Mar 29, 2024  
2018-2019 Graduate Catalog 
    
2018-2019 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Religious Studies, Ph.D.


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Admission Requirements

The deadline for completed applications is January 5. The requirements for admission to the Ph.D. degree program in religious studies are as follows:

  1. The B.A. degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution.
  2. A cumulative grade point average of 3.000 or above on a 4.000 scale.
  3. A satisfactory score on the GRE general graduate school admission test, ordinarily including a combined score of 310 or greater on the verbal and quantitative sections.
  4. Sufficient previous study in religion or related areas to be able to satisfy the requirements of the degree program.
  5. When English is not the applicant’s native language, a satisfactory TOEFL English language proficiency test score also is required. Internet-based version: 79-80 or better (preferably 100 or above); or paper-based version: 550 or better (preferably 600 or above).

Degree Requirements


Required Courses


Satisfactory completion of 48 credit hours of approved graduate coursework, including the four courses of the core seminar in religious studies:

Reading Competence


Demonstrating, by examination, a reading competence in two approved languages, other than English, relevant to the field of study. (For students in the two fields of biblical studies, four languages are required. Examinations must be passed in both Hebrew and Greek as well as in two additional languages.)

Comprehensive Field Examinations


Passing four comprehensive field examinations on the subjects designated for examination in the student’s field, each consisting of a six-hour written examination based on the bibliography agreed upon with the examiner.

Dissertation Proposal


Securing the steering committee’s approval of a dissertation proposal endorsed by the student’s adviser, two other members of the graduate program in religious studies faculty and one reader from outside the graduate program in religious studies faculty.

Practice Teaching Requirement


Satisfactorily meeting the practice teaching requirement.

Doctoral Dissertation


Satisfactorily completing the doctoral dissertation.

Oral Examination


Passing an oral examination covering the student’s entire course of study as well as the dissertation.

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