Ph.D. Program

 

Introduction

Requirements

The Course of Study Petition

The Qualifying Examination

The Dissertation

Guidelines for Progress in Ph.D. Studies

Guidelines of the Committee on Degrees (pdf)

 

Introduction

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program prepares students for teaching and research in the area of religion. Instruction and research in the Ph.D. program is organized by means of the ten areas of study:

Constructive Studies in Religion Religious Ethics Philosophy of Religion Theology	Historical Studies in Religion Biblical Studies History of Christianity History of Judaism
Religion and the Human Sciences History of Religions Anthropology and Sociology of Religion Religion and Literature	Islamic Studies

Ph.D. students concentrate their work in an area of study toward the end of achieving a high level of expertise and the capacity to pursue advanced research in it. Ph.D. students also must pursue substantial work in at least one other area of study to prepare broadly for their future careers and to locate their research in contexts outside of, but relevant to, their own concentration.

The Divinity School’s Committee on Degrees—composed of the Dean, the Dean of Students, and the chair of each committee of the faculty—supervises the individual doctoral student’s course of study and dissertation proposal. (Students who enter the Ph.D. program from the A.M. in Divinity program must complete all requirements for the Ph.D. not completed as part of their A.M. curriculum.)

Requirements

1. Four years of Scholastic Residence. One year of Scholastic Residence is normally waived at the time of admission for students who enter with the master’s degree from an institution other than the University of Chicago.

2. Satisfactory completion (at least B- level) during the first year of three courses, one from each committee of the faculty. Courses in the A.M. sequence “The Study of Religion” may fulfill this requirement.

3. Ph.D. students must certify reading competence in two languages for scholarly research. Under normal circumstances, these languages will be French and German. Ph.D. students may, however, file a minor petition with the Committee on Degrees to propose the replacement of either French or German with certification in a different language for scholarly research as the second language of the two. The petition should state briefly but fully the reasons for this request, and must be endorsed by the student’s advisor. It should also indicate whether the University offers a reading examination in the language or, in cases when such an examination is unavailable, explain how the student will certify reading competence. Students filing such a petition normally do so by the end of the second year of doctoral study. (See Foreign Language Requirements and Foreign Language Exam Preparation for more information.)

4. Approval from the Committee on Degrees of a course of study petition outlining the student’s anticipated program of study through the qualifying examination. (For students in the Divinity School’s A.M. in Divinity program, this petition constitutes part of the application for doctoral admission.) Entering Ph.D. students should submit this petition during their first year in residence and must submit it by the end of the fourth quarter of residence. (For further details, see The Course of Study Petition.)

5. Satisfactory completion of courses, colloquia, and assignments that may be stipulated in the specific guidelines of the student’s area of concentration.

6. Satisfactory completion of the qualifying examination, which consists of:

a) The four four-hour written examinations specified in the student’s petition and approved by the Committee on Degrees.
b) A research paper written by the student and submitted to all examiners during the first week of the quarter in which the student takes the qualifying examination.
c) A concluding oral examination focused on the research paper and the written examinations. The oral examination committee must include at least four Divinity School faculty members. Students in the Ph.D. program should take the qualifying examination within three calendar years of approval of the course of study petition. (For further details, see The Qualifying Examination.)

7. The completion of an acceptable dissertation approved by the student’s established reading committee. The dissertation shall be an original contribution to scholarship in the area of religious inquiry. The student should submit the dissertation proposal to the Committee on Degrees within one calendar year of the completion of the qualifying examination. The dissertation should be completed within five calendar years of approval of the proposal. (For further details, see The Dissertation.)

The Course of Study Petition

The course of study petition includes the following:

1. A statement that identifies topics of scholarly interest and a proposal for research.
2. A list of four written examinations drawn from among those offered by the areas of study as best suited to the student’s program. (At least four Divinity School faculty members must participate in the written examinations.)
3. The designation of one faculty member as adviser for the student’s course of
study.

The student submits the original petition and five copies to the Dean of Students' Office by the the date stipulated in the Divinity School Calendar. The petition is first reviewed by faculty working in the student's area of concentration, who then refer the petition to the Committee with their recommendation for action.

The Qualifying Examination

Ph.D. course work at the Divinity School culminates in the qualifying examination, which the Ph.D. student takes within three calendar years of approval from the Committee on Degrees of the course of study petition. (The precise timing is determined by the student in consultation with the adviser and other faculty examiners.) The process of study leading up to the examination provides an opportunity for systematic consideration of the student’s field of professional competence in religious studies, as well as in at least one other related field. The examination itself is intended to demonstrate the student’s general knowledge of the scholarship in these professional fields of competence and also the student’s readiness to pursue a dissertation. The qualifying examination contains both written and oral components.

The written examinations test the student’s ability to organize, synthesize, and analyze a substantial body of knowledge and reading in response to questions set by the faculty. The student completes four written examinations selected from those offered by the areas of study in the Divinity School. The student will usually complete two or three examinations in his or her area of concentration and one or two from another area. Some areas may encourage students to complete two examinations in the area of concentration and two from other areas.

Each written examination is four hours in length, and students pick up the questions at the Divinity School and return them there. (Time will be allowed before and after each exam for pick-up and return. In exceptional cases, space will be provided to write exams in Swift Hall.) The Divinity School faculty regards the optimal length of a student’s answer to any one set of examination questions to be a total of 3,000 to 4,500 words, or ten to fifteen typed, double-spaced pages. Students have the options of writing by hand or typing their answers.

The oral examination tests the student’s ability to engage in discussion of issues relevant to his or her fields of competence. The focus of the conversation will be discussion of the student’s answers on the written examinations and discussion of a research paper that reflects the student’s principal current interest. Based on consultation between the student and the student’s adviser, the research paper will ordinarily have as its topic a subject in the student’s intended area of dissertation research, and should indicate the student’s capacity for writing a dissertation. The paper should be twenty-five to forty pages, typed and double-spaced, and should be submitted to all examiners early in (ideally during the first week of) the quarter in which the student plans to take the qualifying examination.

The student’s adviser for the course of study convenes the oral examination and is specifically responsible for communicating its result to the student at the conclusion of the examination. The Dean of Students writes to each examinee following the oral examination week to communicate formally the result of his or her qualifying examination.

A student who has not completed the qualifying examination within three years of the approval of the course of study must consult with the Dean of Students to establish a satisfactory deadline for its completion.

Although bibliographies for individual exams may change from time to time, a student is entitled to take the qualifying examination based on the bibliography in effect when his or her course of study petition is approved by the Committee on Degrees, so long as the student takes the examination within five years of that date. A student who has not taken the qualifying examination within that five-year period will ordinarily use the bibliographies in effect at the time the examination is taken. A student who has not completed the qualifying examination and has been out of residence for a total of five years or more must take the examination in effect at the time of resumption of residency.

To achieve a passing grade on the qualifying examination, a student must normally accomplish the following:

1. Score B or higher on all written examinations.

2. Complete the oral examination at a satisfactory level, as determined by the examining committee (this includes production of a satisfactory research document).

In cases where most or all of the written examinations are at a B level, a strong oral examination is necessary in order for the student to pass the qualifying examination. Grades on qualifying examinations are not subject to appeal, and failed qualifying examinations may not be retaken.

Five-Year Exam Schedule (as of October 2007)

Procedures for Writing the Dissertation

Upon completion of the qualifying examination, the student proceeds to the dissertation. Three formal steps organize this process: the dissertation colloquium and subsequent submission of the proposal to the Committee on Degrees, the oral review of dissertation research, and the oral defense of the completed dissertation.

1. The Dissertation Proposal Colloquium
The dissertation proposal colloquium, which takes place following completion of the qualifying examination, is a meeting of the student and the dissertation reading committee (normally three members of the faculty—an adviser from the Divinity School faculty and two readers) to review the dissertation proposal. It should be noted that the dissertation adviser may be someone other than the student’s program adviser hitherto and may be from outside the student’s area of study. Further details on the dissertation proposal can be found in the “Guidelines of the Committee on Degrees,” available in the Dean of Students Office or here as a pdf.

When the members of the dissertation reading committee approve the proposal, the student submits the proposal in the form of a formal petition to the Committee on Degrees. Approval of this petition establishes the student as a Ph.D. candidate.

A student who has not submitted a dissertation proposal to the Committee on Degrees within one calendar year of completing the qualifying examination must consult with the Dean and Dean of Students to establish a satisfactory deadline for submission of the proposal.

2. The Oral Review
The oral review of dissertation research occurs at a time determined by the student in consultation with the adviser. It provides an opportunity for the student and the reading committee to discuss the work in progress, both to review what has been written and to discuss what needs to be done to complete the dissertation.

The student provides a written document, which is the basis of the review. This is normally either a representative portion of what the student has written, or a separate document that summarizes research. The exact character of the document will be determined in consultation with the adviser. The approved dissertation committee conducts the oral review, but additional faculty may be invited.

3. The Oral Defense
The oral defense of the dissertation is a requirement that may be and usually is waived upon the recommendation of the dissertation committee and the approval of the Dean.

The completed dissertation should be submitted to the adviser and reading committee far enough in advance to ensure the final approval within the first month of the quarter in which the student expects to receive the degree. Two identical copies of the completed dissertation and the completed UMI microfilming information must be submitted to the Dean of Students in the Divinity School at least four weeks before convocation. Although there is no maximum page limit, the Divinity School faculty considers an optimum dissertation length to be no more than 250 to 300 pages.

The student must complete the dissertation within five calendar years after establishing Ph.D. candidacy, unless further extension is approved by the Committee on Degrees in consultation with the dissertation adviser. Extension of this five-year period will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances.

Guidelines for Progress in Ph.D. Studies

The Divinity School faculty has established a set of guidelines for normal progress through the Ph.D. program, as follows:

1. Approval of the course of study petition by the fourth quarter of full-time residence.

2. Demonstration of competence in French and German by the end of the second year of full-time residence.

3. Completion of the qualifying examination within three calendar years of approval of the course of study petition.

4. Approval of the dissertation proposal within one calendar year of completion of the qualifying examination.

5. Completion of the dissertation within five calendar years of approval of the dissertation proposal.

Students should plan their program of study in accordance with these guidelines, consulting as appropriate their faculty adviser and the Dean of Students. A student who anticipates difficulty in meeting one of the guidelines should discuss this with the faculty adviser and the Dean of Students.

The deans, in consultation with faculty in the appropriate area of study, may on rare occasions advise a student to discontinue doctoral studies. Such discussions may occur between approval of the course of study petition and the qualifying examination, or between completion of the qualifying examination and approval of the dissertation proposal.

A student’s Ph.D. studies may be terminated formally by failure to produce a satisfactory course of study petition that is approved by the Committee on Degrees; failure of the qualifying examination; failure to prepare a satisfactory dissertation proposal in an appropriate period of time (usually within a year of completion of the qualifying examination); or failure to write a dissertation, within five years of establishing Ph.D. candidacy, that is deemed satisfactory by the dissertation committee.