American religious history

Graduate School
1

<p>I would like to pursue a PhD in history with a focus on religion in America. I’m mostly interested in the 20th century. I’m finding, however, that very few history departments have professors that specialize in religion in 20th century. If anything, they have professors working in early America (through the Civil War). Is it possible to focus on religion in modern America in a history department? If so, what schools should I consider?</p>

<p>Thanks.
boxes</p>

2

<p>This is most definitely a Professor_X question. </p>

<p>Until s/he pops in, you might look at Religious Studies departments. We have one here at Penn that at least offers graduate courses in your area:</p>

<p><a href=“Home | Department of Religious Studies”>Home | Department of Religious Studies;

<p>Everything 5xx and above is “graduate”.</p>

3

<p>I also think you should look into religious studies programs. You might also want to email the scholars that are doing work in this area and ask them. I ran a Google search, and I came across a few VAPs and postdocs that were doing 20th century American religion within a history context (Colorado-Boulder and Princeton, plus you may find more). Also try finding articles and books covering that field and noting the professors and their institutions.</p>

<p>Sorry if you’ve tried any of this already - it’s just what came to mind initially. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Thanks – I tried searching and Princeton seems to have a lot of post-doc opportunities but it wasn’t clear what the grad school situation was like. I’ve been wary of religious studies departments because I’m more interested in a social history approach and less interested in theological questions but that may be a more arbitrary division than I imagined.</p>

<p>Any other suggestions/thoughts would be welcome.</p>

<p>Thanks.
boxes</p>

5

<p>boxes,</p>

<p>Religious Studies/Religion/Comparative Religion/History of Religions does NOT involve theology. We employ History of Religions and/or socio-historical methodologies. </p>

<p>And contemporary Americanists are everywhere. Send me a private message, or post here, indicating your intended subfield, and I will help you to identify many of the top programs in that specific area for you. </p>

<p>Right now, not knowing anything about your subfield, I can tell you that for a PhD, Princeton is great in contemporary American religions, but so are Northwestern, Syracuse, Columbia, University of California at Santa Barbara, Florida State U, and Notre Dame. </p>

<p>If you are considering terminal MA programs, either as your final degree or as a stepping stone to PhD programs (especially since on the face of it, given your confusion between Religious Studies and Theology, you do not appear to have a background in Religious Studies) then Miami (Ohio) and U Missouri Columbia as well as Colorado come immediately to mind. All MA programs in Religion are PhD feeder programs, and all provide the requisite background in method and theory in the study of religion. </p>

<p>Modestly, I hope, I refer you to a previous thread in this forum in which I answered a query about method and theory in the field. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377357[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377357&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I’ll look for further info from you.</p>

<p>Best wishes,
Professor X</p>