Department of Religious Studies

Advising

Listing of advisors by area and the advising structure.

Advisors

Asian Religious Traditions (ART)

Islam, Society and Culture (ISC)

Religion and Critical Thought (RCT)

Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (RAM)

Advising Structure

For the years prior to advancing to candidacy, the advising structure varies among the three areas. In ART and RCT, students are individually assigned an advisor upone entering the program but are strongly encouraged to consult with other core faculty as well. ART and RCT also have area advisors who are responsible for checking up on all of the area students and advising them regarding requirements. RAM has two area advisors, one for students focusing on the religions of ancient West Asia, and the other for students focusing on the religions of the Greco-Roman or early Islamic Mediterranean. The area advisor generally serves as the student's primary advisor through the Preliminary Examinations phase, except in RAM, where entering students are generally assigned an advisory committee upon matriculation. Graduate students, however, are expected to take primary responsibility for their schedules. This means that while students must carefully consult with the members of the core faculty in their area, the faculty expect students to develop and be able to justify their own schedule. Typically, students still taking courses should develop a preliminary schedule and discuss it with other core faculty as well as the advisor.

Dissertation

Although students may begin formulating a dissertation topic at any time during their course work, during the early stages of the examination process students should be actively thinking about the formal dissertation proposal and the best person to advise the dissertation.

Candidacy

Once a student has advanced to candidacy, the dissertation advisor serves as the student's primary advisor through completion. Most graduate students continue to consult with other faculty in their area for advice about various aspects of their professional program.

Additional Information

The Department of Religious Studies expects that all Ph.D. students will make satisfactory and timely progress through the graduate program, and all funding is contingent on such progress.
The primary purpose of this Handbook is to provide information geared to the needs of graduate students at all levels in Religious Studies.
The Graduate Student Organization for the Department of Religious Studies promotes the development of community in the department across faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate concentrators.