Note: It is suggested that anyone
planning to apply for admission to the UNC Department of
Religious Studies graduate program for fall 2014 should
correspond with UNC faculty members Carl Ernst, Juliane
Hammer, and Omid Safi and set up a Skype interview before
applying. Hammer and Safi plan to be at the American
Academy of Religion conference in Chicago in November
2012, and Ernst plans to be at the Middle East Studies
Association conference in Denver in November
2012; interviews may be arranged there as well.
Related Programs
On the field of Islamic Studies in
general
What is Islamic studies? At
UNC, Islamic studies is a concentration available in the
Department of Religious Studies. As such, it is part of an
interdisciplinary academic approach to Islam that integrates
the comparative and theoretical approaches that have
developed in the modern academic study of religion. In this
respect, the academic approach to Islam differs from the
theological study of one's own religious beliefs, whether in
a madrasa or in a divinity school. Modern Islamic studies
represents a departure from classical European Orientalism,
which tends to focus on the study of mostly early Arabic
texts to the exclusion of both regional Islamic cultures and
contemporary critical developments. For an account of the
way that Islamic studies has developed in relation to
religious studies in recent decades, see the article by Carl
W. Ernst and Richard C. Martin, "Toward a Post-Orientalist
Approach to Islamic Religious Studies"; this is the
Introduction to the book we have edited, Rethinking Islamic Studies:
From Orientalism to Cosmopolitanism (University of
South Carolina Press, 2010).
Islamic studies is also
connected to Middle East area studies, although the
overlap is only partial. See the detailed study by Charles
Kurzman and Carl W. Ernst, “Islamic
Studies in U.S. Universities.” Some of the institutional
locations of Islamic studies are summarized in a
PowerPoint presentation, "Changing Approaches to Islamic Studies
in the U.S." Approaches to Islamic studies differ from one
country to another; the UNC-Duke collaboration 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."
How does one choose a graduate
program in religious studies? 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
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 from the UNC Graduate School. Please note that applications for fall admission, including GRE scores, must be received by Dec. 13 for consideration for admission the following August with financial aid. International applicants must also submit TOEFL scores.
Degree
programs. 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, Juliane Hammer,
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 in North America. 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 in 2003 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. Another collaborative
partner is the Duke
Islamic Studies Center (DISC), which supports teaching
and research to facilitate understanding of Muslim-majority
countries.
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 the essays
indicated above under "What is Islamic studies?" The vitality of
our collaborative graduate program is indicated by the
annual Duke-UNC
Graduate Student Conference on Islamic Studies held
since 2004.
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.
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, nor should it
be a narrowly defined dissertation topic (see above in
Degree Programs); the essay instead should offer 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.