Department of Religious Studies (GRAD)

The graduate program in religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill deals with religion both as a distinctive human experience and as a mode of culture, history, and society. Both orientations define religion as a broad area of human existence, and students are encouraged to explore the tension between those two general approaches. The interests of the department's faculty express the variety of methodological orientations to this study. Faculty members in other departments of the University offer strong interdisciplinary support.

Courses

Numbered 400-999:

The Graduate School of the University offers two degrees in religious studies: the master of arts and the doctor of philosophy. All students are admitted to the doctoral program and requirements depend on whether the entering student has been awarded a master’s degree in religious studies or an affiliated discipline prior to matriculating at UNC. The Department of Religious Studies also sponsors the joint Duke–UNC Graduate Certificate in Middle East Studies.

The Ph.D. program is primarily intended to prepare students for a career in university and college teaching and research in religious studies. It currently offers specialization in ancient Mediterranean religions, Islamic studies, medieval and early modern studies, religion in the Americas, religion and culture, and religions of Asia.

A. Those who enter with an M.A. from another institution should expect to take at least 36 hours of course work. Other requirements in the doctoral program include

Completion of requirements specific to one of the specialty fields of study noted above, including RELI 700 and “gateway” graduate seminars
A set of written and oral doctoral examinations specific to the student's field of study
Demonstrated reading competence in one or two modern foreign research languages (depending on sub-field), and
A doctoral dissertation and an oral defense of the dissertation

B. Students who enter the doctoral program without an M.A. in religious studies or an affiliated discipline will begin the program with an introduction to the general problems and methods in the study of religion. Specific requirements include

Thirty hours of course credit, including RELI 700 and one "gateway" graduate seminar
A written comprehensive examination in the student's specific field of study
A thesis of three to six credits and an oral defense of the thesis (included in the thirty hours), and
Demonstrated competence in a modern foreign research language

Students who complete their M.A. in our department and continue with doctoral work complete another 18 hours of coursework plus the requirements below.

An additional “gateway” graduate seminar if required by your field of study
A set of written and oral doctoral examinations specific to the student's field of study
Demonstrated reading competence in two modern foreign research languages, and
A doctoral dissertation and an oral defense of the dissertation

Additional information about the graduate program in religious studies is available at the department's website.

Details on the joint Duke–UNC Graduate Certificate in Middle East Studies are available at this website.

Following the faculty member's name is a section number that students should use when registering for independent studies, reading, research, and thesis and dissertation courses with that particular professor.

Professors

Barbara Ambros (57), Japanese Religions, East Asian Religions, Buddhism, Religion in Asian Diaspora Communities
Yaakov S. Ariel (48), Judaism and Evangelical Christianity in America, Messianic Movements and Missions, Christian-Jewish Relations
Juliane Hammer (53), Islamic Studies, Gender in American Muslim Communities, Modern Muslim Approaches to the Qur'an
Jodi Magness (54), Archaeology of Palestine, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Ancient Synagogues, Early Judaism
Evyatar Marienberg (17), Rabbinic Judaism and Jewish Law, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Contemporary Catholicism
Todd Ramón Ochoa (65), Religion in Latin America and the Caribbean, Ethnography of Religion, Critical Cultural Theory
Zlatko Plese (49), Religion in Late Antiquity, Greco-Roman Philosophy and Religion, Gnosticism and Manichaeism

Associate Professors

Brandon Bayne (61), Religion in the Americas, Global Christianity
Jessica A. Boon (55), Medieval and Early Modern Christian Thought, Mystical Traditions, Spain and the New World, Theories of Embodiment
Andrea Cooper (59), Modern Jewish Thought and Culture
Joseph Lam (64), Hebrew Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Comparative Semitic Grammar
David Lambert (15), Hebrew Bible, Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Lauren Leve (56), Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia, Ethnography of Religion, Globalism and Postcoloniality
Hugo Mendez (45), Ancient Mediterranean Religions, Cultural History of New Testament Texts, Early and Late Antique Christianity, Greek
Randall Styers (52), Cultural History of the Study of Religion, Modern Western Religious Thought, Critical Cultural Theory
Brendan Thornton (40), Religion in Latin American and the Caribbean, Evangelical Christianity, Ethnography of Religion

Assistant Professors

Youssef Carter (18), Sufism and Sufi Movements; Islam in West Africa and United States; Religion in the African Diaspora; Black Atlantic and Decolonial Studies; Anthropology of Religion
Eden Consenstein (28), Religion and Culture, Religion in the Americas, Religion, Media, and Technology
Abelardo de la Cruz (039), Religion in the Americas, Mesoamerican Religions, Nahuatl
Maharshi Vyas (20), Hinduism, South Asian Religions