Islamic studies in Graduate Programs of Religious Studies

The following table is a brief summary of options for pursuing Islamic studies in graduate programs of Religious Studies in North American universities. This list is based on the member institutions in the Council for Graduate Study in Religion, a consortium of 34 universities offering the PhD degree in Religious Studies (this group includes public and private universities, plus divinity schools and seminaries that offer an academic PhD). This list does not include area studies programs based in departments of Near Eastern or Middle Eastern area studies. There is certainly no uniformity in the way Religious Studies departments structure their programs, or in the way that they conceive of Islamic studies (barely half of these universities include Islamic studies in their graduate curricula). For full details, it is necessary to go to each department to determine the nature of the program, the interests of relevant faculty, and the extent to which these programs can call upon the resources of related area studies programs. The program descriptions here are taken from publicly available sources.
 
 

Boston University	Brown University	Claremont Graduate University*
Columbia University	Drew University*	Duke University
Emory University	Fordham University*	Graduate Theological Union*
Harvard University	Hebrew Union College*	Indiana University
Jewish Theological Seminary of America*	McGill University	McMaster University*
Northwestern University	Princeton Theological Seminary*	Princeton University
Southern Methodist University*	Stanford University*	Syracuse University
Temple University	Union Theological Seminary*	University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Chicago*	University of Iowa	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame*	University of Pennsylvania	University of Toronto
University of Virginia	University of Southern California*	Vanderbilt University*
Yale University

*Indicates universities with no current program or faculty members in Islamic studies

Boston University; Boston, MA: 

The Division of Religious and Theological Studies of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Degrees offered: Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy

Areas of Specialization: Entering graduate students may choose among twelve fields of concentration in three main subject areas, each of which is cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary.

· Religious Texts and Traditions: Judaic Studies; New Testament and Christian Origins; History of Christianity; Islamic Studies. 

· Religion, Philosophy, and Ethics: Philosophy of Religion; Science, Philosophy, and Religion; Theology; Social Ethics.

· Religion, Culture and Society: Religion and Society; Religion and Literature; Psychology of Religion; Counseling Psychology and Religion.

Specialization in Islamic Studies:

Description: The concentration in Islamic Studies is flexible and may be configured according to the student's interests and professional goals. The focus is on the religious, literary, and intellectual history of Islam, with emphasis on both the medieval and the modern periods. Students entering the program should have a broad range of courses in one or more of these fields: history of religion, Islamic history, late antique background of Islam, medieval studies, and an Islamic language (Arabic, Persian, or Turkish) and its literature.

Faculty Relevant to Islamic Studies: Thomas Barfield, Anthropology; Irene Gendzier, Political Science; Thomas Glick, History; Shahla Haeri, Anthropology; Robert Hefner, Anthropology; Frank Korom, Religion; Charles Lindholm, University Professor; Herbert Mason, University Professor; Augustus Norton, Anthropology.

Brown University, Providence, RI:

The Department of Religious Studies in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Degrees Offered: AM, PhD

Areas of Specialization: 

· Early Christianity: Christianity in the early empire including New Testament studies and Christianity in late antiquity. 

· Ancient Judaism: Ancient Israel, Second Temple period, 70 to 500 CE. 

· Contemporary Religious Thought: Philosophy of religion, issues in theology, religious ethics, including comparative and normative inquiry.

Additional Information of Interest: Additional graduate courses are available in the other departments including Africana studies, classics, Egyptology, History, Modern Culture and Media, Old World Archaeology and Art, Philosophy, Political Science, and Women's Studies. Qualified students may enter a program leading simultaneously to the PhD in religious studies (contemporary religious thought) and philosophy. Students in this program must meet the degree requirements of both departments.

Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA:

School of Religion

Degrees Offered: MA, PhD

Areas of Specialization: 

Hebrew Bible; 
New Testament; 
History of Christianity and Religions in North America; 
Philosophy of Religion and Theology; 
Theology, Ethics, and Culture; 
Women’s Studies in Religion.

Faculty Relevant To Islamic Studies: None at present in the School of Religion. 

 

Columbia University; New York, NY:

The graduate program in religion is a cooperative program between the Departments of Religion at Columbia University and Barnard College and Union Theological Seminary.

Degrees offered: MA, M.Phil., PhD

Program In Religion

Description: It is designed for the study of the history, literature, theory, and functions of religion in its various forms within different societies and cultures. A distinctive feature of this program is the opportunity for students not only to gain advanced training in specific fields of religious studies, but also to acquire a basic knowledge of the world's major religious traditions and of the principal methods and theories employed in the study of religion. Such knowledge is useful as preparation for teaching courses of broad scope and as a background for the study of more limited areas.

Areas of Specialization: 

Buddhism
Chinese and Japanese Religions
Early Christianity
Hebrew Bible
History of Christianity
History of Religions in North America
History of Religions in Late Antiquity
Islam
Judaism
Philosophy of Religion 
Religions of South Asia 
Sociology of Religion

Specialization in Islam

Description:Once the requisite courses and language study have been completed (Arabic, and Persian, Urdu or Turkish; French and German or another ancient or modern language appropriate to the candidate's specialization), the candidate prepares an extensive bibliography covering basic issues in the study of Islamic Religion beginning with pre-Islamic Arabia and working up through the late medieval and/or modern periods. Topics that must be covered include Muhammad, the Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic Law, Philosophical Theology, Sufism and Islamic Modernism/Revivalism. In addition to these general topics, the bibliography should focus on the general area of interest of the candidate, e.g., Medieval Islam, the Umayyad Period, etc. This preparation is the basis of the First Field Exam. The student then begins preliminary dissertation research and designs a dissertation proposal. The student is asked to prepare a bibliography that deals more generally with the area of his or her research. Working closely with the advisor, preferably in a guided reading and research course, the candidate prepares a lengthy paper on a mutually agreed upon topic. The paper serves as a first step in dissertation research. The paper is evaluated by the individual's advisor and another member of the faculty. The candidate should consult with the advisor and second reader after the paper is evaluated. This is the research and preparation for the Second Field Exam. The candidate should then begin the preparation of a more detailed outline of the overall research project, viz., a dissertation proposal.

Faculty Relevant To Islamic Studies: 

Peter Awn, Courtney Bender, Neguin Yavari

 

Drew University; Madison, NJ: 

Program in Theological and Religious Studies 

Degrees offered: MA, PhD

Description: Students who are either Jewish or Christian in their orientation may work along with others who identify themselves in different ways. The development of interdisciplinary and multicultural consciousness is encouraged. A tacit pluralism underlies common faculty and student participation in the life of an area whose members represent well-diversified points of view.

Areas of Specialization:

I.Fields: 

·Biblical Studies

·Liturgical Studies

·Religion & Society

·Theological & Religious Studies

·Wesleyan & Methodist Studies

II.Concentrations:

·American Religion and Culture

·Historical Studies

·Systematic Theology

·Constructive Theology

·Philosophical Theology

·Philosophy of Religion

·Postmodernism

·Feminist Theology

·Liberation Theology

·Theological Theology

·Pluralistic Studies

·Theology and Nature

Faculty Relevant To Islamic Studies: None at present in Theological and Religious Studies.

 

Duke University; Durham, NC: 

The Graduate Program in Religion

Degrees Offered: A.M., Ph.D., JD/MA (Note: Applicants interested in the JD/MA will make application to the Law School rather than to the Graduate School.)

Areas of Specialization: 

·Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

·New Testament

·Ancient, European and American Christianity

·Judaic Studies

· Islamic Studies (see also brochure on joint Duke-UNC program in Islamic Studies)

·Christian Theology

·Religion in Modernity (including non-Western traditions)

Specialization in Islamic Studies
The Ph.D. program in Islamic Studies at Duke covers the study of Islam as a religious and intellectual tradition as well as the study of Muslim societies past and present.. Rigorous emphasis on the humanities and social sciences requires students to explore the classical Islamic sciences at the same time that they examine the cultural and historical expression of Islamicate civilization in its various historical phases. Areas of strength include: history (medieval, modern and postmodern; intellectual, cultural and social) and Islamic thought (also medieval, modern and postmodern; legal, philosophical and theological), with special attention to law and society, Qur'anic studies, hermeneutics & text criticism, mysticism, human rights, and gender studies.

Faculty Relevant To Islamic Studies: 
Bruce B. Lawrence (Ph.D., Yale), Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Professor of Religion (history of religion, religions of India).
Ebrahim Moosa (Ph.D., University of Cape Town), Associate Research Professor of Religion (Islamic law, ethics, theology, and critical theory).

Emory University; Atlanta, GA:

The Graduate Division of Religion

Degrees Offered: Ph.D. 

Areas of Specialization: 

·American Religious Cultures

·Comparative Literature and Religion

·Ethics and Society

·Hebrew Bible

·Historical Studies in Theology and Religion

·New Testament

·Person, Community, and Religious Practices

·Theological Studies

· West and South Asian Religions

Specialization in Islamic Studies

Description: The Program in West and South Asian Religions offers seminars and dissertation supervision in religious traditions of this region (principally Islamic, Hindu, and early Buddhist). The program studies these religions in terms of their texts, practices, systems of thought and values, institutions, and symbolic formations.  Preparation is offered in each of these religious traditions, along with their relations to others (e.g., Islamic-Jewish, Hindu-Christian, Islamic-Hindu). General issues in the interpretation of religion as an orientation to foundational understandings and values regarding human meaning are enhanced by being explored in relation to the religious formations of this region. Seminars are offered in the history, literatures, ethnographies, practices, legal traditions, diaspora and trans-national traditions and practices, religious thought, and interrelations with other traditions. In addition to the modern language requirement of the Graduate Division of Religion, students are required to demonstrate advanced research proficiency in one West or South Asian language. Emory offers introductory to advanced levels of instruction in the following languages: Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and Hebrew. Significant library holdings in West and South Asian religions are housed in Woodruff Library. The Pitts Theology Library also has extensive holdings related to West and South Asian religions, especially in the area of history of Christian missions. Considerable acquisitions are being pursued via electronic formats. Emory and Atlanta offer wide resources in support of the program. The Law and Religion Program of Emory Law School offers seminars and occasional major international symposia in the interrelations among law, religion, and religious human rights, including attention to Islamic ethics, law, and politics. The Atlanta metropolitan area offers significant opportunities for the study of West and South Asian religious traditions in their diaspora context in the American South. Emory enjoys cordial relations with many religious communities, which have been most hospitable in welcoming students to observe and study their communities and practices.

Faculty Relevant to Islamic Studies: Richard C. Martin; Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im; Gordon Newby; David S. Pacini; Devin Stewart; Carrie Wickham.

 

 

Fordham University; New York, NY:

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: Theology

·Biblical 

·Historical 

·Systematic

Faculty Relevant To Islamic Studies: None at present.

 

 

Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA : 

Member Schools of the Graduate Theological Union: American Baptist Seminary of the West; Center for Jewish Studies; Church Divinity School of the Pacific; Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology; Franciscan School of Theology; Institute of Buddhist Studies; Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley; Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary; Pacific School of Religion; San Francisco Theological Seminary; Starr King School for the Ministry; University of California, Berkeley.

Degrees Offered: MA, M.Div., ThD, PhD 

Areas of Specialization:

·Art and Religion

·Biblical Studies

·Buddhist Studies

·Christian Spirituality

·Cultural and Historical Studies of Religions

·Ethics and Social Theory

·History

·Homiletics

·Interdisciplinary Studies

·Jewish Studies

·Liturgical Studies

·Near Eastern Religions

·Religion and Psychology

·Systematic and Philosophical Theology

Faculty Relevant To Islamic Studies: None at present.

Harvard University; Cambridge, MA:

PhD Fields of Study

Note: A Ph.D. in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible is not offered through the Committee on the Study of Religion, but may be pursued within the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations or through the Th.D. program of the Divinity School.

Special Field. In addition to locating his or her program within a context of study, a student will focus on an area of specialization. For those students whose contexts of study are the Christian tradition, the Greco-Roman or Hellenistic World historical complex, or the Modern West historical complex, there is a particularly wide range of resources at Harvard Divinity School. At present the special fields (which correspond to certain faculty groups at the Divinity School) pertinent to these contexts of study are:

· New Testament and Christian Origins 

· History of Christianity 

· Theology 

· Ethics 

· Religion and Society 

· Religion, Gender, and Culture

It is important both to the admissions process and in the initial assignment of an adviser that applicants in the Christian tradition, the Modern West, or the Greco-Roman or Hellenistic World, indicate which of the above fields will serve as "home base."

Topical Interests. More specific topical interests within the special field --such as women's experience, ritual, popular religion, or mysticism -- should also be noted.

Program Options