologies for research and teaching.

Students who earn a PhD in religious studies often go on to become scholars and teachers in university or college settings. Other degree recipients have become professional ethicists, leaders of nongovernmental organizations, school or church administrators, nonacademic educators, digital media specialists, and government employees in the area of international affairs.

Sample Plan of Study

Sample plans represent one way to complete a program of study. Actual course selection and sequence will vary and should be discussed with an academic advisor. For additional sample plans, see MyUI .

This sample plan is being reviewed and will be added at a later date.

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Department of Religious Studies

Doctoral programs (ph.d).

We offer Ph.D. study in four areas: Asian Religious Traditions, Islam, Society and Culture, Religion and Critical Thought, and Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean.

RAM now incorporates our prior Ph.D. programs in Early Christianity, and in Ancient Judaism, as well as various other ancient Mediterranean religions. All applications to study one or more religions of the Ancient Mediterranean should be made to RAM. 

Prospective applicants should also note that it is no longer possible to apply for the track in Religion, Comparison and Culture. Students interested in comparative work across two or more areas (ART, ISC, RCT, and RAM) should consult with the Director of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Advisor for these areas before submitting an application.

Asian Religious Traditions (ART)

Islam, society and culture (isc), religion and critical thought (rct), religions of the ancient mediterranean (ram).

Prospective applicants are welcome to direct inquiries to Prof Jae H. Han, Director of Graduate Admissions ( [email protected] ), Prof. Paul Nahme, Interim Director of Graduate Studies ( [email protected] ), Nicole Vadnais, Graduate Program Manager ( [email protected] ) and/or any faculty member in the listed areas.

Graduate Advisors

Shahzad bashir, mark cladis, jason protass.

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PhD in Religious Studies

A higher calling. discover an integrated approach to religious studies..

The Theology department offers a doctoral program aimed at giving students an integrated approach to theological studies, emphasizing, within theological specialties, the interaction of Judaism and Christianity in antiquity, and in historical, systematic and ethical approaches to theology. 

The PhD program seeks to develop scholars who can make significant contributions to theological research and writing, and college and high school teachers who can teach a broad range of courses. This broad theological background has enabled program graduates to enjoy enviable success in securing teaching positions in over 200 colleges and universities, in church work and ministry, and in a variety of other education-related institutions.

Students may choose to specialize in one of our department's four principal areas of research:

• Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity
• Historical Theology
• Systematic Theology
• Theological Ethics

Students also may choose one of our interdisciplinary tracks:

• Theology and Society
• Healthcare Mission and Ethics

The Healthcare Mission and Ethics concentration, within our Theology and Society specialization, is designed to provide students interested in careers in Catholic healthcare with a deep grounding in the major theological disciplines along with academic training in practical issues related to the provision of healthcare and immersion in healthcare environments. 

Take the next step towards your future

Learn more about Marquette's religious studies PhD program.  

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Submit the form below and our admissions expert will respond to you shortly.

To be eligible for admission to the Graduate School at Marquette University, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution or international equivalent must be completed prior to starting graduate school.
• A master's degree or equivalent graduate degree in theology, religious studies, or another field appropriate to their academic interests. A Master of Divinity degree is acceptable for prospective applicants to the doctoral program. 
• Proficiency in a classical language relevent to an applicant's area of research.
• A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale.
• Demonstrated English proficiency for non-U.S. citizens.

Application Requirements

Read all application instructions prior to beginning an application.

• A completed online application form and fee . (Applicants for the PhD should apply for the Religious Studies program on the application.)
• If coursework was completed within the United States, submit copies of all current and previous college/universities except Marquette 1
• If coursework was completed outside of the United States, a transcript evaluation is required. A copy of a course-by-course evaluation is approved for the application process. 2

A statement of purpose indicating the applicant's reasons for wanting to enter the program,areas of academic interest, vocational objectives, reasons for selecting Marquette's program, and/or how the applicant stands to contribute to the program's demographic diversity.

Applicants with language study experience should indicate formal graduate-level language course work reflected in their transcripts and/or private language study, along with estimations of present abilities reading, writing, and speaking the language or languages studied.

• An academic writing sample approximately 20 pages in length.
• Three letters of recommendation.
• GRE scores, general test only (Waived for international applicants)
• International applicants from non-English-speaking countries who have completed a master's degree or anticipate completing a master's degree at an English-speaking higher education institution prior to enrolling in the PhD program may request a waiver of this requirement.

1 Upon admission, final official transcripts from all previously attended colleges/universities, with certified English translations if original language is not English, must be submitted to the Graduate School within the first five weeks of the term of admission or a hold preventing registration for future terms will be placed on the student’s record. 

2Upon admission, an official course-by-course transcript/academic record evaluation must be submitted to the Graduate School within the first five weeks of the term of admission or a hold preventing registration for future terms will be placed on the student’s record. 

December 15: Application and application materials should be received to be considered for the fall term. Applicants will be notified of an admission decision by March 31.

Financial Aid

The Department of Theology draws on the university's considerable financial aid resources to offer a variety of assistance opportunities to qualified students. These resources include teaching assistantships (TA), research assistantships (RA), minority student fellowships, graduate teaching fellowships, dissertation fellowships, M.A.C.D. scholarship, Smith family fellowships, Arthur J. Schmitt fellowships, John P. Raynor, S.J., fellowships, and Marquette University scholarships. For a comprehensive listing of merit-based aid (graduate assistantships/fellowships), visit the   departmental financial aid webpage .

Private scholarships   may also be available. U.S. citizens and permanent residents may be eligible to apply for   student loans   to help fund their educational expenses as well.

Quick Links

Application Deadline: December 15  

Full-Time or Part-Time Options: Full-Time

Online Options: No

Theology Department Website

Program Course Work

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College of Arts & Sciences

Graduate Program

Georgetown offers a Ph.D. in Theological and Religious Studies, an interdisciplinary program that allows students to pursue the critical and comparative study of theology and religion. With over twenty full-time faculty members, the Theology and Religious Studies Department has specialists in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Our faculty have particular expertise in the following areas: religion and public life, comparative theology, philosophy of religion, religious ethics, scriptural interpretation, and religion and globalization. The Doctoral Program welcomes applications from students whose research interests grapple with questions of interreligious understanding and contemporary issues of religious pluralism in an increasingly globalized and multicultural world.

Students admitted to our program receive five years of full funding, which includes tuition, health coverage, and a generous stipend. Our program also allocates funding for conference travel, and our current students regularly present at national and international conferences. Current students have also received grants and awards from outside fellowships for summer language study and dissertation research.

Academic Resources

Our Ph.D. students join a vibrant scholarly community–both within the department and beyond. Our strengths as a department are augmented by a wealth of other resources at Georgetown, including the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding , the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies , the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs , the Program for Jewish Civilization , the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures , and the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies .

Thank you for your interest in Georgetown University’s Ph.D. in Theological & Religious Studies program.

To learn more please fill out the Theological & Religious Studies Inquiry Form here .

Application Deadline: December 15th

Administration

• Chair: Ariel Glucklich
• Department Administrator: Margit Silva
• Director of Graduate Studies and Director of Admissions & Recruitment, Graduate Program: Michael Slater
• Director of Intellectual Life, Graduate Program: Brandon Dotson
• Director of Undergraduate Studies: Stephen Wilson

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Chairperson : Conor Kelly, Ph.D . Department of Theology Graduate Programs website

Degree Offered

Doctor of Philosophy

Program Description

The Department of Theology offers graduate programs aimed at providing students an integrated approach to theology emphasizing the scriptural, historical, systematic, and ethical approaches to study in the Catholic and Christian religious traditions. We aim to develop scholars capable of making significant contributions to theological research and teaching a broad range of subjects in theology and religion. Our programs have prepared graduates to secure teaching positions in over 200 colleges, universities, and other educational institutions as well as for vocations in pastoral ministry and other service-oriented and non-profit organizations.

The doctor of philosophy in religious studies program leads to a terminal academic degree signifying its recipient's advanced ability to teach and conduct research in the academic specialization of his or her choosing. Options for specialization include Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity, Historical Theology, Systematics Theology, Theological Ethics, and the interdisciplinary specialization in Theology and Society (which includes a Healthcare Mission and Ethics track).

Religious Studies Doctorate (Ph.D.)

Specializations: Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity, Historical Theology, Systematic Theology, Theological Ethics, Theology and Society (includes Health Care Mission and Ethics)

Students must complete 60 credit hours of post-baccalaureate course work, up to 30 of which may be completed prior to their enrollment in the program, demonstrate proficiency in a classical language or languages relevant to their specializations, demonstrate proficiency in  two modern languages other than English,  pass a doctoral qualifying examination, complete  12 credit hours of dissertation research and produce and successfully defend a doctoral dissertation. The following program description summarizes those requirements. Additional information may be found in the Department of Theology's Policies and Procedures .

COURSE WORK REQUIREMENTS

Upon enrollment in the program, students chooses a  specialization. T he students' choice of specialization dictates the terms of the  course of study. The department's principal areas of specialization are as follows:

• Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity (JUCA)
• Historical Theology (HITH)
• Systematic Theology (SYTH)
• Theological Ethics (THET)

Students choosing one of these specializations must complete 36 credit hours of course work in an area of specialization and typically completes 12 credit hours of course work in each of the two areas not chosen as the specialization. Note that the systematic theology and theological ethics areas are counted as a one for the purpose of course work distribution​.

Students may choose from the following courses: 

The department also offers an interdisciplinary specialization with two program options:

• Theology and Society (THSO)

Students choosing the theology and society specialization  must complete at least 30 credit hours of course work in one of the Department of Theology's principal areas of specialization,  at least 9 credit hours of course work in each of the department's other two principal areas of specialization,  and 12 credit hours of graduate course work in one or more disciplines pertaining to their specific research agenda (e.g., economics, education, history, philosophy, political science or psychology).

• Health Care Mission and Ethics

Students choosing the health care mission and ethics option must complete at least 30 credit hours of course work in one of the Department of Theology's principal areas of specialization , at least 9 credit hours in each of the department's other two principal areas of specialization, and 12 credit hours of graduate  course work pertaining to healthcare. (e.g.,  NURS 6007 Ethics, Policy and Health Care Advocacy , NURS 6009 Organizational and Systems Leadership , HEAL 6848 Health Care Policy , LAW 7156 Current Issues in Health Law , LAW 7221 Health Law ).

Students choosing the  interdisciplinary specialization  may be required to take additional course work beyond the program's 60-credit-hour minimum  to certify their qualifications in both theology and the allied disciplines of their choosing.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

Students choosing the Judaism and Christianity in antiquity specialization must demonstrate proficiency in classical Hebrew and Greek. Students choosing the historical theology specialization must demonstrate proficiency in Latin, Greek or another classical language essential to their research agenda. Students choosing the systematic theology or theological ethics specialization are not required to demonstrate a proficiency in a classical language but may choose to substitute demonstrated proficiency in Latin for one of their modern foreign languages.  Students choosing an  interdisciplinary  program option are not required to demonstrate proficiency in a classical language.

All students must  demonstrate proficiency in German, French or another modern language or languages other than English essential to the students' research agenda. Students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in one modern foreign language by the end of the first year of enrollment in the program and in two modern foreign languages by the end of the second year.  Students typically fulfill these requirements by earning a grade of B or above in course work or on a language examination administered by the Department of  Languages, Literatures and Cultures .

DOCTORAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

Once students has fulfill all of the language requirements and no earlier than their final term completing course work, they are eligible to take the doctoral qualifying examination. T he examination has two stages, namely the written examination and the oral examination. The written ex amination is in four parts, each three hours in duration, and is administered in two sessions, typically on consecutive days. Students complete two of the examination's parts during each session. The oral examination is administered following the administration  of the written examination in a single session lasting approximately 90 minutes.

The doctoral qualifying examination is administered by a committee consisting of five of the department's full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty members selected by the student and approved by the department's Graduate Committee. Students choosing the interdisciplinary specialization typically substitute one of the department's faculty committee members with a comparably credentialed faculty member in another department and/or institution.  Each committee member examines the students on a topic or topics corresponding with their area of academic expertise.  Students must earn the satisfactory evaluation of each of the five committee members to pass the examination. Students advances to doctoral candidacy once they pass the doctoral qualifying examination , completes their course work requirements, and fulfills all of their language requirements.

Doctoral Dissertation Credits

Upon advancing to doctoral candidacy, students must complete 12 credit hours of dissertation research. All dissertation credit hours must be completed before students schedule their dissertation defense.

Doctoral Dissertation

Students are encouraged to identify a dissertation topic and prospective director toward the end of the completion of the course work and/or while preparing for the doctoral qualifying examination.  Students must choose a topic  that falls within the scope of the department's common understanding of the discipline of Religious Studies and for which students can locate a member of the department's faculty possessing  the competence and interest needed to serve as the dissertation's director. 

Once students have determined a topic of research and secured the agreement of a director,  they submit a doctoral dissertation outline to the department's Graduate Committee. The outline identifies the dissertation's director and no fewer than three more of the department's full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty members to serve on the dissertation's review board. Students choosing the interdisciplinary specialization typically substitute  one of the department's faculty board  members with a comparably credentialed faculty member in another department and/or institution.

Once the Graduate Committee approves the students' doctoral dissertation  outline, inclusive of the director and review board, students produce the dissertation to the satisfaction of their director. Upon its completion and the concurrent recommendation of the director, the dissertation is subjected to the board's review during a public defense lasting approximately two hours .  Students must earn the satisfactory evaluation of each board member to secure the dissertation's approval.

Following the successful defense of the dissertation, students may be given a fixed amount of time to  revise their work in light of the board's feedback. Students submit the final edition of the dissertation to the Graduate School in advance of their graduation.

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Theology Graduate Programs

• Theology, MA

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2023-2024 Bulletin

A PDF of the entire 2023-2024 Bulletin.

Comparative Study of Religion

Undergraduate Program

The concentration in the  Comparative Study of Religion at  Harvard  invites  students to explore the most  consequential and momentous questions  relevant to the understanding of individual and communal human life. Concentrators  consider topics such as the significance of ritual and practice;  differing  conceptions  of human  nature and the nature of the divine; and comparative study of how people understand the meaning of life, suffering  and  death.  Competency in religious studies indicates the ability to think critically and with historical and cultural learning about the complicated place of religious history, imagination, motivation, and memory in national and international affairs.

U.S. Colleges With Religious Affiliations: What Students Should Know

Religiously affiliated colleges welcome students of all faiths and beliefs.

Colleges With Religious Affiliations

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Some colleges are religious only in their origins, but others have integrated their faith into all parts of campus life.

Key Takeaways

• A significant number of U.S. colleges have a religious affiliation.
• You don't have to be religious to attend a religiously affiliated college.
• Some schools have religious course or event attendance requirements.

When researching colleges and universities , students often have religiously affiliated schools on their list. Knowing what to expect or how a particular school may affect a student’s academic and college life is important to understand early in the selection process.

There were 3,893 degree-granting institutions of higher education in the U.S. in fall 2021, and 849 were religiously affiliated, according to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Some of these institutions include the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, which is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross; Baylor University in Texas, a Baptist university; Emory University in Georgia, founded by Methodists; Yeshiva University in New York, a Jewish university; and Wilberforce University in Ohio, which is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Colleges founded by religious groups "have opened their doors to diversity,” says Mary Banks, director of admissions consulting at Quad Education Group.

Attending a religiously affiliated college can be an attractive option. While some students may be drawn because a school matches with their faith, others may be seeking a supportive atmosphere or opportunities for spiritual growth and exploration that can make this type of college a natural choice, experts say.

“When students seek to maintain and replicate their family values, a religious university provides a safe space,” Banks says.

Some colleges are religious only in their origins, but others have integrated their faith into all parts of campus life . Here are some things students should know about religiously affiliated colleges and universities.

Everyone Is Welcomed

Most religiously affiliated universities do not require students to be of the same faith or any faith at all to attend.

“While these schools may ask and consider a student's faith in the admissions process , they still value the same diverse student body, academic freedom and supportive campus community that all top schools do,” says Jayson Weingarten, senior admissions consultant for Ivy Coach.

One of the biggest misconceptions about a university with a religious affiliation is that “everyone there shares that faith and those who do not will quickly be inculcated in that faith. That's simply not the case,” Weingarten says.

Among religiously affiliated colleges and universities across the U.S., there are about 230 Catholic colleges and universities, says Donna M. Carroll, executive director of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. She says a common misperception of Catholic institutions is that they enroll only Catholic students, but the reality is “only about half of all students attending Catholic colleges and universities self-identify as Catholic.”

Carroll says students of other faith traditions are often drawn to Catholic schools “because they feel that the Catholic campus culture will be more respective and supportive of their faith life than a secular institution.”

Religious Involvement Varies by Campus

Religiously affiliated colleges are not all the same and have different levels of religious involvement on campus.

“An ill-informed applicant might think a Jesuit school would require him or her to attend religious instruction or perhaps mass on Sunday. This is no longer part of the Catholic university experience, nor is it required at most religiously affiliated programs,” Banks says.

At religiously affiliated institutions like Boston University in Massachusetts and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the student experience is largely unaffected.

“Many of these schools do have a theology requirement, but these schools offer many nonreligious general philosophy or ethics courses to fulfill that expectation,” Weingarten says.

However, at some colleges, students may be required to take a religion class or attend some sort of regular convocation or event during their studies.

For example, Brigham Young University in Utah is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and requires students to follow a strict code of conduct and, for degree-seekers, to take religion courses as part of the general curriculum. Baylor requires all undergraduate students to take two separate semesters of chapel to graduate.

Diversity of Opinion Is Celebrated 

Religiously affiliated universities often feature smaller class sizes and campuses and lower student-to-faculty ratios, which aid in nurturing diversity of thought, experts say.

“Living in a pluralistic society means appreciating and respecting other ideas with room for respectful disagreement,” says Amanda Staggenborg, chief communications officer for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

For example, the University of San Diego in California, a Catholic university, offers courses such as Islamic Thought and Culture, LGBTQ+ and Christianity, The Hindu Tradition, The Prophetic Tradition of Israel, Indigenous Religions and Spiritualities, and The Problem of God.

“There is sometimes a misperception that Catholic colleges and universities take a narrow view when, at most institutions, the reverse is true. The search for truth requires input from diverse experiences and perspectives,” Carroll says.

Some religiously affiliated universities also have chaplains and related staff representing multiple faiths. Tufts University in Massachusetts, for instance, lists eight chaplains on its website from numerous faith traditions.

“Many of the larger Catholic institutions do, in fact, have religiously diverse ministry teams, and large and small have active interfaith efforts,” Carroll says.

Whether a university is religiously affiliated or not, Weingarten says, students “will always be drawn to our nation’s most highly selective universities,” mainly for their academic programs, campus culture and community, and sports teams . That includes many religiously affiliated universities.

Banks encourages prospective students to talk to administrators and current students on the campuses they are considering.

“The welcome mat is out,” Banks says. “Do your research and include these universities in your school lists whether you’re seeking to remain in your comfort zone or are seeking a challenging environment that is culturally different.”

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Religiology

Religious Studies at the University of Texas

May 10, 2024 , Filed Under: Conversations , Features , Highlights , News

The Department of Religious Studies Spring Colloquium – A Conversation with PhD Candidate L. Nelson Leonard

by Peyton White

On Monday, March 4, 2024, The Religious Studies Department hosted the Spring Departmental Colloquium, inviting Lucianne Nelson Leonard to present her work on adoption in the context of U.S. nation building. Lucianne is a Ph.D. candidate in the department who focuses her writing, research, and teaching on religion, transnationalism, identity, and popular culture, particularly asking how capitalist humanitarianism works to establish belonging and citizenship in the US.

The spring colloquium is an opportunity for the department to highlight graduate student work and gives PhD candidates an opportunity to present their progress toward major publications and dissertations to their peers and faculty. They’re also important to the Religious Studies departmental community in that visiting prospective graduate students are invited to take part. By holding the colloquium during their visit, prospective students are encouraged to engage with the intellectual life of the department and gain insight into the type of work current students are undertaking.

Lucianne offered opening remarks on her chapter in the forthcoming publication of the Routledge Handbook on Religion and American Culture , contextualizing that it represents a condensed version of her overall dissertation project. In her own words, “this forthcoming chapter addresses American culture as a site where religion is made in the United States through the ritual production of sacred persons, places, or things set apart as beyond the everyday.”

The chapter discussion began with Nelson describing an online discourse which erupted in 2023 over a limited-edition “Going Home Barbie” doll that was gifted to American families adopting children in China during the early 2000s. Nelson’s chapter argues this doll’s significance for establishing particular notions of benevolence and kinship as “Going Home Barbie” represents family-making as a U.S. project, which softens the violence and dispossession of U.S. imperialism and nation building. The article tracks the history of the U.S. government’s involvement with the removal of children from indigenous communities and the relationship between this process of child removal and the establishment of ideal notions of U.S. families. Nelson links the military and territorial expansion of the U.S. under manifest destiny to the idea of manifest domesticity, which focuses on family, especially motherhood, as a more benevolent endeavor. Nelson uses manifest destiny and manifest domesticity together in order to contextualize the history of adoption in the U.S. as a means of managing kinship and enforcing identities and family norms, which support the US imperial project through notions of humanitarianism and moral goodness.

As Nelson concluded her presentation, she passed around a mint condition “Going Home Barbie” for participants to examine. Passing the doll, she reflected on the idea of Barbie itself as a tool for both expansive imagination and the management of U.S. imperial norms, which ironically constrain children’s imagination of family outside white, heteronormative, consumer-driven frames. “Going Home Barbie,” a white Mom Barbie holding a Chinese baby, therefore distills a moment of benevolent U.S. manifest domesticity, signifying the adoptive act as central to the nation-building of the U.S. As she closed, Nelson reminded participants that “Going Home Barbie” exists in a perpetual state of going home, in an open state of possibility. The benevolent process of adoption is not neatly resolved within the American Barbie-land fantasy, as this doll has no accessories, no world to build out beyond the adoption moment.

Nelson’s provocative chapter and powerful reflections bolstered a stimulating Q&A, which concluded the colloquium.

About the Speaker:

L. Nelson Leonard is a fifth-year PhD candidate in Religion in Society. They study and teach about religion, transnationalism, identity, and popular culture in the United States, specifically paying attention to how capitalist humanitarianism defines boundaries of citizenship and belonging.

About the Author:

Peyton White is a first-year PhD student in Religion of the Americas. His work specializes in the anthropology of Jamaican Rastafari and the colonial management of religion in the Caribbean.

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The Ethics Institute of Utrecht University’s department of Philosophy and Religious Studies seeks a researcher for a four-year, full-time PhD project “ Disrupting ageing : Personhood, meaning, and vulnerability across the lifespan ”, as part of the inter-university Gravitation consortium Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technology (ESDiT) . Your job The ageing of societies is one of the 21st century’s most disruptive demographic trends. Simultaneously, age-related technologies challenge the ‘naturalness’ of ageing and draw into focus ambiguities in the concept of ageing itself. For instance, technologically-mediated relationships, life extension, and technologies such as AI avatars may make biological and chronological age less relevant, and shift the emphasis to socio-cultural conceptions of age. Such shifts have normative significance particularly if ageing is envisaged as a process that occurs throughout the lifespan. Since ageing is a phenomenon infused with normativity, with normative expectations corresponding to phases in the human life cycle, the conceptual cleavage of ageing invites innovation in related moral concepts. This PhD project examines ways in which technologies that bear on ageing disrupt biological, socio-cultural, and normative understandings of ageing. It considers how these disruptions generate fruitful possibilities for reconceptualisation of ageing itself, as well as intertwined normative ideas of personhood, meaning, and vulnerability. In doing so, the project will investigate non-western and non-canonical ideas that might reinvigorate core moral concepts implicated by ageing. This PhD position is part of the Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies programme, a ten year long international research programme of seven academic institutions in the Netherlands that started in January 2020. The programme aims to achieve breakthrough research at the intersection of ethics, philosophy, technology / engineering and social sciences, and to position its consortium at the top of its field internationally. A key objective is to investigate how new technologies challenge moral values and ontological concepts (like “nature”, “human being” and “community”), and how these challenges necessitate a revision of these concepts. The programme includes four research lines, “Nature, life and human intervention”, “The future of a free and fair society”, “The Human Condition” and “Synthesis: Ethics of Technology, Practical Philosophy, and Modern Technology-Driven Societies”. This position is situated within the research line “The Human Condition” and within a working group on conceptual disruption and technology. You will work under the supervision of Christopher Wareham (UU), Marcel Verweij (UU), and Naomi Jacobs (UT). You are expected to play an active role in the project described above and to participate actively in the workshops, public events, courses and other activities of the Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies programme in general and the “The Human Condition” research line and conceptual disruption working group in particular. The position is based at the Ethics Institute , which is part of the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. It provides a stimulating and internationally oriented research environment. Please note that there are other vacancies in the Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies programme at different participating universities. In case several are of interest to you, we would like to encourage you to apply to them simultaneously.

Requirements

• You will have completed, prior to appointment, a Master’s degree or equivalent degree in Philosophy, Ethics, or Political Philosophy/Theory. Other Master’s degrees will also be considered if you have a demonstrable expertise in analytical/conceptual problems and approaches to normative justification, in close connection with the themes of the research project.
• You have an interest in moral and political philosophy, applied ethics, and normative issues related to technology.
• Knowledge in a more specialised field relevant to the project (e.g. solidarity, ethics of technology, conceptual disruption, etc.) is welcome.
• Especially welcome are approaches to this project that engage with traditions and perspectives that are currently marginalised within Western philosophy.
• You have an excellent track record and research skills, relative to experience, and excellent academic writing and presentation skills.
• You have the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• You have an active interest in interdisciplinary work which connects philosophical analysis to other relevant disciplines and societal challenges.
• You have a high level of proficiency in English.

Additional Information

• a position for a period of 18 months - in case of good performance and a positive evaluation, the contract will be extended for the remaining period of 30 months (4 years in total);
• a working week of 38 hours and a gross monthly salary between €2,770 and €3,539 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

PhD candidates are encouraged to spend a semester abroad. A budget is available to cover expenses. Additionally, a generous (conference) travel budget is available for this position. In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development , leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities , as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University .

As Utrecht University, we want to be a home for everyone. We value staff with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and identities, including cultural, religious or ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. We strive to create a safe and inclusive environment in which everyone can flourish and contribute. Your application should include:

• a one-page letter of motivation, discussing what interests you about this position, how your background prepares you to carry out your proposed research plan, and any information about your circumstances relevant to assessing your suitability for the position;
• a curriculum vitae of maximum 3 pages;
• a one-page research note, setting out your ideas about how you propose to carry out the project described above;
• a writing sample of maximum 20 pages (e.g. a chapter of a master’s thesis);
• academic grade transcripts from all relevant degree programmes.

To apply, please send these materials via the 'apply now' button. Please submit items 2, 3, and 4 (in that order) as a SINGLE PDF in the field “CV including a publication list”. Letters of recommendation do not need to be submitted at this time. Interviews will be held in the week of 1 July 2024. The starting date is 1 October 2024.

For more information, please contact Christopher Wareham via [email protected] . Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University.

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Ven. Changzhong (Shin Lee) Winning Khyentse Foundation Student Award

Ven. Changzhong 常鐘法師 (Shin Lee), a recent MA graduate in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona, wins the 2024 Khyentse Foundation Student Award . The award was granted in an award ceremony hosted by The Department of East Asian Studies (EAS) on May 3rd, 2024. The EAS hosts the ceremony every year to acknowledge the EAS students for their exceptional performance and hard work during the academic year. (To read more about the awards, please visit: https://psee.io/5wu7zl ) 

Ven. Changzhong has been a Buddhist Bhikkhuni since 2006 and has taught various Buddhist courses to the general public. Her MA thesis is entitled "The Sutra of the Buddha’s Last Teaching and The Revival of Vinaya Studies in the Late Ming Dynasty: Focusing on Zhuhong and his Commentary." This research investigates the origin and significance of the Fo yijiao jing 佛遺教經, particularly focusing on the commentary by Yunqi Zhuhong 雲棲袾宏 (1535-1675). It aims to shed light on the text's development, reception, and Zhuhong's role in reviving the Vinaya in late imperial China through textual and historical analysis. She graduated this May with a Master's degree in East Asian Studies and will become a Ph.D. student at the Department of Religious Studies at Brown University this fall. Congratulations!

The Khyentse Foundation Student Award was set in 2018 at the Center for Buddhist Studies to encourage the University of Arizona graduate and undergraduate students to study Buddhism and its related subjects. Since 2001, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and a team of volunteers have been committed to providing funding for individuals and organizations seeking to make the dharma available to the world.

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Joshua Perez named an Amazing Graduate of 2024

The College of Arts and Sciences celebrates the wide range of graduating students who leave their mark on the college in truly unique ways. To recognize these outstanding students for 2024, the College of Arts and Sciences asked for nominations across campus. The Department of Religious Studies nominated Joshua Perez, who was nothing short of amazing  throughout his time here.

When asked what he would carry with him into the next chapter of his life he responded:

" My time at CU was not an easy one, since I had to put myself through school by working not only through the summer, but also during the school semesters and striving through all the challenges that the world had put in front of me. 

Even though it was a difficult journey, the one thing that kept me going when challenges came my way and moments of doubt saturated my mind was curiosity that colored the world with interest and wonder. That is what I will always carry."

RLST faculty praised Joshua’s efforts as follows:

"Joshua is a double major in philosophy and religious studies. He is an amazing graduate because he is vociferously curious and intellectually daring. Not only does he stand out for his excellent participation in class discussions, but he often stayed after class and came to office hours to pose serious questions and even objections to the material. Despite having to work long hours to put himself through college, he has demonstrated a rare commitment to the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, going above and beyond the assigned reading to do his own research outside of class on challenging topics. His questions, comments and written work demonstrate a higher-than-average knowledge of issues and thinkers in both Western and Eastern philosophy and religious studies. It is outstanding to be an undergraduate student who can engage with such a broad range of philosophical issues at such a deep level. We know he has a very bright future ahead!"

Follow the link below to learn more about the other amazing grads from the Class of 2024!

Amazing Grads 2024

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