Religious Studies, PHD
Chairperson: Ryan Duns, S.J., 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).
CAREER SKILLS REQUIREMENT FOR PHD STUDENTS
Marquette University is committed to preparing our students to become exemplary leaders in their chosen academic and professional fields by preparing them for careers in which they find purpose and value by engaging in Ignatian pedagogical reflection and practice. The purpose of the career skills requirement is to ensure all doctoral students have the opportunity to reflect on their desired career and to acquire essential career-related skills needed for them to pursue their chosen path.
Students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in Fall 2024 and beyond at Marquette must complete three career skills requirements. Requirements are satisfied by one or more of approved courses, workshops, or practical experiences in each category, as approved by the Graduate School. Completion of each skill will be noted on the student’s transcript.
CAREER DISCERNMENT
Students will be able to identify and prepare for career pathways that are consistent with their values.
Objectives:
- Understand realities of academic job market for your discipline, creating space for career imagination and understand potential career paths.
- Exploration of, and defining student’s own identity/experiences/values/strengths/gifts and how the career pathway fits with those values.
- Students will learn to identify and attain the skills and experiences necessary to obtain the career pathway they desire.
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Choose 1: | ||
THEO 8097 | Career Discernment/Career Diversity Skills | 0 |
GRAD 8097 | Career Discernment/Career Diversity Skills (Career Development Bootcamp) | 0 |
GRAD 8097 | Career Discernment/Career Diversity Skills (Seminar Series) 1 | 0 |
GRAD 8097 | Career Discernment/Career Diversity Skills (Ph.D. Pathways) | 0 |
- 1
The Career Discernment/Career Diversity Skills Seminar Series is a series of six, 90-minute seminars that satisfies both the Career Discernment and Communication skills requirements, via GRAD 8097 and GRAD 8098, respectively. Students first enroll in GRAD 8097, offered each fall term, and then enroll in GRAD 8098, offered each spring term. Courses are taken sequentially and in combination to satisfy two of the three Ph.D. career skills requirements.
COMMUNICATION
Students will be able to communicate their ideas and scholarship effectively to audiences beyond those in their discipline.
Objectives:
- Demonstrate the ability to communicate (e.g., research, expertise, experiences) effectively and ethically with disciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and nonacademic audiences.
- Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively and ethically within various contexts, formats, and media.
- Demonstrate the ability to effectively deliver a presentation and facilitate discussion.
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Choose 1: | ||
THEO 8711 | Teaching Theology at the College Level | 0 |
GRAD 8098 | Communication Skills (Seminar Series) 1 | 0 |
GRAD 8098 | Communication Skills (Three Minute Thesis) | 0 |
GRAD 8961 | Science Storytelling | 1 |
- 1
The Career Discernment/Career Diversity Skills Seminar Series is a series of six, 90-minute seminars that satisfies both the Career Discernment and Communication skills requirements, via GRAD 8097 and GRAD 8098, respectively. Students first enroll in GRAD 8097, offered each fall term, and then enroll in GRAD 8098, offered each spring term. Courses are taken sequentially and in combination to satisfy two of the three Ph.D. career skills requirements.
Establishing Healthy Professional Communities
Students will understand the importance of community building and engagement in the creation and maintenance of professional environments and how these issues are related to their relevant career pathways.
Objectives:
- Students will be aware of and able to identify various forms of bias in professional environments and will understand possible strategies to address any issues.
- Students will be able to articulate the value of universal design principles and their ethical application to their own area of studies and future professional endeavors.
- Students will be able to work productively and interact effectively with persons from varied backgrounds, experiences, values, ideas, and opinions, leading to stronger professional communities and environments.
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
GRAD 8099 | Establishing Healthy Professional Communities | 0 |
Religious Studies, PHD
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. The 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:
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
All THEO courses numbered in the 8000, 8100, 8200, and 8300 ranges (JUCA) | ||
All THEO courses numbered in the 8400 range (HITH) | ||
All THEO courses numbered in the 8500 range (SYTH) | ||
All THEO courses numbered in the 8600 range (THET) |
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 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. The examination has two stages, namely the written examination and the oral examination. The written examination 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.
University Policies
- Academic Censure - Graduate School
- Academic Integrity
- Academic Misconduct
- Academic Program Definitions
- Accelerated Degree Programs
- Attendance - Graduate School
- Awarding Diplomas and Certificates
- Background Checks, Drug Testing
- Class Rank
- Commencement
- Course Levels
- Credit Hour
- Credit Load - Graduate School
- Faculty Grading
- Family Education Rights and Privacy Act-FERPA
- Grade Appeals
- Grading System - Graduate School and Graduate School of Management
- Graduation - Graduate School
- Immunization and Tuberculosis Screening Requirements
- Last Date of Attendance/Activity
- Military Call to Active Duty or Training
- Registration - Graduate School
- Repeated Courses - Graduate School
- Student Consumer Complaints
- Student Data Use and Privacy
- Transcripts-Official
- Transfer Course Credit - Graduate School
- Withdrawal - Graduate School
Graduate School Policies
- Academic Performance
- Advising
- Certificate Concurrent Enrollment
- Conduct
- Confidentiality of Proprietary Information
- Continuous Enrollment
- Courses and Prerequisites
- Cross-listed Courses
- Deadlines
- Doctoral Degree Academic Program Overview
- Dual/Joint Programs of Study
- Graduate Credit
- Graduate School Policies
- Independent Study
- Intellectual Property
- Master's Degree Academic Program Overview
- Merit-Based Aid Registration Requirements
- Research Involving Humans, Animals, Radioisotopes or Recombinant DNA/Transgenic Organisms
- Temporary Withdrawal from Graduate Program
- Time Limitations
- Working with Minors