Admissions Applicants must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university, and their grades must be indicative of graduate ability. High-quality work in any discipline is acceptable. Recognizing that students interested in religious studies come from diverse backgrounds, the department carefully considers each applicant on an individual basis. Candidates for admission must supply a transcript, a record of satisfactory scores on the Miller Analogies Test or the general section of the Graduate Record Examination, two letters of recommendation, a carefully prepared statement of purpose, and a sample of academic work. The department applies admission standards with flexibility.
Students normally enter the program in the fall semester.
Students in other areas of concentration may use comparative religion as a complement to their primary course of study. Those concentrating in comparative religion focus on religious traditions in Asia and the diaspora. Special emphasis is given to Buddhism and Islam. Biblical and Near Eastern Studies investigates religious traditions in the context of the worlds in which they originated and developed. Historical-critical and related methods are used in reconstructing and interpreting the sources of biblical, classical, and Near Eastern religions.