Primary Faculty: Professor CLOTHEY; Associate Professors EDWARDS (Chair), KANE, ORBACH; Assistant Professors PENKOWER, WEISBERG (Visiting, Jewish Studies)

Affiliated Faculty (Adjunct faculty and those with primary appointments in other areas): Professors AVERY (Classics), BLUMENFELD-KOSINSKI (French and Italian Languages and Literatures; Director, Medieval and Renaissance Studies), BROWN (Anthropology), CALIAN (Adjunct, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary), CONERMANN (Germanic Languages and Literatures), GALE (Philosophy), GILL (Classics), HAKE (Germanic Languages and Literatures), HSU (University Professor Emeritus, History; Weilun Professor, University of Hong Kong), JONES (Classics), KELLY (Adjunct), KNAPP (English), KRIPS (Communication), LINDUFF (History of Art and Architecture), MARKOFF (Sociology), MASSEY (Distinguished Service Professor, Philosophy), MILLER (Adjunct), MORENO (Sociology), PARTEE (Adjunct, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary), RAWSKI (University Professor, History), RIMER (Chair, East Asian Languages and Literatures), ROBERTSON (Sociology), M. SMETHURST (Classics), R. SMETHURST (History), STONE (Adjunct, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary), STONES (History of Art and Architecture), STRATHERN (Andrew Mellon Professor, Anthropology), TOBIAS (English), TOKER (History of Art and Architecture); Associate Professors ASHLIMAN (Germanic Languages and Literatures), CASTILLO-CARDENAS (Adjunct, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary), CONSTABLE (Anthropology), FLOYD (Chair, Classics), GALPERN (History), HANSEN (Political Science), JANNETTA (History), LU (East Asian Languages and Literatures), NELSON (Adjunct, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary), SUN (East Asian Languages and Literatures), SUTTON (Adjunct), WILSON (Adjunct, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary); Assistant Professors ALTER (Anthropology), GAGNON (Adjunct, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary), VENARDE (History)

Emeritus Faculty: Professors GOLDSTEIN (University Professor), VASQUEZ, WILMER

The Department of Religious Studies offers the doctoral degree in cooperation with the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and faculty from Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University. The department also offers the master’s degree.

All applicants must submit the following:

• A statement of professional goals and reasons for applying
• A sample of written work
• Official transcripts of previous academic work
• Three (academic)letters of recommendation
• Aptitude scores on the Graduate Record Examinations
• A completed application form

Students applying to the doctoral program in Religion in Historical Settings (see below) should give evidence of their reading ability in at least one language needed for their primary research (for example–Latin, Chinese) and at least one modern foreign language needed for the reading of secondary literature in the field (normally French or German).

Course Requirements: Each student completes 27 credits of course work, distributed as follows:

Comprehensive Examination: Each student takes a written exam designed to synthesize the work already done in the program.

Languages: There are no language requirements for the MA, but students who plan to do doctoral work are encouraged to study the languages that will be relevant to their specializations. Students in the MA program will not be recommended for the PhD track in Religion in the Modern World unless they have competence in at least one relevant modern language other than English, and they will not be recommended for the track in Religion in Historical Settings unless they have competence in one language of primary research and one language of scholarship other than English.

Thesis: Each student submits an original research essay in the relevant specialization. He or she works with his/her advisor to find a suitable question to pursue, forms a committee of three faculty, and discusses the project with them while working on it. When the project is complete, the student sits for a one-hour oral defense of the thesis. The oral exam completes the work for the degree. The student is then awarded the master’s degree by the University.

.

Within their specializations, students work with their advisors to design programs that will address their specific intellectual and career goals. With eight core faculty and 43 affiliated faculty, students have considerable freedom in how they do this. The chief constraint is the need to acquire a breadth of teaching competence along with a depth of research expertise. Students work with their advisors to identify the breadth/depth balance appropriate to their specializations and career goals.

Prospective students may find it useful to know some of the interests of the faculty. These include religious conceptions of law, freedom, and authority; ideological formations; religious ritual; religious conceptions of personhood and gender; religion and ethics; concepts of mind; religion and metaphysics; historicism and hermeneutics; the emergence of modernity and post-modernity; religion and globalization; the encounter of traditions; religious war; religion and colonialism; religious persecution and tolerance; religion and ethnicity; memory, tradition and identity; religion in popular culture; religion and society; religious language and symbolism; religion and the arts; religious conceptions of space and time; science and religion.

The General Degree Regulations specified by the Graduate Faculty and FAS Graduate Studies are described elsewhere in this bulletin. They should be read in conjunction with the departmental requirements listed below.

Course Requirements: Students take a minimum of 72 credits of graduate work beyond the bachelor's degree. These credits are broadly distributed according to the five requirements described below.

1. In their initial terms in the program, students take three courses in theory and method: (a) a required seminar, Perspectives on Religion; (b) an initial seminar on the principal methodology that they intend to use–for example, history for the historian of religion, philosophy for the philosopher of religion; and (c) a seminar on a second methodology, complementary to the first–for example, ethnography for the historian of religion, history for the philosopher of religion (9 credits).
2. Students also take two courses in each of two traditions other than their tradition of specialization (12 credits).
3. During the course of their studies, students take twelve elective credits (12 credits).
4. Students also write a master’s thesis (see below) on a question central to their work (up to 9 credits).
5. Increasing their focus as they advance in the program, and working closely with their advisors to achieve the objectives set forth in their Program Statements (see below), students take at least thirty credits in their areas of specialization (30 credits).

No more than two 1000-level undergraduate courses may be taken for graduate credit.

The Master’s Thesis and Other Examinations:

1. The master’s thesis is a substantial research paper on a question central to the student's research interests. It is typically written in a single term for the advisor and two other committee members, and is defended that same term in a one-hour oral examination before the committee. Upon passage of the thesis and oral examination, the student is awarded the master’s degree by the University of Pittsburgh.
2. After completing the thesis, students work with their advisors to formulate a Program Statement to guide their work during the rest of their time in the program. This statement identifies intellectual and career goals, and specifies the means by which these goals will be attained at the University of Pittsburgh. It is co-signed by the advisor and is included in the student's file.
3. Before taking the comprehensive examinations, each student passes language examinations in both French and German. Other languages of scholarship may be substituted by petition.
4. After completing all course work, students take their comprehensive examinations. Meeting with the advisor and other faculty, the student develops four areas of examination that prepare for the research and writing of the projected dissertation. After studying the materials specified in the agreement with the committee, the student then sits for four four-hour written examinations, one on each of the four areas.

The Dissertation: A doctoral dissertation is an independent, original and significant contribution to knowledge. Typically each student forms the dissertation committee from the members of the comprehensive examination committee. Working with the advisor to clarify objectives and approach, and with an eye to developing a project that can be completed in two years of concentrated work, the student writes a dissertation prospectus that describes the project and the strategy for its completion. The student then circulates the prospectus to the members of the dissertation committee, and meets with them in a Prospectus Meeting to discuss the viability of the project. After receiving the approval of the members of the committee, the student begins the research. While researching and writing the dissertation, the student meets regularly with the dissertation advisor, and annually with the full committee. When the student completes the manuscript, the student meets with the committee to take questions in a two-hour oral examination. Upon passing the oral examination, the student has completed the program and is then awarded the doctoral degree by the University.