Arizona State University
Boston University
Columbia
University
University
of
California, Santa Barbara
Related Links:
Islamic studies in M.A. Programs in Religious Studies
Directory of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs in Middle East Studies, from the Middle East Studies Association
Current Academic Job Openings in Islamic Studies, from the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations
Arizona
State University, Tucson, AZ:
Boston University;
Boston, MA:
The Division of Religious and
Theological Studies of the Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences
Degrees offered: Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy
Areas of Specialization: Entering graduate students may choose among twelve fields of concentration in three main subject areas, each of which is cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary.
·
Religious Texts and Traditions: Judaic
Studies; New Testament and Christian Origins; History of Christianity;
Islamic Studies.
·
Religion, Philosophy, and Ethics: Philosophy
of Religion; Science, Philosophy, and Religion; Theology; Social Ethics.
·
Religion, Culture and Society:
Religion and Society; Religion and Literature; Psychology of Religion;
Counseling Psychology and Religion.
Specialization in
Islamic Studies:
Description: The concentration in
Islamic Studies is flexible and may be configured according to the
student's interests and professional goals. The focus is on the
religious, literary, and intellectual history of Islam, with emphasis
on both the medieval and the modern periods. Students entering the
program should have a broad range of courses in one or more of these
fields: history of religion, Islamic history, late antique background
of Islam, medieval studies, and an Islamic language (Arabic, Persian,
or Turkish) and its literature.
Faculty Relevant to Islamic Studies: Kecia Ali,
Religion; Thomas Barfield,
Anthropology; Irene Gendzier, Political Science; Thomas Glick, History;
Shahla Haeri, Anthropology; Robert Hefner, Anthropology; Frank Korom,
Religion; Charles Lindholm, University Professor; Herbert Mason,
University Professor; Shakir Mustafa, Modern Foreign Languages;
Augustus Norton, Anthropology; Sunil Sharma, Modern Foreign Languages.
Professor Merlin Swartz, Religion, will be retiring after 2007-8.
Columbia
University; New York, NY:
The graduate program in religion is a cooperative program between the Departments of Religion at Columbia University and Barnard College and Union Theological Seminary.
Degrees offered:
MA, M.Phil., PhD
Program In
Religion
Description: It
is designed for the study of the history, literature, theory, and
functions
of religion in its various forms within different societies and
cultures.
A distinctive feature of this program is the opportunity for students
not
only to gain advanced training in specific fields of religious studies,
but also to acquire a basic knowledge of the world's major religious
traditions
and of the principal methods and theories employed in the study of
religion.
Such knowledge is useful as preparation for teaching courses of broad
scope
and as a background for the study of more limited areas.
Areas of
Specialization:
Buddhism
Chinese and Japanese Religions
Early Christianity
Hebrew Bible
History of Christianity
History of Religions in North
America
History of Religions in Late
Antiquity
Islam
Judaism
Philosophy of Religion
Religions of South Asia
Sociology of Religion
Specialization
in Islam
Description:Once
the requisite courses and language study have been completed (Arabic,
and
Persian, Urdu or Turkish; French and German or another ancient or
modern
language appropriate to the candidate's specialization), the candidate
prepares an extensive bibliography covering basic issues in the study
of
Islamic Religion beginning with pre-Islamic Arabia and working up
through
the late medieval and/or modern periods. Topics that must be covered
include
Muhammad, the Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic Law, Philosophical Theology,
Sufism
and Islamic Modernism/Revivalism. In addition to these general topics,
the bibliography should focus on the general area of interest of the
candidate,
e.g., Medieval Islam, the Umayyad Period, etc. This preparation is the
basis of the First Field Exam. The student then begins preliminary
dissertation
research and designs a dissertation proposal. The student is asked to
prepare
a bibliography that deals more generally with the area of his or her
research.
Working closely with the advisor, preferably in a guided reading and
research
course, the candidate prepares a lengthy paper on a mutually agreed
upon
topic. The paper serves as a first step in dissertation research. The
paper
is evaluated by the individual's advisor and another member of the
faculty.
The candidate should consult with the advisor and second reader after
the
paper is evaluated. This is the research and preparation for the Second
Field Exam. The candidate should then begin the preparation of a more
detailed
outline of the overall research project, viz., a dissertation proposal.
Faculty
Relevant To Islamic Studies:
Peter Awn, Courtney Bender, Neguin Yavari
The
Graduate Program in Religion
Degrees
Offered: A.M.,
Ph.D., JD/MA (Note: Applicants interested in the JD/MA will make
application
to the Law School rather than to the Graduate School.)
Areas
of Specialization:
·Hebrew
Bible/Old Testament
·New
Testament
·Ancient,
European and American Christianity
·Judaic
Studies
·Christian
Theology
·Religion
in Modernity (including non-Western traditions)
Specialization
in Islamic Studies
The Ph.D. program in
Islamic Studies at Duke covers the study of Islam as a religious and
intellectual tradition as well as the study of Muslim societies past
and present.. Rigorous emphasis on the humanities and social sciences
requires students to explore the classical Islamic sciences at the same
time that they examine the cultural and historical expression of
Islamicate civilization in its various historical phases. Areas of
strength include: history (medieval, modern and postmodern;
intellectual, cultural and social) and Islamic thought (also medieval,
modern and postmodern; legal, philosophical and theological), with
special attention to law and society, Qur'anic studies, hermeneutics
& text criticism, mysticism, human rights, and gender studies.
Faculty Relevant To
Islamic Studies:
Bruce B. Lawrence (Ph.D., Yale), Nancy and Jeffrey
Marcus Professor of Religion (history of religion, religions of India).
Ebrahim Moosa (Ph.D., University of Cape Town),
Associate Research Professor of Religion (Islamic law, ethics,
theology, and critical theory).
Emory University; Atlanta, GA:
Degrees
Offered:
Ph.D.
Areas
of Specialization:
·American
Religious Cultures
·Comparative
Literature and Religion
·Ethics
and Society
·Hebrew
Bible
·Historical
Studies in Theology and Religion
·New
Testament
·Person,
Community, and Religious Practices
·Theological
Studies
·
West and South
Asian Religions
Specialization
in Islamic Studies
Description: The
Program in West and South Asian Religions offers seminars and
dissertation
supervision in religious traditions of this region (principally
Islamic,
Hindu, and early Buddhist). The program studies these religions in
terms
of their texts, practices, systems of thought and values, institutions,
and symbolic formations. Preparation is offered in each of these
religious traditions, along with their relations to others (e.g.,
Islamic-Jewish,
Hindu-Christian, Islamic-Hindu). General issues in the interpretation
of
religion as an orientation to foundational understandings and values
regarding
human meaning are enhanced by being explored in relation to the
religious
formations of this region. Seminars are offered in the history,
literatures,
ethnographies, practices, legal traditions, diaspora and trans-national
traditions and practices, religious thought, and interrelations with
other
traditions. In addition to the modern language requirement of the
Graduate
Division of Religion, students are required to demonstrate advanced
research
proficiency in one West or South Asian language. Emory offers
introductory
to advanced levels of instruction in the following languages: Sanskrit,
Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and Hebrew. Significant library holdings in
West
and South Asian religions are housed in Woodruff Library. The Pitts
Theology
Library also has extensive holdings related to West and South Asian
religions,
especially in the area of history of Christian missions. Considerable
acquisitions
are being pursued via electronic formats. Emory and Atlanta offer wide
resources in support of the program. The Law and Religion Program of
Emory
Law School offers seminars and occasional major international symposia
in the interrelations among law, religion, and religious human rights,
including attention to Islamic ethics, law, and politics. The Atlanta
metropolitan
area offers significant opportunities for the study of West and South
Asian
religious traditions in their diaspora context in the American South.
Emory
enjoys cordial relations with many religious communities, which have
been
most hospitable in welcoming students to observe and study their
communities
and practices.
Faculty
Relevant to Islamic Studies: Richard C. Martin; Vincent Cornell;
Abdullahi Ahmed
An-Na’im;
Gordon Newby; David
S. Pacini; Devin Stewart; Carrie Wickham.
The program in The Study of Religion is sustained by faculty drawn from Arts and Sciences and the Divinity School, with connections as well to faculty in the Kennedy School of Government and the Law School.
This degree involves both general and specialized work in the study of religion. At the most general level, every candidate undertakes to develop a synoptic historical understanding of human religiousness at large and a firm grounding in the theories and methodologies in the field of the study of religion. This foundation is to be deepened through a broad grasp of a context of study (see below), which provides the principal framework within which the candidate must develop mastery, at an advanced level, of some specialization in the study of religion.
Context of Study:
As there are substantial
faculty and other resources in these areas at Harvard, the following
contexts have been recognized for work in the Study of Religion:
TRADITIONS:
Buddhist, Christian, Confucian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish
HISTORICAL COMPLEXES: Greco-Roman or Hellenistic World, The Modern
West, East Asia, China, Japan, South Asia
Applicants may propose other
traditions or historical complexes, e.g. Inner Asian or African
religions, for study. Those interested in Iranian or Ancient Near
Eastern religions should consult both the Study of Religion and the
department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations to determine how
a program might best be shaped.
Special Field
·
New Testament and
Christian Origins
·
History of
Christianity
·
Theology
·
Ethics
·
Religion and
Society
·
Religion, Gender,
and Culture
It is important both
to the admissions process and in the initial assignment of an adviser
that applicants in the Christian tradition, the Modern West, or the
Greco-Roman or Hellenistic World, indicate which of the above fields
will serve as "home base."
Topical Interests