The Graduate Program in
Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill
Department of Religious
Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill
Islamic
Studies Graduate Field
UNC Department of Asian
Studies
Carolina Center for the Study of
the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations (CCSMEMC)
Related Programs
North Carolina Center for South
Asia
Studies
Duke Islamic
Studies Center (DISC)
Duke University
Department of Religion
On the field of
Islamic Studies in general
How does one choose a
graduate program? Graduate study is a highly specialized training,
though its goal is generally communication to a wider public, including
but not limited to university students. Graduate programs should not be
chosen by reason of location, general reputation of the university, or
climate. A doctoral program in the humanities or social sciences
revolves around the close relationship that a graduate student
establishes with an academic adviser; it resembles a medieval
apprenticeship in that respect. The best way to choose a graduate
program is to identify the top 5 (or 10) scholars in your field, whose
work has been directly relevant to what you aspire to do achieve. This
presupposes that you have not only been thinking about subjects in
religious studies, but also about the questions that are being debated
in the field. Potential
applicants who seek the leading scholars in a particular field should
investigate basic reference works in religious
studies, such as the HarperCollins
Dictionary of Religion, edited by Jonathan Z. Smith, or the Encyclopedia of Religion published
by Macmillan; for Islamic studies, see the reference works mentioned in
Suggested Readings
on Islam. Relevant articles in these reference works include
bibliographies
listing the most important scholarly writings on these subjects, and
they can serve as a guide for identifying significant current issues
and leading scholars in the
study of religion. One should then study
the writings of those scholars, and then write to
them, asking detailed
questions about whether they would be willing to advise you as a
graduate student; make sure you identify the scholarly questions that
frame your desired research specialty. If a scholar responds
positively, then it makes sense to apply to that program. Important
information about graduate programs can also be gained from consulting
with current graduate students (see the list of UNC
religious studies graduate students).
General information about applying to UNC. If you are interested in applying to the graduate program in the Department of Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, you should look over some of our web sites, so that your statement of your professional goals in the application may be as fully informed as possible regarding the resources and programs available at UNC and related institutions. The best way for you to apply to UNC is on the internet. You can find all the relevant information at the Admissions Office. Click on "Graduate School" and you should be able to proceed. Please note that applications for fall admission, including GRE scores, must be received by Dec. 1 for consideration for admission the following August with financial aid. International applicants must also submit TOEFL scores.
Our department permits
admission either directly to the Ph.D. or to a combined
M.A.-Ph.D. degree, in which entering
students
start in the Master's program; those who have completed a master's
degree elsewhere may petition after one year of courses to enter the
doctoral program. For full details, see
the departmental web
site. In most
cases, we strongly recommend that applicants in Islamic studies should
have completed a master's degree elsewhere in religious studies or some
other humanities or social science discipline, or else in an area
studies program. International applicants should
note
that, as with most
American Ph.D. programs, we have a significant component of coursework
(roughly 3 years) both at the M.A. and Ph.D. levels, followed by Ph.D.
qualifying
examinations,
before a Ph.D. dissertation topic may be proposed; in
the case of
the Ph.D. dissertation, the dissertation proposal (usually formulated
in the semester after qualifying examinations) is itself subject to
approval by the
Graduate Studies Committee as well as the dissertation committee. This
process is intended to initiate graduate students into the wider
discipline of
religious studies as well as prepare them for research on a specialized
topic.
About Islamic
Studies at UNC. Islamic
studies may be studied as a graduate field in the Department of
Religious Studies; the principal faculty members advising this field
are Carl Ernst and Omid Safi. It is not part of a Middle Eastern area
studies
program, though it benefits from area studies resources. Like the 33
other universities that offer the Ph.D. in religious studies in North
America, UNC offers professional training for
teaching and research in academic departments of religious studies in
American colleges and universities (see brief descriptions of Islamic studies
in Ph.D. Programs in Religious Studies as well as Current job
listings in Islamic studies). It is not a seminary
for training theologians or religious leaders in any faith tradition.
As a Class-I research
university, UNC has a national and international mission, and the
Department of Religious Studies places its Ph.D. graduates in leading
academic
institutions all over the country. We therefore draw upon a national
and international pool of applicants on the graduate level, and we do
not have any admissions preference for residents of North Carolina. In
order to pursue
Islamic studies at UNC, it is necessary to take advantage of
collaborative research centers and affiliated programs, in addition to
faculty resources at UNC in Religious Studies and other departments. We
can provide training in many areas of Islamic studies, but it is
recommended that potential applicants consult with faculty members here
before applying in order to determine if this is the best place to
pursue a particular research program. Applicants who need to acquire
relevant languages or training in religious studies should
consider the master's degree programs listed in Islamic studies in M.A. Programs in Religious
Studies.
Local Research Centers. UNC has
established the Carolina
Center for the Study of the Middle East
and Muslim Civilizations, which is housed in
the FedEx
Global Education Center; this center promotes understanding
of
the Middle East with a special emphasis on cross-regional approaches to
Muslim societies. Our collaborative partner
is the Duke
Islamic Studies Center (DISC), which supports teaching and research
to facilitate understanding of Muslim-majority countries. We have a
Title VI South
Asia center
supported by the U.S. Department of Education, shared between 3
universities in the NC Triangle, known as the North Carolina Center
for South Asia
Studies.
The network of scholars with whom we are associated aims to coordinate
research in a new paradigm of Islamic studies
that is neither Orientalism, area studies, nor interreligious dialogue.
This project has also involved the creation of a
new book series on "Islamic
Civilization and Muslim Networks" published by UNC Press, and edited by Bruce
Lawrence and Carl Ernst. Why is this new approach
to Islamic studies being
developed? We feel that many existing programs fail to engage
critically
with religious studies and interdisciplinary approaches to Islamic
civilization. For further details, see my essay, "The
Study of Religion
and the Study of Islam" and the Powerpoint on "Changing
Approaches to Islamic Studies in the
U.S." The
vitality of our collaborative graduate program is
indicated by successful annual Duke-UNC
Graduate Student Conferences on Islamic Studies held in 2004-6, 2007, and 2008.
Related
Faculty Resources and Affiliated Programs. Islamic studies is one
of several fields of religious studies that involve substantial
cooperation between Religious Studies faculty at UNC and the Duke
University Department of
Religion; it is, in effect, a joint program. Overall, the two
universities have complete cross-registration, so that students at UNC
and Duke in Religious Studies can take courses quite easily at the
other institution. The two departments have many overlapping Ph.D.
committees. It is also important to be aware of faculty
members in other departments at UNC, as well as the
Islamic studies field requirements, to
get a better sense of what a degree at UNC means. The Duke-UNC
collaboration in Islamic studies has been highlighted by the Higher
Education Foundation Council for England (HEFCE) in its June 2008
report on "International
Approaches to Islamic Studies in Higher Education." See
also the recent study by Charles Kurzman and Carl W. Ernst, “Islamic Studies in U.S.
Universities.”
In addition to Duke, we draw on the faculty expertise at nearby North Carolina State University. The result is that we have fortunate to have the following scholars as colleagues:
Admission, Financial Aid, and Application. Admission to the Department of Religious Studies at UNC is handled by the Graduate Studies Committee. Knowledge of Middle Eastern languages (particularly Arabic) and the history of Islamic culture is very important for admission -- increasingly, many applicants are coming with several years of language study to their credit. Yet it is equally important for applicants to have an extensive background in religious studies, the humanities, and social sciences, both in terms of particular subjects and in theoretical approaches, and to have an excellent ability and extensive experience in writing research papers. Since there is no quota for admission by field of study in our department, applicants in Islamic studies are competing against applicants in all other fields of religious studies, many of whom already have a master's degree in religious studies, area studies, or some other field, and significant work in relevant languages. Admission is therefore highly competitive (roughly 5% of applicants have been accepted in last couple of years), and the best fellowship awards go to students with outstanding academic records, excellent recommendations, and persuasive statements in the application essay. Excellent GRE scores are still a major factor for multi-year competitive university fellowships; applicants to the Department of Religious Studies have had some of the highest verbal GRE scores in UNC's Graduate School in recent years. Experience and skill in writing is of great importance, and a clearly thought out plan for specialized research, including relevant languages, is also essential (see the language courses offered by the Department of Asian Studies). Our minimum awards for admitted applicants generally consist of teaching fellowships, annually renewable for five years, covering tuition plus a stipend, although we cannot necessarily offer financial aid to all qualified applicants.
It should be
emphasized that your application essay will be more likely to be
successful if it is very specific about the precise area of study you
wish to make the focus of research, in terms of time period, region,
and relevant languages. The essay should not be a personal expression
of religious interests, but a demonstration of intellectual engagement
with an academic field. It should also be apparent to the committee
that UNC and sister institutions have the appropriate faculty expertise
to help you reach these goals, and that your project indeed fits into
the parameters of religious studies as a discipline -- thus your essay
should also indicate which scholars of religious studies (including
but not limited to Islamic studies) you have found helpful to your
work, and which
academic writings are models of the kind of scholarship you would like
to achieve. In this way you
can make clear not only what subject you are interested in, but also
how your trajectory will engage with critical questions of modern
scholarship.