FAS - Religious Studies

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 MA degree.

Contact Information

Department Chair: Steven Anthony (Tony) Edwards

Main Office: 2604 Cathedral of Learning

Phone: (412) 624-5990

Fax: (412) 624-5994

E-mail: relgst@pitt.edu

Web site: http://www.pitt.edu/~relgst

Admissions

A bachelor's degree is required for admission. Applicants to the doctoral program who have already received a master's degree may petition to have up to 24 credits counted toward the PhD.

All applicants must submit the following:

Financial Assistance

Financial aid is distributed in the department chiefly on the basis of merit. Three kinds of aid are available:

In addition, some financial aid is available to disadvantaged students through the Office of the Provost.

Degree Requirements

The minimal requirements established by the Graduate Faculty of the University, as described under General Academic Regulations, and any additional requirements of FAS Graduate Studies described under FAS Degree Requirements, should be read in conjunction with program-specific degree requirements described in the following sections.

Requirements for the Master's Degree

The purpose of the master's program is to provide students with a broad background in theory and method, train them in basic research skills, and extend their understanding of their principal field of interest. To that end, students must satisfy certain course, examination, and thesis requirements as detailed below:

Course Requirements

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

1. Two courses in theory and method, one of which must be Perspectives on Religion.
2. Four courses from one of the subheadings under a) and b):

   a) Religion in the Modern World:

   Judaism

   Christianity

   Religion in Asia

   Religion in the Americas
   
   

   b) Religion in Historical Settings:

   Religion in Antiquity

   Religion in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

   Religion in Medieval and Early Modern Asia
   
   

3. Two courses from a second subheading (for example, Religion in Medieval and Renaissance Europe).
4. A course in which the student concentrates on the research and writing of the MA thesis.

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.

Research Essay

Each student submits an original research essay in the relevant specialization. The student works with the 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.

Requirements for the PhD Degree

The primary purpose of the Cooperative Graduate Program in the Study of Religion is to train scholars for careers as researchers and college teachers. There are two tracks to the program: Religion in the Modern World and Religion in Historical Settings. Each of these tracks is divided into specializations (as listed above under course requirements for the master's degree).

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.

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

See information above on the master's-level exams.

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 and submitting an approved dissertation, the student has completed the program and is then awarded the doctoral degree by the University.

Course Listings

Theory and Method

COMMRC 1121 History of Mass Media

PS 1375 Religion and Politics

ANTH 1771 Religion and Culture

HIST 2004 Philosophy of the Cultural and Social Studies

CLST 2004 Philosophy of Human and Social Science

PS 2010 Concepts and Theories in Political Science

ENG 2043 Theory of Popular Culture

ENG 2053 Metaphor and Critical Theory

HIST 2102 Perceptions of the Past

GER 2148 History, Memory, and Narrative

COMMRC 2204 Myth, Ideology, and Science

COMMRC 2226 Media and Cultural Studies

CLST 2230 Comparative Research

REL 2305 Religion and History

REL 2315 Hermeneutics and Historicism

PHIL 2320 Social Philosophy

REL 2367 Temple, Icon, Deity

PHIL 2470 Philosophy of Religion

PHIL 2480 Metaphysics

REL 2505 Religion, Communication, and Culture

REL 2507 Metaphor

HPS 2687 Rationality and Relativism

HPS 2693 Philosophy of Science in the Humanities

REL 2705 Myth, Symbol, Ritual

REL 2710 Perspectives on Religion

REL 2725 Readings in the Study of Religion

REL 2730 Philosophy and Religion

REL 2745 Ritual Process

CLST 2748 History of Anthropological Theory

ANTH 2755 Cultural, Social, and Psychological Explanation

ANTH 2759 Urban Anthropology

REL 2760 Sociology of Religion

REL 2762 Sociological Theory 1-Classical

REL 2763 Sociological Theory 3-Recent

REL 2765 Cultural Sociology

ANTH 2772 Communication and Culture

ANTH 2773 Cognition and Culture

ANTH 2783 Social Stratification and Expressive Culture

REL 2810 Perspectives on Comparative Religious Studies

REL 2820 Evidence and Argument in the Human Sciences

REL 2821 Kant and Heidegger on Truth, Art, and Religion

REL 2830 Cultural Critics

COMMRC 3306 Rhetoric and Culture

CLST 3306 Seminar in Rhetoric and Culture

CLST 3325 Seminar in Mass Communication

REL 3510 Systems of Religious Thought

REL 3548 Weber and Troeltsch

REL 3550 Troeltsch's Social Teachings of the Christian Churches

REL 3708 City and Symbol

REL 3712 Stories and Symbols

REL 3749 Directed Study in Ritual Studies

REL 3761 Critical Issues in Sociology of Religion

Religion in the Modern World: Global Issues

ANTH 1276 Development, Education, and Applied Anthropology

PHIL 1340 Feminist Philosophy

ANTH 1524 Women and Gender in the Third World

PS 1541 Politics of Global Economic Relations

PS 1612 Marxism

RELGST 1620 Women in Religion

ANTH 1738 Gender Perspectives in Anthropology

HIST 1756 Comparative Civilizations

ANTH 1769 Dynamics of Ethnicity

ANTH 1772 Anthropology of Women

ANTH 1779 Social and Cultural Change

ENG 2011 Issues in Cultural Studies

HIST 2042 Sociology of Revolution

PIA 2193 Gender, Race, and Public Policy

COMMRC 2229 Global Cultures

PS 2302 Politics of Developing Areas

SOC 2304 Modernization

SOC 2305 Global Change and Modern Life

PIA 2316 Intercultural Communication

PS 2322 The Politics of Revolution

SOC 2340 World Systems-Theory and Research

PHIL 2340 Philosophical Perspectives on Feminism

ENG 2350 Postmodernism

PIA 2356 Transnational Interactions

ENG 2389 Third World Literature

ENG 2390 History of Colonialism 1492-Present

PIA 2407 Knowledge, Ideology, and Public Policy

PS 2507 Ideas and Public Policy

PIA 2525 Politics of Development

ANTH 2551 Peoples in Contact

PS 2612 Political Theory of Marxism

ENG 3141 Intellectuals

REL 3444 Liberation Ethics

REL 3545 Medical Ethics

REL 3546 Law, Theology, and Ethics

REL 3549 Directed Study in Ethics

REL 3562 Moral Issues in International Politics

Religion in the Modern World: Judaism

RELGST 1252 History of the Holocaust

RELGST 1256 Modern Israel

PS 1376 Religion and Politics in the Middle East

RELGST 1650 Approaches to Anti-Semitism

REL 2115 History of Israel

REL 2135 Classical Judaism

REL 2325 Jews in the Islamic World

REL 2336 Modern Judaism

GER 2810 Weimar Culture

GER 2884 Weimar Cinema

GER 2886 Film in the Third Reich

REL 3309 Directed Study in Judaism

Religion in the Modern World: Christianity

REL 3314 Puritanism

REL 3324 Pietism

REL 3345 Religious Thought of the 19th Century

REL 3349 Directed Study-History of Christianity

REL 3352 Contemporary Eastern Christianity

REL 3423 Reinhold Niebuhr

REL 3441 Christian Perspectives on Evil and Redemption

REL 3525 Directed Study: 19th-century Protestant Theology

REL 3560 Christianity and Economic Systems

Religion in the Modern World: Religion in Asia

CLP 1056 Japanese Literature and the West

CLP 1058 Western and Samurai Films

PS 1333 Government and Politics of Japan

PS 1335 Political Economy of Japan

SOC 1354 Japan and the U.S.A.

HIST 1433 Modern Japan

HIST 1447 Economic History of Japan

PS 1523 East Asia in World Politics

ECON 1630 Economic Development of China

ECON 1640 Japanese Economic Growth

ANTH 1739 Cultures of East Asia

ANTH 1759 Chinese Society

ANTH 1764 Cultures and Societies of India

ANTH 1783 Japanese Culture

ANTH 1784 Japanese Society

HIST 1900 Asian Cities

REL 2365 Religion in India 1

REL 2366 Religion in India 2

REL 2375 Tradition and Change in Southeast Asia

ANTH 2760 Seminar on Japanese Society, Culture, and Education

ECON 2930 Research Seminar-Economy of China

REL 3368 Topics in South Asian Religions

REL 3369 Directed Study in Hinduism

REL 3374 Topics in East Asian Buddhism

REL 3376 Topics in East Asian Religions

REL 3379 Directed Study in Buddhism

REL 3384 Topics in Chinese Religions

REL 3385 Directed Study-Chinese Religious Traditions

REL 3388 Topics in Chinese Buddhism

REL 3389 Directed Study-Chinese Buddhism

REL 3394 Topics in Japanese Religions

REL 3395 Directed Study-Japanese Religious Traditions

REL 3398 Topics in Japanese Buddhism

REL 3399 Directed Study-Japanese Buddhism

Religion in the Modern World: Religion in the Americas

REL 2330 Science and Religion in the 17th Century

REL 2345 Theology and Society in 19th-century America

REL 2347 Theology and Society in 20th-century America

REL 2355 Church and Religion in Latin America

REL 3314 Puritanism

REL 3324 Pietism

REL 3330 Enlightenment and Awakening

REL 3340 American Church History

REL 3341 American Religious History

REL 3350 Protestantism in Latin America

REL 3527 Liberation Theology: Latin America

REL 3543 Christianity in Latin America

REL 3544 Contemporary Christian Ethics

Religion in Historical Settings: Religion in Antiquity

REL 2105 Faith and Culture-Ancient Near East

REL 2115 History of Israel

REL 2125 Greek and Roman Religions

REL 2135 Classical Judaism

REL 2145 Early Christianity

REL 2515 Christianity in Late Antiquity

REL 3110 Introduction to Egyptian Language and Literature

REL 3112 Readings in Middle Egyptian

REL 3114 Egypt and Ancient Israel

REL 3115 Ancient Texts Relating to the Hebrew Bible

REL 3116 Advanced Readings in Semitism

REL 3120 Hebrew Bible-Prophets

REL 3123 Amos

REL 3124 Ezekiel

REL 3125 Isaiah

REL 3126 Jeremiah

REL 3127 Wisdom Literature

REL 3129 Directed Study: Hebrew Bible

REL 3130 Dualism in the Ancient World

REL 3140 Christianity According to Matthew

REL 3155 Romans

REL 3156 Pauline Studies

REL 3157 Epistle to the Hebrews

REL 3158 Gospel of John

REL 3159 Directed Study: Christian Bible

REL 3309 Directed Study in Judaism

Religion in Historical Settings: Religion in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

REL 2135 Classical Judaism

REL 3170 Augustine

REL 3310 Calvin's Institutes

REL 3349 Directed Study-History of Christianity

REL 3509 Directed Study-Christian Literature

REL 3512 Maimonides

REL 3514 Aquinas

REL 3523 Major Christian Theologians

REL 3540 Medieval Christian Ethics

Religion in Historical Settings: Religion in Medieval and Early Modern Asia

REL 3368 Topics in South Asian Religions

REL 3369 Directed Study in Hinduism

REL 3374 Topics in East Asian Buddhism

REL 3376 Topics in East Asian Religions

REL 3379 Directed Study in Buddhism

REL 3384 Topics in Chinese Religions

REL 3385 Directed Study-Chinese Religious Traditions

REL 3388 Topics in Chinese Buddhism

REL 3389 Directed Study-Chinese Buddhism

REL 3394 Topics in Japanese Religions

REL 3395 Directed Study-Japanese Religious Traditions

REL 3398 Topics in Japanese Buddhism

REL 3399 Directed Study-Japanese Buddhism