Overview
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. Our students receive five years of full funding; additional funding is possible but not guaranteed. The 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, and University of Wisconsin (Madison). Current graduate students have distinguished themselves by presenting papers at international conferences and earning recognition and support from prestigious external funding organizations.
We offer Ph.D. studies in three areas: Asian Religious Traditions; Religion and Critical Thought ; and Religions in the Ancient Mediterranean (including Ancient Judaism, early Christianity, early Islam, and numerous others.). For information about these areas, please click on the appropriate links. In all programs, our goal is to combine specialized, rigorous training with a common and more general disciplinary approach to the study of religion. We do not offer a general Masters program, although under exceptional circumstances we will consider applications for a specialized MA program in one of the three designated areas.
Doctoral students are normally expected to complete two years of coursework beyond their Masters degree (or three years post-baccalaureate). These courses are primarily drawn from seminars offered by departmental faculty, but also include individual reading courses as well as courses in other departments, such as Classics, Philosophy, History, Comparative Literature, Anthropology, Political Science, and the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World. The third year is spent preparing for and taking Preliminary Exams, and the remaining years are devoted to developing the dissertation prospectus and researching and writing the dissertation.
MASTER OF ARTS
Students are admitted for terminal Master’s study only under exceptional circumstances. Eight graduate level courses are required, including RELS 2000, “Theory of Religion.” Must demonstrate competency in French or German, as well as in whatever other languages are relevant to research interests. A thesis is required.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Each of the three Ph.D. areas has the same general five-part structure: 1. Residence (coursework); 2. Satisfaction of Qualifying Requirements (languages, subject-specific competencies, theory and method); 3. Teaching Preparation; 4. Preliminary Examinations; 5. Dissertation (Prospectus and defense, actual dissertation; final public oral examination).
COURSEWORK
All students are required to complete the equivalent of three years (six semesters) of full-time study beyond the baccalaureate degree (i.3., twenty-four tuition units). Up to one full year of graduate work done in residence at other institutions and not used in fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. elsewhere may on the recommendation of the department faculty and with the approval of the registrar, be counted in fulfillment of this requirement.
Students will normally develop their course of study in consultation with the faculty in their area and as necessary with the Director of Graduate Study. All students are required to take RELS 2000, a seminar on "Theory of Religion." We encourage students to work and develop professional relationships with faculty outside of the Department who focus in cognate areas.
QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS
In addition to coursework, all doctoral students are required to satisfy various qualifying requirements prior to taking the Preliminary Examination. In addition to RELS 2000, students are expected to demonstrate various other competencies and methods, which may depend upon a student's prior training. Specifics are established with the area faculty at the beginning of each student's program of study.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
All students are required to demonstrate competency in two modern foreign languages, typically French and German. This requirement can be fulfilled through either appropriate coursework or examination. Depending on the student's program and interests, other modern languages may also be required: for specifics, see the page for the specific program or consult the Handbook.
Students in ART and RAM are required to demonstrate competency in various additional languages, depending on their specific areas of concentration; for specifics, see the page for these programs or consult the Handbook. Students must complete all language requirements prior to taking their Preliminary Examinations.
Preliminary Examinations
Each program has designed its exams to help its students acquire specialized expertise as well as disciplinary breadth. Due, in part, to the differing professional expectations of their exams in each of these areas, the different programs vary somewhat in the format and expectations. For specific requirements of a track, please consult the corresponding web page, or the Handbook.
Applying
Applications are welcomed from students with a baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate degree. Though most candidates admitted to the program have some M.A. level experience, exceptionally promising candidates may be admitted directly from the B.A.
Prior to applying, students are encouraged to contact faculty with whom they are interested in working, and if possible, to visit during the academic year. Such prior contact allows students to gain a better sense of our programs than any materials can convey. For logistical help in arranging such a visit, please contact Nicole Vadnais ([email protected]). We regret that we cannot provide any financial assistance for such visits. All applications are given the same consideration regardless of whether the applicant has contacted us in advance and/or visited Brown.
Asian Religious Traditions (ART) and Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (RAM) programs expect some prior preparation in relevant languages. Applicants to ART: East Asian Studies (EAS) must have at least two years Chinese or Japanese; three or more years is highly recommended. Applicants to ART :South Asian Traditions (SAT) should have at least two years of either Sanskrit or Hindi-Urdu. Students intending to specialize in some aspect of Ancient Judaism must have a minimum of two years of college level biblical Hebrew or its equivalent; a working knowledge of modern and rabbinic Hebrew and introductory ancient Greek are also highly desirable. Students intending to specialize in some aspect of early Christianity, or Greek or Roman religion should have college level training in at least one of the principal ancient languages for the program, Greek or Latin. Preference will be given to RAM applicants who have appropriate prior study of Greek (and other appropriate languages) and a reading knowledge of French or German, as well as prior work in the history, literature, and religions of the ancient Mediterranean.
Excellent command of English, both spoken and written, is also required of all successful applicants. Please note that there is no minimum GRE score or GPA. While applicants are expected to have demonstrated excellent preparation, aptitude, and potential to be successful scholars and teachers, we carefully consider the complete application. We pay particularly close attention to the personal statement, so applicants should take care in articulating why they think that our department is an appropriate place for them to study.
A writing sample is not required as part of the application. Applicants who wish to submit one should limit the sample to approximately 6000 words (about 25 ordinary typed pages).
The application deadline for the next academic year is January 1. Applicants should apply online through the university Graduate School. Read these pages (particularly the "General Information" section) carefully before applying.
Brown University admits students without regard to national or ethnic origin, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, creed of handicap.