Brief Program Timeline:

Year One: Coursework and regular meetings with advisor.

Year Two: Coursework, prepare Second-Year Review by the end of spring semester, and complete language requirements by the end of the summer.

Year Three: Prepare and complete Comprehensive Exams; achieve Candidacy

Year Four: Submit and defend Prospectus Proposal by October 15. Start writing dissertation.

Year Five: Finish work on dissertation research; defend dissertation.

Requirements for the Ph.D. program in Religion are as follows:

Coursework

Ninety credit hours are required for the PhD. Fifty-four credit hours must be taken in 500, 600, and 700 level courses. Thirty-six of the 54 credit hours must be taken in 500 and 600 level seminars and include the required seminars below. Students are expected to make satisfactory progress toward the degree in a timely manner and maintain a minimum GPA of B (3.0). Students typically take three courses each semester.

The department recognizes and embraces the fact that the study of religion is an interdisciplinary project that requires forms of knowledge and methodologies from different intellectual traditions. We thus encourage each student to take coursework outside the department. However, no more than one-fourth of all credits counted towards the Ph.D. in Religion will be accepted from other departments. This does not preclude a student, of course, from exceeding this credit requirement.

Department Seminars

Two department seminars, RELI 650 Methods I, and RELI 651 Methods II, are required and are usually taken during the first and second spring semesters of the student's career. The seminars will generally draw most of their required readings from the bibliographies, developed by the faculty, for the first Comprehensive Exams, which all students are required to take.

In addition, RELI 602 Writing the Dissertation, is required to be taken by the end of the student's third-year.

Pedagogy Requirement (Pedagogy Practicum - RELI 530)

As an integral part of the department's pedagogy program, this is a semester-long practicum through which a graduate student apprentices with a faculty member teaching an undergraduate course in order to be trained in all aspects of course design, lecturing, advising, and grading.

Language Proficiency

All Ph.D. students are expected to pass a reading exam in a modern language (French, German, Spanish, etc.) necessary for the the student's area of specialization. Modern language requirements are to be completed by the end of the summer of the second year.

Depending on the student's research area, proficiency exams in other languages (Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, Latin, Coptic, Arabic and Tibetan) may be required.

All language requirements must be completed before achieving candidacy.

Training Requirements

Pedagogy is a crucial part of graduate training in the School of Humanities and Arts. Graduate students will have a minimum of four (4) semesters of pedagogical training while on stipend through Rice University. This training may take the form of teaching assistantships or serving as instructor of record, either within or outside of the student’s home department.

In the Department of Religion, all graduate students will train as a Teaching Assistant (TA) for RELI 101 for at least one semester over the course of the academic career in the department. Serving as a TA for RELI 101 or other courses in Religion count towards the four-semester minimum required of students in the School of Humanities and Arts.

Second-Year Review

As a means to ensure the proper progress and development of each Ph.D. candidate and the overall quality of the program, students will submit a substantive report in the spring semester of their second year and hold an oral interview with their advisor, the Director of Graduate Studies, and other faculty who This process will take place in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. Faculty members with applicable expertise and who may serve on the students' dissertation committee are also invited.

Comprehensive Exams

Students will take four Comprehensive Exams in the third year of the program:

- Exam one: Methods and history of the discipline, required of all students
- Exam two: Dedicated to a particular religious tradition"
- Exam three: Dedicated to a particular methodology or theoretical orientation
- Exam four: A thematic concentration exam selected by the student in consultation with their advisor

Dissertation Prospectus

The dissertation prospectus is to be submitted and approved at a prospectus meeting by October 15 of the fourth year.

Dissertation Defense

The dissertation is the principal record of a student’s work for the PhD. Once the dissertation committee (chaired by the students' dissertation advisor) approves, the student will publicly defend their dissertation with the full committee present.