phd in religious history

Doctor of Philosophy in Church History and Historical Theology

Program snapshot.

Train to serve the church or the academy through intensive studies in Christian history.

The Ph.D. in Church History and Historical Theology trains students to assess significant people, important events, and theological trends in Christian history. Students to specialize in specific historical areas such as the Patristics, the Reformation, American Christianity or Baptist History.

Advance your education. Grow in your love for God.

Total Doctor of Philosophy in Church History and Historical Theology: 70

Students take 5 courses in their area of study and 3 “flex” seminars in whichever area they are interested.  The following are just a few of the courses available to church history students.

Students can be supervised by the following faculty:

Michael A. G. Haykin

Stephen O. Presley

Gregory A. Wills

Research Interests

John D. Wilsey

Shawn D. Wright

Frequently asked questions.

If you do not have an M.Div. but you do have a M.A. or other masters-level divinity credit, you may submit a  doctoral equivalency evaluation  to the admissions office to find out if you qualify for SBTS PhD programs.*

• A minimum master’s level cumulative grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale is expected.

For a complete listing of doctoral admissions requirements, see the “Admissions & Cost” tab.

*International transcripts must be evaluated by a NACES approved organization for both admissions consdiration and for equivalency requests.

During the application process you will indicate your preferred supervisor and be asked to describe your research interest but both can be subject to change until you are accepted and enrolled in the program.

During your faculty interview and during on-boarding to the program (if accepted) you will have the opportunity to discuss and receive advising on both your supervisor and your research topic.

Your final research area(s) will be determined in close consultation with and approval by your supervisor, this generally occurs during the coursework stage of your program.

Admissions for the Ph.D. program consists of:

Initial Application Submission

• All required materials must be submitted to the Office of Admissions by the appropriate deadline (see “Admissions” tab for more information).

Entrance Exam and Interview

• Students who are believed to have a reasonable possibility of acceptance are invited to participate in entrance exams and faculty interviews.
• Exams and interviews are held remotely via Zoom (travel to campus not required) once each month.
• For more information on Entrance Exams, click here .

The Ph.D. program is structured for 48 months (4 years). Students who take longer than four years will be assessed an additional $2,000 fee for each semester of extension beyond the four-year limit.

During the PhD student stage (coursework stage), students will complete eight seminars, usually five seminars in their major and three seminars that may be completed in any area.

Some concentrations, such as biblical studies, historical and theological studies, and philosophy and theological studies , will require four seminars in each of two separate areas. All students will take the four RDS general education courses, four colloquia, and four installments of Prospectus Development.

In addition, students must demonstrate proficiency in two research languages (for School of Theology concentrations) or research methodology courses (for Billy Graham School concentrations).

Admissions Prerequisites

To be considered for admission in our Ph.D. program we require the following for applications:

• For the PhD concentrations in Christian Apologetics, Christian Philosophy, Christian Ethics, Ethics and Public Theology, and Philosophy and Theological Studies, the 72 hours may consist of an M.A. or equivalent in the field (60 hours minimum in specific disciplines), with the addition of 12 credit hours in biblical languages
• For the PhD concentrations in Christian Worship, Biblical Counseling and Practical Theology, Leadership, Missions, Evangelism, and World Religions, an M.A. or equivalent in the field (60 hours minimum in specific disciplines) may be acceptable.
• Students requiring additional coursework may attend Southern Seminary as a “Doctoral Leveling Student” online or on-campus.
• International transcripts will require an official evaluation from a NACES approved organization (World Evaluation Services is preferred).

*For more information about our equivalency standards, leveling options, or to request an equivalency review based on your master’s level work, please email  [email protected] .

Application Requirements

• All applicants must receive a reference from the local church where they are a member. Family members may not complete this reference. If you are the pastor of your church, please select another church leader (associate pastor, elder, deacon, etc.) to complete the church recommendation.  Recommendation forms are automatically emailed to references via our online application.
• Two additional academic recommendations. We suggest that a professor or a business acquaintance who can speak to academic performance complete the 2 additional recommendations required for doctoral students.
• Transcription from the educational institution or institutions that conferred  any required degrees  should be submitted to the Admissions Office. Contact the registrar or academic records office of your previous institution(s). They may e-mail the transcripts (directly or via 3rd party such as Parchment) to [email protected] or mail copies to our physical address.  Transcripts must come directly from schools either electronically or in sealed/unopened envelopes.
• A graduate level research paper  in the same field to which the applicant is applying  must be submitted along with the application.  You may upload this research paper directly onto the application.
• $40 application fee –  paid after application submission.

Application Deadlines

All application materials must be received by:

September 1 – Spring matriculation

March 1 – Fall matriculation

Entrance Exams and Interviews

Entrance Exams are exams designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their comprehension of the subject area in which they are applying and sometimes in related fields. Students will be notified soon after submitting all application components as to whether they are invited to participate in the entrance exam and interview.

Exams and interviews are held on one Friday each month  and are administered remotely (travel to campus not required). Click here to learn more.

Ready to learn more?

Prospective doctoral students are invited to visit Southern Seminary.

Program Cost

$1,000 down payment, and remaining balance due equally over 48 months.*

*Program tuition shown is for the 2024-2025 academic year. Additional fees are subject to the current fee schedule.

Financial Aid

Southern Seminary does not offer fully-funded scholarships or grants for the PhD program. Limited financial aid may be available for students that meet certain criteria. Click here to view our financial aid page to learn more.

Contact Admissions

Phone: (502) 897-4200

Text: (502) 305-3554

Email: [email protected]

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History & Ecumenics PhD Program

The History and Ecumenics Department features world-class scholars who specialize in the historical development and contemporary trajectories of Christianity, often in the context of other religious traditions.

The faculty’s expertise reaches across time and around the world. The graduates of our PhD program have gone on to be professors and administrators in major research universities and in theological institutions, as well as significant leaders in church and society beyond.

PhD Course of Study

The History and Ecumenics Department features five tracks for doctoral study. Prospective students should identify one in which their doctoral work will be centered, though the faculty also encourage and support work that develops across and in collaboration between tracks.

Early Christianity and Its World

Beginning as a sectarian movement within Palestinian Judaism, Christianity emerged through a process of religious, social and cultural encounter both within the Roman Empire and beyond its borders to the east. Within a few centuries Christian communities had developed in Europe, Africa and Asia, and their members had produced a broad array of literature (theological, exegetical, historical, hagiographic and liturgical) in a plethora of languages (Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Georgian, Greek, Latin and Syriac). They also created a rich trove of material culture from jewelry to liturgical implements to massive structures for community worship. Study of this period of Christian history rests on a foundation of linguistic, cultural and religious knowledge about the ancient world, and it embraces the theological, exegetical, liturgical and archeological study of Christian communities from the New Testament period through the rise of Islam. Our program offers many points of entry into this complex field of study.

Medieval Christianity and Its World

By “medieval” Christian history we mean an entire millennium, from 500 to 1500. In this era, the history of theology (and philosophy) is inseparable from the institutional history of Christianity, its worship and art, especially in the encounter with Islam. Although the idea of “middle” ages stems from Western Europe (in the middle between antiquity and the Renaissance) we here include the Eastern Orthodox churches not only in Byzantium and Russia but also in Asia, North Africa, and Ethiopia.

Reformation and Its World

The major religious changes of the Reformation were one of the most significant factors in the early modern era (1450-1650), and they were not confined to western Europe, or to theology or church structures alone. The Reformation and Its World covers church, social and theological history, Christian life, worship, and mission in a global frame. Titles of courses and doctoral seminars indicate some of the wide-ranging themes addressed and specific topics treated in depth in this area of specialization, as well as how this era forms an integral part of the wider history of Christianity in the world.

Religion in the Americas

The religion in the Americas track brings into focus the interconnectedness of religious worlds across North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Coursework will introduce students to historical, anthropological, sociological, and other theoretical methods and approaches to the study of religion in the Americas. In their own research students can focus on a variety of topics, including the relationship of religion to politics, economics, culture, migration, identity, urbanization, and other deep structures shaping everyday life in the Americas. This track trains students to think not only across space and region but also across time from the 15th century to the present. In addition, the track challenges students to think about the connections between past and present, including how deep histories of coloniality, race, interculturality, and more relate to pressing social ethical questions for today.

World Christianity and the History of Religions

This track dedicates itself to fostering an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the study of Christianity and the history of Christianity as a pluricultural, global phenomenon. Though primarily focused on Christianity’s burgeoning presence in the global South (Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific), the contemporary worldwide diffusion of global South Christianity in its various diasporas also falls within the program’s purview. Given that the world’s religions condition the dominant context out of which Christianity emerges in the global South, the faculty responsible for the track consider a grounding in the History of Religions to be indispensable for a proper understanding of World Christianity in its diverse global contexts. While nurturing a broad perspective on Christianity’s variegated, cross- cultural and transnational, diasporic manifestations, the track also endeavors to provide a space in the doctoral curriculum of the Seminary for the study and practice of Intercultural Theologies, using as its primary resources a wide range of theologies that find expression in the global South. The track thus hopes to enhance the ecumenical interrelations of the global Christian communion, including its interactions with believers from other faith communities. As a whole, the track provides a rigorous scholarly foundation for a multifaceted study of World Christianity’s many worlds.

Residence Requirements

All tracks in the History & Ecumenics doctoral program require that a student successfully complete a minimum of eight doctoral seminars. The purpose of coursework is to develop expertise, hone research skills, and to prepare for comprehensive exams. Ordinarily, these eight courses will include:

• A departmental seminar or individual tutorial on methodology.
• One seminar chosen from doctoral offerings at Princeton University.

Additional course requirements vary by track, as follows:

Early Christianity and its World

• one seminar in early Christianity
• one seminar from at least three of the other four tracks: medieval Christianity, Reformation, Religion in the Americas, World Christianity

Medieval Christianity and its World

• one seminar in medieval Christianity
• one seminar from at least three of the other four tracks: early Christianity, Reformation, Religion in the Americas, World Christianity

Reformation and its World

• one seminar in Reformation
• one seminar from at least three of the other four tracks: early Christianity, medieval Christianity, Religion in the Americas, World Christianity
• one seminar on North American religious history
• one seminar on Latin American religions
• one seminar on World Christianity
• one seminar on early Christianity, medieval Christianity, or the Reformation
• one seminar on the history of religions
• one seminar on intercultural theologies
• one seminar on early Christianity, medieval Christianity, the Reformation, or Religion in the Americas

Students will choose their courses in consultation with their advisers in order to ensure a coherent and maximally useful course of study. PhD students are free to audit other courses in the Seminary catalogue, such as those offered in the Master’s program. If such courses are taken for PhD credit, additional work will usually be required.

In addition to their coursework, students in residence are required to attend the departmental colloquium.

Language requirements vary by track, as follows:

Early Christian Studies

Students must demonstrate proficiency in four languages–two ancient and two modern–by the end of their 2nd year in the doctoral program. Students must demonstrate proficiency in at least two of these languages prior to matriculation. Ancient languages: Greek and one of the following: Latin, Coptic, or Arabic Modern languages: French and German

Medieval Christianity

Students must demonstrate proficiency in Latin, French, and German by the end of their 2nd year in the doctoral program (when appropriate, an alternative modern language, e.g. Spanish, may be approved). Students must demonstrate proficiency in two of the languages (including Latin and either French, German, or an alternative modern research language) prior to matriculation.

Reformation and the World

Students must demonstrate proficiency in Latin, French, and German by the end of their 2nd year in the doctoral program. Students must demonstrate proficiency in two of these three languages prior to matriculation.

Students must demonstrate proficiency in one modern research language by the end of their 2nd year in the program. Ordinarily this language will be Spanish or Portuguese, though, when there is a clear and compelling rationale, students may petition their residency committee to count a different language toward this requirement. This petition must be approved by the end of the 1st year.

Students must demonstrate proficiency in one modern research language by the end of their 2nd year in the program. This language, which will ordinarily be relevant to the dissertation, will be determined in consultation with the residence committee.

PhD students are also encouraged to develop further language skills through auditing Seminary courses or enrolling in appropriate University courses. These opportunities, however, do not count toward the eight seminars.

Comprehensive Examinations

Across tracks, doctoral students in History & Ecumenics will take four comprehensive exams. The format and content of three of the exams may vary and will be determined in consultation between the student and their residency committee. Possible formats include:

• a course research and design proposal
• a 36-hour, open book/notes, take-home exam, with questions on topics, figures, and texts agreed upon in advance. This exam will give the student a chance to exhibit control and clear understanding of a field of knowledge—its key texts, figures, controversies, and problematics. Such an exam will typically be 15-25 double-spaced pages.
• a 6-hour (8 total, with a 2-hour break), seated, closed book/closed notes examination. Such an exam will typically be 10-15 double-spaced pages, though sometimes longer.
• a 2 or 3 question exam completed over 5 weeks. The start date will be agreed upon by the student and their examiners. Books and notes allowed. Each question will require roughly 10-15 pages (double-spaced) of text.

In every case, the fourth will be a dissertation-related paper of 20-25 pages, which should, whenever possible, represent a significant step toward the crafting of a dissertation proposal. Finally, note that at least three different formats must be used across the four exams. Only one exam may be a course research and design proposal.

All examiners are selected through consultation between the student and their residency committee. A first and second reader will be assigned to each examination. Bibliographies for the examinations are compiled by the student in consultation with the first reader. Each of the four bibliographies will include between 40 and 100 sources/books/articles. After the written exams are completed, there will be a comprehensive oral examination based on all four of them. Students will receive feedback on the written examinations at least three days prior to the oral examination. At the conclusion of a successful oral defense the student will work with their residence committee chair to select a dissertation committee, which will be approved by the department and will help to guide them through the rest of the program.

Track-specific requirements regarding the content of examinations are as follows:

• one exam on early Christianity
• two exams focused on two of the other four tracks: medieval, Reformation, Religion in the Americas, and/or World Christianity
• one exam on medieval Christianity
• two additional exams, each focused on one of the other four tracks: early, Reformation, Religion in the Americas, and/or World Christianity
• one exam on Reformation
• two additional exams, each focused on one of the other four tracks: early medieval, Religion in the Americas, and/or World Christianity
• one exam on North American religious history
• one exam on Latin American religions
• one exam developed in accordance with the students’ research interest (options include but are not limited to: theories of religion, a religion other than Christianity, world Christianity methodologies, early Christianity, medieval Christianity, the Reformation)
• one exam on the historiography of World Christianity (in relation to one or more of the global South areas covered by the faculty)
• one exam on theory and methodology for the History of Religions; and social science theory and methodology for the study of World Christianity (in relation to one or more religious traditions found within the global South or diaspora areas covered by the faculty)
• one exam on intercultural theory, methodology, and theology applied to the study of World Christianity (in relation to one or more of the global South areas covered by the faculty)

Dissertation Proposal

Following successful completion of the comprehensive examinations, a PhD candidate is expected to submit a dissertation proposal for approval, first by the newly-constituted dissertation committee, which will guide the process, and then by the department. The proposal will typically be 20-25 pages and will include an overview of the research question and approach; an overview of the existing literature; and an initial attempt to describe the way that the argument will develop and the chapters will unfold. The proposal must be approved by the department prior to the end of the student’s 3rd year.

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Doctor of Philosophy in History of Christianity and Historical Theology

Experience historical christianity as a living, breathing, on-the-ground phenomenon.

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in History of Christianity and Historical Theology focuses upon historical themes, issues, and methodologies. Students in the program will study a major historical emphasis, such as Christian origins and the Early church; the Reformations in Europe; the rise of the Reformation and the Wesleyan movement in England; the period of US Christian history; Wesleyan and Methodist Studies. Within these, more delimited time periods and subjects/themes would be selected for study and research, to include social context, theological developments, and key ecclesiastical and social issues.

Meet a Current Student

Peter J. Smith is a doctoral student in historical theology and a native of Athens, Ohio. His research focuses on the development of theological anthropology and soteriology in the 4th and 5th centuries, as well as the early articulation of Wesleyan theology. His master’s thesis discussed the anthropological implications of Athanasius’ doctrine of deification.

Degree Requirements

The PhD in History of Christianity and Historical Theology is a 40-credit hour degree program.

3 Foundational Courses (7-credit hours)

• Hermeneutics
• Teaching Seminar
• Research Seminar

6 to 8 Courses in Major (18- to 24-credit hours)

• 6 hours are required in designated courses in applied historiography

3 to 4 Courses in Minor (9- to 12- credit hours)

2 Elective Courses as needed (6 credit hours)

Research Languages and/or Research Tools (2)

• One in a language for academic research and a second research language or pertinent research methodology, plus all tools necessary to complete the dissertation.

Qualifying Exams

• 4 written exams
• 1 oral exam

Dissertation Proposal

Dissertation and Defense

Optional focus in African American/Black Religious Studies

To add a focus in African American/Black Religious Studies, a student would take a minimum of fifteen hours of courses with specific African American/Black content, as selected by the student in consultation with their advisor. Persons opting for this focus would have an African American/Black advisor or consulting co-advisor, or as a committee member. At least one of the student’s Qualifying Examination questions would be on a dimension of African American/Black religion. The student’s dissertation would incorporate some element relating to African American/Black religious life and thought.

Our History Faculty

In my courses, I want students to appreciate the past as something that is both distant from us and always with us. I want them to experience historical Christianity as a living, breathing, on-the-ground phenomenon.

Dr. Anna Johnson Associate Professor of Reformation Church History

My goal is to make the historical authors, their worlds, worldviews, and their thought accessible to the twenty-first century student as much as possible.

Dr. James Papandrea Professor of Church History and Historical Theology

Degree Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of broad areas of their respective disciplines—primary sources, secondary sources, methods, and intellectual foundations
• Demonstrate the ability to plan and conduct research and make contributions to their field
• Develop research skills to carry into their future work as scholars
• Demonstrate skills in oral and written communication to present and publish work in their field
• Demonstrate competence in teaching their discipline in a designated course on pedagogy and through practical experience as teaching assistants
• Demonstrate, through service in academy, church, and seminaries, the value of their discipline to the academy and community at large

Garrett accepts applications from students with a masters degree in religious or theological studies from an accredited college or university and proficiency in the English language.

Applications are due by January 10th for the following fall.

Affording Your Education

Phd overview, housing opportunities.

Department of Theology

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History of Christianity

The Department of Theology provides a congenial setting for the study of the history of Christianity in all its rich complexity. Reflecting the diversity of methods and interests of the faculty, a sampling of doctoral seminars from recent years would include:

• the medieval Jewish-Christian encounter
• religious pilgrimage
• theologies of Aquinas, Augustine, Luther, and Origen, among others

Special strengths of the program in the history of Christianity include the interpretation of scripture prior to the modern period, spirituality, and doctrine and theological method from the early period through the Reformation.

“I tend to gravitate towards doctrines that seem inexplicable, and I try to understand what motivated the early Christians to formulate these doctrines in just these ways." — Khaled Anatolios, John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology

Students who major in the history of Christianity normally concentrate in their course work and candidacy examinations on two of the following periods of Christian history, in any combination: early, medieval, Reformation & modern. In the first two years of residence, the student takes courses in the major, evenly divided between the two periods.

While the majority of these courses are taken with the faculty in the Department of Theology, students are encouraged to take appropriate courses offered by historians of Christianity affiliated with other departments in the University. Students are also required to take some courses outside their field.

Admission to the history of Christianity program has in recent years been increasingly competitive. Entering students should already have made significant progress in the study of languages needed for serious historical research; introductory language work while in residence will be in addition to the normal course load.

Library holdings are especially strong in the early and medieval periods. Most of the reference and research tools crucial for the investigation of early and medieval Christianity are housed in the Medieval Institute , located on the seventh floor of the Hesburgh Library.

Khaled Anatolios

Department Chair John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology

History of Christianity, Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity |Early Christian Doctrine, Theological Method, and Biblical Exegesis |Khaled Anatolios is interested in all aspects of the theology of the early Church, with special emphases on the Trinitarian, Christological, and soteriological doctrines of the Greek fathers and Augustine; early Christian biblical exegesis; and the development of theological methodology in Patristic and medieval theology. He has published on a variety of early Christian theologians including Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius, Augustine, and Gregory of Nyssa. A particular focus of  his work is the engagement between early Christian theological reflection and contemporary theological concerns.

Ann W. Astell

John Cardinal O'Hara Professor of Theology

History of Christianity |Hagiography as Biblical Commentary; the Song of Songs and the Liturgy |Ann W. Astell is Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of six books, most recently Eating Beauty: The Eucharist and the Spiritual Arts of the Middle Ages (2006), and is now completing a monograph on hagiography and the Bible. She has been the recipient of an N.E.H. fellowship and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. She has edited eight collections of essays, most recently Saving Fear in Christian Spirituality (2020). Past President of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality and also of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion, she has published recently in Cistercian Studies Quarterly, Spiritus, Theological Studies, Marian Studies, and Religion and Literature. 

Yury P. Avvakumov

Associate Professor

History of Christianity |Papacy and Eastern Churches; scholastic theology; Latin and Byzantine ecclesiology and sacramental theology; Russian and Ukrainian religious thought of the 19th and 20th century. | Avvakumov is a historian of Christianity who specializes in the Later Medieval and Early Modern periods, with a focus on scholasticism, ecclesiology, and relations between the papacy and Byzantium, and in Russian and Ukrainian religious history and thought of the 19th and 20th centuries. He is also broadly engaged with the history, ecclesiology, and liturgy of Byzantine-rite Christianity in communion with Rome (“Uniate”, or “Greco-Catholic” Christianity) from its medieval beginnings to the present day. His special research interest is the fateful history of Catholic and Orthodox Christians under Soviet totalitarianism and their role in contemporary post-communist societies. Avvakumov obtained doctorates in Orthodox theology in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in Catholic theology in Munich, Germany. Prior to coming to Notre Dame in 2010, he held academic positions in Germany, Ukraine, and Russia, including at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lemberg where he served as Dean of Humanities and as the founding chair of the Department of Classical, Byzantine, and Medieval Studies in 2006-2009. Courses he teaches include “Latin West and Byzantine East 1054-1596: Clash and Communion”; “Popes, Patriarchs, and Councils: Medieval Church and Ecclesiology”; “Introduction to Scholastic Theology”; “Theology of the Byzantine Liturgy”; “Russian Religious Thought”; “Eastern Churches: History and Theology”. A trained singer, he also teaches a college seminar “Heaven and Hell: Musical Theater” based on operas and oratorios by Bach, Lully, Meyerbeer, Wagner, and Mussorgsky.  

Jeremy Phillip Brown

Jordan H. Kapson Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies

History of Christianity |Medieval Judaism, Iberian Kabbalah, Jewish-Christian Polemic |Jeremy Phillip Brown is Assistant Professor of Theology specializing in medieval Judaism. He completed his BA in Religion at Reed College, and earned his doctorate in Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. Brown has taught at the University of San Francisco, and served as Simon and Ethel Flegg Postdoctoral Fellow in Jewish Studies at McGill University in Montreal. Research interests include the Zohar, the penitential discourses of Kabbalah and Jewish pietism, Jewish-Christian polemic in medieval Iberia, and the dissemination of Kabbalah in Latin America.

Catherine Cavadini

Director of Master of Arts Teaching Professor

History of Christianity |The history of biblical interpretation, especially medieval interpretation of the Song of Songs. |Katie teaches courses within the undergraduate and MA curriculum as well as directing the MA Program.

John C. Cavadini

History of Christianity, Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity | He teaches, studies, and publishes in the area of patristic theology and in its early medieval reception. | John C. Cavadini is a Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, having served as Chair from 1997-2010. Since 2000 he has served as the Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame. He received a B.A. in 1975 from Wesleyan University; an M.A. in 1979 from Marquette University; M.A., 1981, M.Phil., 1983 and his Ph.D. in 1988 from Yale University. A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1990, Cavadini teaches, studies and publishes in patristic and early medieval theology, the theology of Augustine, and the history of biblical and patristic exegesis. He has served a five-year term on the International Theological Commission (appointed by Pope Benedict XVI) and in 2018 received the Monika K. Hellwig Award from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities for Outstanding Contributions to Catholic Intellectual Life. As Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, he inaugurated the Echo program in catechetical leadership, the Notre Dame Vision program for high school students and is responsible for the continued growth and outreach of the McGrath Institute, which partners with Catholic dioceses, parishes and schools to address pastoral challenges with theological depth and rigor.  

Brian Daley, SJ

Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology, Emeritus

History of Christianity, Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity |Patristic Christology, Eschatology, Theology of Mary, Ecumenical Theology |Born in Orange, NJ, in 1940, Fr. Daley did his undergraduate work at Fordham University and a subsequent M.A, (classics and philosophy) at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He then entered the Society of Jesus, taught for a year at Fordham, and studied theology for ordination in Frankfurt, Germany. He returned to Oxford in 1972 for doctoral studies, focused on the Patristic Christological tradition, and completed a critical edition of the works of the sixth-century theologian Leontius of Byzantium in 1978. He then was a faculty member of the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, in Cambridge, MA, until 1996, when he moved to Notre Dame's Department of Theology as the Catherine Huisking Professor. He considers himself a historical theologian, studying the thought and practices of the first seven or eight centuries of Christianity as expressions of the developing common faith of the Church, especially as it is focused on our understanding of the person of Christ, the Trinity, and the hope for eternal life. His most recent book is: God Visible: Patristic Christology Reconsidered (Oxford University Press, 2018).

Margot Fassler

Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Music History and Liturgy, Emeritus

Liturgical Studies, History of Christianity |Theology, Liturgy, and the Arts; Congregational Studies; Sacred Music |Margot Fassler, Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Music History and Liturgy, University of Notre Dame, is Director of the Program in Sacred Music and Tangeman Professor of Music History, Emerita, Yale University. Recent books include Music in the Medieval West and its accompanying Anthology (New York, 2014); (with Jeffery Hamburger, Eva Schlotheuber, and Susan Marti) Life and Latin Learning at Paradies bei Soest, 1300-1425: Inscription and Illumination in the Choir Books of a North German Dominican Convent, 2 vols. (Munster, 2016), and Medieval Cantors and Their Craft (ed. with Katie Bugyis and AB Kraebel) York Medieval Press, 2017. Fassler is a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy, a former President of the Medieval Academy of America, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and an Honorary Member of the American Musicological Society. Her digital work includes documentary studies of contemporary congregations. Her book: Cosmos, Liturgy and the Arts in the Twelfth Century: Hildegard’s Illuminated Scivias is forthcoming with the University of Pennsylvania Press. A digital model of creation and cosmos based on the illuminations of Scivias (with Christian Jara) will appear in 2021. These works have been supported by grants from the Luce Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the ACLS. In 2019-20, Fassler was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

Paul Kollman, CSC

World Religions and World Church, History of Christianity |I am currently preparing a manuscript on the Catholic missionary evangelization of eastern Africa. |Paul Kollman, CSC, is associate professor of theology and has been on the faculty at Notre Dame in the Department of Theology since 2001. Before that he taught at the Queen of Apostles Philosophy Seminary in Jinja, Uganda, and Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Since being at Notre Dame he has also taught at Tangaza College, Nairobi, Kenya. His scholarship focuses on African Christianity, mission history, and world Christianity, and he has taught and carried out research in Africa and in archives around the world. Kollman earned his PhD from the University of Chicago Divinity School (2001), and a BA and MDiv from Notre Dame (1984, 1990). He is the author of The Evangelization of Slaves and Catholic Origins in Eastern Africa, co-author of Understanding World Christianity: Eastern Africa, and numerous other publications in professional journals. He has served as executive director of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, as president of the American Society of Missiology, and is currently president of the International Association of Mission Studies. Kollman is also a fellow of the Kellogg, Kroc, and Nanovic Institutes at Notre Dame. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Kollman currently lives in O’Neill Hall at Notre Dame.

Ulrich L. Lehner

William K. Warren Professor

History of Christianity |History of Christianity after 1500, Global Catholic Studies, Early Modern History, Gender and Race in the History of Catholicism, 19th and 20th c. European History and Culture |Ulrich L. Lehner specializes in religious history and theology of the Early Modern period and the Enlightenment. Among his publications are over ten authored books and more than fifteen edited volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology, 1600-1800 (Oxford UP: 2016), Women, Enlightenment, and Catholicism: A Transnational Biographical History (Routledge: 2018), and most recently Innovation in Early Modern Catholicism (Routledge: 2021). He was selected as a Member and Herodotus Fellow in the School of Historical Studies at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, a fellow at the Institute for Comparative History of Religious Orders at the University of Eichstätt, Distinguished Fellow at the NDIAS (twice), fellow of the Earhart foundation (twice), and fellow of the Humboldt and Friedrich von Siemens Foundation. In 2014 he was inducted into the European Academy for Sciences and Arts, in 2018 into the Accademia Ambrosiana, and in 2022 into the Academia Europea.

Joshua H. Lim

Assistant Professor

History of Christianity |Medieval Scholasticism, Thomas Aquinas, Christology, Grace |Joshua H. Lim is Assistant Professor in Thomistic Studies in the department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He received a BA in 2009 from the University of California, Irvine; an MA in 2012 from Westminster Seminary California; an MA in 2014 from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies; and a Ph.D. in 2020 from the University of Notre Dame. He publishes in the area of medieval theology, focusing especially on the Christology of Thomas Aquinas within its medieval context.

Timothy Matovina

History of Christianity |Latino/a theologies and Latino/a Catholicism |Timothy Matovina works in the area of Faith and Culture, with specialization in U.S. Catholic and U.S. Latino theology and religion. Professor Matovina has authored over 150 essays and reviews in scholarly and opinion journals. He has also written or edited 20 books, most recently Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America’s Largest Church, which won five book awards, including selection as a CHOICE “Outstanding Academic Title,” as well as Theologies of Guadalupe: From the Era of Conquest to Pope Francis. Among his various scholarly awards, in 2010 Matovina received the Virgilio Elizondo Award “for distinguished achievement in theology, in keeping with the mission of the Academy” from the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS). At Notre Dame he has won two teaching awards, including the Julian Samora Award that members of Notre Dame’s La Alianza student organization confer on a faculty member whose research, teaching, and service advance knowledge and empowerment of Latino/a students and communities. In addition to his scholarly work, Matovina offers presentations and workshops on U.S. Catholicism and Latino ministry and theology throughout the United States.

Cyril O'Regan

Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology

Systematic Theology, History of Christianity | I am currently finishing up my volumes on the relationship between Hans Urs von Balthasar and Martin Heidegger. | Born in Ireland where I received my BA and MA in Philosophy. My Ph. D is from Yale where I taught in the Department of Religious Studies before I came to the Department of Theology at Notre Dame in 1999. My work spans a number of areas, systematic theology, historical theology, and continental philosophy, and I am especially active at the intersection of theology and continental philosophy. I have done considerable work in 19th-century theology and philosophy, postmodern thought, mysticism, apocalyptic, Gnosticism, religion and literature, major Catholic figures such as Newman, de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Benedict XVI, and on the doctrines of the Trinity and "last things." I will shortly complete two volumes dealing with the relationship between the Swiss theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Martin Heidegger. I will then turn to complete my Gnosticism in Modernity project. I intend to write in order a volume on Gnosticism and German Idealism and subsequently a volume on Gnosticism and German and English Romanticism. I teach a wide array of courses on all levels and am very active in directing doctoral students.

Gabriel Reynolds

Jerome J. Crowley and Rosaleen G. Crowley Professor of Theology

World Religions and World Church, History of Christianity |Qur'anic Studies and Muslim-Christian Relations |Gabriel Said Reynolds did his doctoral work at Yale University in Islamic Studies. Currently he researches the Qur'ān and Muslim/Christian relations and is Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology in the Department of Theology at Notre Dame. He is the author of The Qur'ān and Its Biblical Subtext (Routledge 2010) and The Emergence of Islam (Fortress, 2012), the translator of ʿAbd al-Jabbar’s Critique of Christian Origins (BYU 2008), and editor of The Qur'ān in Its Historical Context (Routledge 2008) and New Perspectives on the Qur'ān: The Qur'ān in Its Historical Context 2 (Routledge 2011). In 2012-13 Prof. Reynolds directed, along with Mehdi Azaiez, “The Qurʾān Seminar,” a year-long collaborative project dedicated to encouraging dialogue among scholars of the Qurʾān, the acts of which appeared as The Qurʾān Seminar Commentary (De Gruyter, 2016). In 2018 he published The Qurʾan and the Bible with Yale University Press and in 2020 Allah: God in the Qur'an, also with YUP. At Notre Dame he teaches courses on theology, Muslim/Christian Relations, and Islamic Origins.  He runs a youtube channel, “Exploring the Qur’an and the Bible” that features conversations on scripture with leading scholars.

Alexis Torrance

Archbishop Demetrios Associate Professor of Byzantine Theology

History of Christianity | Greek Patristic, Byzantine, and Orthodox Theology, in particular Christology, ascetic thought, and theological anthropology.  | Alexis Torrance received his undergraduate and graduate training in Theology at the University of Oxford. He has held research fellowships at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC. He has been a member of the faculty at Notre Dame since 2014. His research interests gravitate around the fields of Greek Patristic, Byzantine, and Orthodox Theology, with a special focus on the areas of Christology, theological anthropology, ascetic thought, and East-West relations. He is currently developing a project on the nature and practice of theology in the middle and late Byzantine periods, with a view to bringing the findings into conversation with modern Orthodox thought. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2020, and is a Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne.

Joseph Wawrykow

Professor Emeritus

History of Christianity |Medieval Christology; the late medieval and early modern reception of Aquinas's theology |Born and raised in Canada, Joseph Wawrykow did his doctoral work at Yale University and has taught at Notre Dame since graduation. He specializes in 13th-century Western theology, and has published on a wide range of central theological topics (Trinity; Christ; grace and predestination; sacraments; biblical interpretation) in high medieval theology. While he is best known for his work on the theology of Thomas Aquinas, his scholarly interests extend to other scholastic theologians, as well as to the varieties of medieval spiritual theology. In his research, he is attentive to issues of reception and transformation, showing the medieval scholastic theological achievement in its complex relations with the theologies of the early Fathers. Wawrykow has directed numerous doctoral dissertations, on such figures as William of Auxerre, Angela of Foligno, Duns Scotus, and, Aquinas. He has received University recognition for his teaching, both undergraduate and graduate, and has been entrusted with several leadership responsibilities by his Department, including lengthy stints as Director of Undergraduate Studies and as Director of Graduate Studies (Ph.D.) He is married to an art historian (Yale Ph.D.); their son did his undergraduate work at Yale and is currently pursuing doctoral studies in Mathematics at the University of Michigan.

Jeff Wickes

History of Christianity, Liturgical Studies |Late Antique Christianity; Syriac literature; ritual studies; religion and literature |Jeff Wickes focuses on the interplay between Syriac literature, theology, and liturgy in the context of late antique Christianity. Building projects that work from close readings of Syriac texts, he gravitates in his work towards larger questions of genre (especially poetry), religion, and theology as they play out within the historical horizons of late antique Christianity, and as those horizons meet our own in the contemporary world. His first two books focused on Syriac Christianity’s formative voice, Ephrem the Syrian, and sought to find the place where performative context and exegesis met in the space of Ephrem’s poetry. His current book turns to a range of Syriac hagiographical poems sung between the fourth and sixth centuries to ask questions around form, agency, time, and gender in late antique poetry and the cult of the saints. He comes to Notre Dame after nine years at Saint Louis University. Prior to that, he completed a PhD at the University of Notre Dame, an MA at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, and a BA at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. His work has been supported by grants from, among others, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, the Mellon Foundation, and the Dolores Zorhab Liebmann Fund.

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The PhD program is a rigorous, interdisciplinary course of advanced study that prepares students for careers in research, teaching, and publicly-engaged leadership.

Doctoral students conduct original and advanced research in pursuit of expert knowledge about the human phenomenon of religion. Students study the world's religions using a variety of methods including constructive, historical, social scientific, and modes of literary and visual analysis. Students may focus their work in one of the School's Areas of Study or through a multidisciplinary course of study. Students develop a sophisticated grasp of methods and theories in a chosen Area of Study, gain a broad understanding of religion as a phenomenon, and join others in the creation of new knowledge. 

Program Overview

The program consists of coursework, languages, pedagogical training with teaching, comprehensive exams, and a dissertation. All doctoral students work with a faculty advisor and area faculty to progress through the program. 

OUR CURRENT PHD STUDENTS

PHD HANDBOOK

Admission Information We offer admission to the doctoral program annually.  Applicants to the PhD program must have a Master’s degree in religion or closely related field. 

Application Deadline     

January 4, 2024

Beginning in the 2020 PhD admissions cycle, there  will not  be an internal doctoral admission petition process for current Divinity School MA or MDiv students and recent alumni. Current and former students are required to submit the same documentation as external candidates, using the same deadline. 

Admission & Funding Information

Students admitted to the PhD program in 2016 and beyond receive a fellowship package that includes full tuition coverage, health insurance coverage for the student through the University Health Insurance Plan (U-SHIP), and an annual living stipend. The doctoral student fellowship is renewed annually for the maximum registration period. 

Required Application Materials

Applicants to the PhD program must have a Master’s degree in a program of study related to the proposed area of doctoral study.

• Divinity School Application for Graduate Admission
• Candidate Statement 
• Academic Transcripts 
• 3 Letters of Recommendation
• Current Resume or CV
• Writing sample, should not exceed 25 pages
• Application fee: $75 (waiver available)
• International students:  TOEFL or IELTS score

Director of Doctoral Studies, Dr. Richard A. Rosengarten is Associate Professor of Religion and Literature; also in the College.

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The program in religion is one of the leading religion programs in the US with 14 areas of study, 10 methodological approaches, and many research areas. This wide variety enables you to fine-tune your research with the aid of a relevant faculty member. You will have access to a vast array of resources including the Harvard library system and several centers and programs, such as the Center for the Study of World Religions, the Pluralism Project, and the Women’s Studies in Religion Program.

Examples of student theses and dissertations include “Gospel of the 'Orient': Koreans, Race and the Transpacific Rise of American Evangelicalism in the Cold War Era,” “Persisting in the Good: Thomas Aquinas in Conversation with Early Chinese Ethics,” and “Protestants, Politics, and Power: Race, Gender, and Religion in the Post-Emancipation Mississippi River Valley, 1863-1900.”

Graduates have gone on to secure tenure track positions at prestigious institutions in the United States and abroad, such as Emory University, Stanford University, Vassar College, Lahore University in Pakistan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Boston College, and the University of Virginia. Others have chosen alternate careers in clinical ethics, ministry, publishing, and management and research in various NGOs and nonprofit organizations.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Committee on the Study of Religion and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

I. Areas of Study

African American Religions | Buddhist Studies | Christianity | Comparative Studies | Hebrew Bible | Hindu Studies | Islamic Studies | Jewish Studies | New Testament and Early Christianity

Geographical Complexes

African Religions | East Asian Religions | Europe (Medieval and Modern) | Latin American & Caribbean Religions | North American Religions | Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean | South Asian Religions

II. Methodologies or Approaches

Archaeology | Critical Theory | Ethics | Gender and Sexuality Studies | History | Literary Studies and the Arts | Religious Thought (Philosophy and Theology) | Social Sciences (Anthropology, Ethnography, and Political Science

Admissions Requirements

Please review the admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Committee on the Study of Religion .

Academic Background

While not required, applicants will typically already have a master’s degree and previous preparation in the field of religion and related subjects.

Writing Sample

A writing sample is required as part of the application and should be no longer than 20 pages.

Statement of Purpose

The statement of purpose must outline the applicant’s proposed project.

Personal Statement

Standardized tests.

GRE General: Not Accepted

Contacting Faculty

Applicants should review the current areas of study and methodologies. The Committee on the Study of Religion admits students who have clearly defined intellectual interests evidenced in the statement of purpose and completed application. As part of the application, prospective students are asked to indicate the main faculty of interest; applicants are encouraged to contact their faculty of interest prior to submitting their application. (Please note that Emeritus faculty and lecturers are not eligible under Harvard Griffin GSAS policies to serve as primary doctoral advisors.)

Theses and Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Religion

See list of Religion faculty

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Questions about the program.

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The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program is jointly offered by HDS and the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Find detailed information about PhD fields of study and program requirements on the Committee on the Study of Religion website.

With a focus on global religions, religion and culture, and forces that shape religious traditions and thought, the PhD prepares students for advanced research and scholarship in religion and theological studies. 

Resources for the study of religion at Harvard are vast. We offer courses in the whole range of religious traditions from the ancient Zoroastrian tradition to modern Christian liberation movements, Islamic and Jewish philosophies, Buddhist social movements, and Hindu arts and culture. Some of us work primarily as historians, others as scholars of texts, others as anthropologists, although the boundaries of these methodologies are never firm. Some of us are adherents of a religious tradition; others are not at all religious. The Study of Religion is exciting and challenging precisely because of the conversations that take place across the complexities of disciplines, traditions, and intellectual commitments.

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Religious Studies

Degree requirements.

Learn more about the program by visiting the Department of Religious Studies

See related Interdisciplinary Clusters and Certificates

Degree Types: PhD

The Doctoral Program in Religious Studies focuses on the history, anthropology, theory, methodological research and applications of the field within each of seven areas of concentration:

• American Religions
• Buddhists Studies
• Classical Judaism
• Latin American Religion
• Modern Islam
• Religion, Law, and Politics

The program is highly flexible and profoundly interdisciplinary. All students take courses both within and outside the department, most choose at least one dissertation adviser from another department, and many students take one qualifying examination in another discipline. This flexibility allows for rigorous projects grounded in Religious Studies but influenced by other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. The program is intended to give both a scholarly training in the discipline and a careful training in academic teaching, a focus of the program. Northwestern University is one of America’s premier academic programs in Religion. Our nationally recognized faculty takes leadership in national policy debates and international scholarship at the highest level, and trains our students for this leadership role.

Students in this program are also encouraged to participate in TGS's Interdisciplinary Cluster Initiative and in the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching . The Clusters offer a strong set of colleagues in areas of specific interest and many students get certificates within the cluster. For more information on finding a second intellectual "home" outside the Department, please visit the Interdisciplinary Clusters page . Additional funding is sometimes available through clusters, in addition to our robust support package, the most substantial of any graduate program in the country.  Each student is assigned to a leading expert in their field, and works closely with this faculty member throughout their Ph.D program.

For more information on applying to the Department of Religious Studies, please see the Religious Studies Applications page .

Additional resources:

• Department website
• Program handbook(s)

Program Statistics

Visit PhD Program Statistics for statistics such as program admissions, enrollment, student demographics and more.

Program Contact

Contact Liza Holtzman Graduate Program Assistant 847-491-3611

The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, those requirements outlined in  The Graduate School Policy Guide .

The Department of Religion does not admit students to a terminal master of arts program. However, PhD students in good standing are awarded the MA after they have met the following criteria:

• 5 quarters of residency
• successful completion of the two-quarter Religion research paper ( RELIGION 570-1 Research Seminar , RELIGION 570-2 Research Seminar )
• 11 other courses graded ABC/NC

Note: Students whose second department's curriculum makes RELIGION 570-1 Research Seminar , RELIGION 570-2 Research Seminar impossible may petition for an oral examination in lieu of paper but must have a total of 13 ABC/NC courses.

Total Units Required: 16

* including introductory graduate sequence during the first year

Other PhD Degree Requirements

• Language examination: demonstration of proficiency in at least one foreign language; more may be necessary for a particular area
• Examinations:  upon completion of coursework, written and oral comprehensive examinations
• Research/Projects:  as required by dissertation
• PhD Dissertation:  based on original, independent research
• Final Evaluation:  oral defense of dissertation

Last Updated: September 12, 2023

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Ph.d. in the study of religion.

The doctor of philosophy (PhD) program in religion at Harvard dates from 1934, when the Faculty of Arts and Sciences established a degree of PhD in "The History and Philosophy of Religion." Its purpose, as stated by the Faculty, was "to make possible a course of studies which shall enable the candidate both to lay a broad and sufficient foundation for teaching and study within the field of religion, and to do individual research at some point in that field." In accordance with that expressed intention, the Faculty voted in 1963 to name the program the Study of Religion.

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Religious Studies, PhD

The graduate program in Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania offers unique research opportunities for students to become first class scholars, teachers and expositors in the field. Our program is situated within one of the largest and finest research universities in the country, easily accessible to other research centers along the eastern seaboard. At the same time, the Department of Religious Studies provides students with a great deal of individual attention from faculty members, and the opportunity to interact with students from diverse subfields.

Within this context of extensive resources and personalized guidance, each student works with an advisor to design his or her own course of study. The structure of the PhD program currently consists of six core full time faculty members, and a graduate group comprised of faculty across the University of Pennsylvania campus whose research and teaching significantly involves the study of religion and who actively participate in the training of graduate students in Religious Studies.

The typical doctoral program in Religious Studies is funded over a five-year period, over which students are expected to engage in coursework, complete teaching assistantships, and attend the graduate colloquium. Requirements for the program include a minimum of two languages, qualifying examinations, preliminary examinations (with an oral examination component), and an oral dissertation defense.

Graduate students in Religious Studies have the benefit of a wealth of resources unrivalled by any major research university. In addition to possessing one of the best research libraries in the world, Penn is also home to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the oldest institution of its kind in the United States. Within the city of Pennsylvania, research centers include The Library Company of Philadelphia an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries.

For more information: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/religious_studies/graduate

View the University’s Academic Rules for PhD Programs .

Required Courses

A total of 20 course units are required for graduation. A minimum of 12 course units must be taken at the University of Pennsylvania.

Take at least one 5000-level or above course in a tradition other than area of specialty.

The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2024 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.

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• Religious Studies

Students must enroll in one of the following fields of study: American Religious History, Asian Religions, Early Mediterranean and West Asian Religions, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Islamic Studies, Medieval and Modern Judaism, Philosophy of Religion, Religion and Modernity, Religious Ethics, and Theology.

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Linn Tonstad

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Heather Roberts

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Admission Requirements

Standardized testing requirements.

GRE is not accepted.

Program-Specific Application Requirements

A writing sample is required by this program. 

English Language Requirement

TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic is required of most applicants whose native language is not English.

You may be exempt from this requirement if you have received (or will receive) an undergraduate degree from a college or university where English is the primary language of instruction, and if you have studied in residence at that institution for at least three years.

Combined Degree Program Application Deadline

*The deadline to submit an application to a combined program is always the earlier deadline of the two individual programs, or December 15, whichever comes first.

Academic Information

Combined phd information.

Religious Studies offers a combined PhD in conjunction with African American Studies .

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Academic calendar.

The Graduate School's academic calendar lists important dates and deadlines related to coursework, registration, financial processes, and milestone events such as graduation.

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Registration Information and Dates

https://registration.yale.edu/

Students must register every term in which they are enrolled in the Graduate School. Registration for a given term takes place the semester prior, and so it's important to stay on top of your academic plan. The University Registrar's Office oversees the systems that students use to register. Instructions about how to use those systems and the dates during which registration occurs can be found on their registration website.

Financial Information

Phd stipend & funding.

PhD students at Yale are normally fully-funded. During their programs, our students receive a twelve-month stipend to cover living expenses and a fellowship that covers the full cost of tuition and student healthcare.

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