Students seeking to begin doctoral studies at the GTU in the Fall 2018 semester have until Friday, December 15, 2017, to apply. The GTU’s new doctoral curriculum, launched in the Fall 2016 semester, offers an innovative approach to doctoral education with extraordinary opportunities for customization, interdisciplinary scholarship and interreligious conversation. The revised program features more than thirty concentrations, grouped into four interdisciplinary departments, each designed to allow greater opportunity for interreligious and interdisciplinary collaboration, while building on the historic strengths of the GTU.
This year's first-year doctoral students are the second cohort to enter under the new curriculum. Students are currently taking an introductory seminar on interdisciplinary approaches to the study of religion and another seminar on theories and methods for research in their particular department. These courses are helping each entering class of doctoral students form a community of colleagues, and have also forged a unique, close-knit group of friends in the current 27-person first-year class.
Kelly Colwell, a second-year doctoral student in the Religion and Practice department says, “From orientation to our seminar course together, from potlucks to bi-monthly lunches, our incoming doctoral class has built a strong foundation of friendship. Building relationships across our diverse departments and traditions, we’re able to offer each other valuable support and critique. My own work in practical theology is challenged and enhanced by engaging with my colleagues in sociology of religion, sacred texts, ethics, comparative religion, Hindu and Muslim studies, and others. I can’t imagine a better setting for groundbreaking, interdisciplinary scholarship.”
The GTU’s doctoral program is successful due to its unparalleled faculty resources, but most importantly because of our diverse student body and the important scholarship they are undertaking. Our Admissions Office is ready to guide prospective doctoral students through the application process. If you know someone who might be interested in theological and religious studies at the graduate level, please let them know that a great program is now even better! Find out more