staplerinjello

I looked into Davis after you mentioned it and it's something that they have Mairaj Syed working there who seems to be one of the really exciting new people in Islamic Studies, but i don't know how he would be as an advisor or what who else you would have

Accepted to Emory, Bob Jones, Princeton U, and an online program (Capella) so far.  PhD in NT except for the online program. Really waiting to hear from Regent and Harvard. 

Word thank you. Been trying to find more info on the program as I have an interview next week. 

Glad I could help. Here's a bit of unsolicited advice to keep in mind as you're going through your program and begin to think about Ph.D programs (I'm assuming that's what you're goal is.)
 
A lot of people are interested in the sort of thing Roberts engages with (i.e. "radical theology" and/or the work of Zizek, Derrida, Deleuze and other continental thinkers as they apply to religion). As someone with a background in literary criticism (MA in English), it was exciting for me to read Roberts' book as well and to read it in contemporary theories and methods course in religious studies taught by a scholar who is primarily a historian (Orsi.) Theory seems to be experiencing a bit of a resurgence in religious studies (it was certainly around in the 80s and very contentious) and there are segments of theology where it is widely accepted (Chicago Divinity comes to mind as a place where theory is highly valued.) 
 
But the reality is that there are not too many theology or religious studies programs (in the states at least) where you'd be able to study theology/religion and 20th century continental thought as your primary focus. Chicago is one. UVA and Drew also come to mind for theology/phil of religion. Perhaps Marquette (D. Stephen Long is there.) Abroad, Nottingham is probably one of the best schools for that kind of work. But of that list, Chicago and UVA are the only schools I'd consider to be top 15 programs. There may be others as well, but it's a very limited pool.
 
There are other ways though to work on the sorts of things Roberts is doing in that book, especially in a religious studies program. "Theories and methods" is a research interest that you'll see on some RS profs' profiles as you look at programs (including Roberts'.) You'll notice that it's never their primary interest though. They are always specialists in something else (e.g. Southeast Asian religions, American religious history, etc.) So theory and method is something they do "on the side." It's something that anyone who works in the field can do, really. And, in my experience, "theory and method" is basically the wild west in religious studies. You have people doing work in "theories and methods" who emphasize cognitive science, ethnography, sociology, media studies, political science, and, as Roberts does, revisiting continental philosophy as providing the field with an array of theoretical tools. Roberts' book is about theory and method in religious studies--a quintessential religious studies text in my mind. My point is that you can be in a religious studies program, working on a dissertation in your specific field, and still be doing work in theories and methods that engage the continental stuff. 
 
To use myself as an example, I work on early 20th century theology and social thought. I've written papers for the theories and methods courses that have attempted to clarify the role and limits of theory in religious studies (which have engaged some combination of Derrida, Agamben, Foucault, Deleuze, and Adorno depending on the aim of the paper.) I'm in the critical theory program at Northwestern and engage with theory on a regular basis in reading groups, colloquia, etc. I'm presenting a paper at AAR in November that will discuss the relationship between Weber's thought and The Frankfurt School. But my area, officially, is early 20th century theology and social thought, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with critical theory and continental philosophy of the late 20th century. It's just more marketable for jobs in theology/RS to have something historical as a primary field. I can justify some of my work on critical theory through my work on Weber, and the later stuff I just call my work on "theory and method in religious studies."
 
Anyway, it's certainly possible to work in those interests in other ways even as your primary area. Just throwing this out there since you mentioned your interest in what Roberts is doing in his book. Roberts, if I remember correctly, did his dissertation on Nietzsche and religion.

I'm especially grateful for the reference to Roberts. This is the kind of work I want to transition into. And I agree with you on Weber. The Protestent Ethic was really something, and Kalberg's analysis of it and introduction to it is remarkable as well.

Thanks again, all very helpful. I have a productive few months ahead of me I hope. I'm also getting the reading list from Cambridge for the previous year's MPhil so I can get cracking on it and begin to focus before i get there.

I'm not sure I know of a text that attempts to cover philosophy of religion in general, theology, jewish philosophy, and philosophical theology in one cohesive narrative. There may be a text that satisfies what you're looking for, but that seems to be too broad a project for anyone to take on. You're probably better off tracking down "Companion" texts for each of those honestly. I read Reason & Religious Belief by William Peterson, et. al. when I took philosophy of religion in seminary. It's certainly more friendly to religion than other similar texts might be, but I think it gives a good overview of the central questions in the discipline. Maybe someone else has other or better suggestions.
 
The classic text in the relationship between theology and sociology is probably Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Ernst Troeltsch's lengthy The Social Teachings of the Christian Church is also important. Weber utilizes theology for sociological purposes and Troeltsch sociology for theological purposes. There is a quite contentious relationship between theology and religious studies (which can include some types of anthropology, sociology of religion, etc.) in the contemporary academy. Tomoko Masuzawa's 2005 text The Invention of the World's Religions is an argument for why the two should be kept separate and that religious studies still has a poisonous theological kernel that needs to be expelled. She is quite polemical against Troeltsch especially toward the end of her book. Tyler Roberts' Encountering Religion is a very recent text that argues for a renewed relationship between the two. Robert Orsi's Between Heaven and Earth is slightly different but emphasizes a focus on "lived religion" which includes an understanding of theological ideas as religious people/communities encounter and utilize them in their everyday practice. Be aware that there are some pretty bad texts in this vein as well. For example, though it's received a lot of praise, Tanya Luhrmann's When God Talks Back, from a theological point of view, is lacking quite a bit. It's painfully obvious Luhrmann, who is engaging not only practices but ideas about those practices, has never cracked a theological text to see what might be informing the ideas her interlocutors espouse.
 
Honestly, I still find Weber's work to be one of the best examples of how theology can be used to make claims about social facts. Though his account of Reformed theology is often refuted, it's clear he's no theological slouch. 

Beginning with any "Companion" text is a good place to start (e.g. Blackwell's Companion to Philosophy of Religion)
 
One of the things you'll instantly see is that it's really going to be impossible for you (or anyone) to read everything--even to read the important texts from every tradition, period, etc. would be a significant undertaking. So I'm going to suggest some texts that I think are maybe some of the most important for contemporary Western philosophy of religion and/or philosophical theology. Other people here would probably add or subtract from this list, so it's by no means definitive.
 
"Classic" Philosophy of Religion:
 
Hume - Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion; Natural History of Religion
Kant - Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone
Hegel - Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion; On Art, Religion, and the History of Philosophy 
Schleiermacher - On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers
Feuerbach - The Essence of Religion
Marx and Engels - On Religion
Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil; On the Genealogy of Morals
Freud - The Future of an Illusion
Troeltsch - The Absoluteness of Christianity
Otto - The Idea of the Holy
 
Jewish (and secular-Jewish) philosophy of religion:
 
Maimonides - The Guide of the Perplexed
Spinoza - Tractatus Theologico-Politicus
Mendelssohn - Jerusalem: Or on Religious Power and Judaism
Cohen - Religion of Reason: Out of the Sources of Judaism
Rosenzweig - The Star of Redemption
Bloch - The Spirit of Utopia, The Principle of Hope
Benjamin - "The Critique of Violence;" "On the Concept of History;" "Capitalism as Religion"
Buber - I and Thou; On Judaism
 
I started writing a much longer list going into the 20th century, but it was getting out of control, so I'll leave it at this. There are some really significant strands that develop in the second half of the 20th century (existentialism (Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, etc.,) the linguistic turn (i.e. logical positivism, Wittgenstein's rejection of positivism, ordinary language philosophy, neopragmatism), death-of-God theology (sometimes called radical theology, e.g. Altizer, etc.), process philosophy/theology (Whitehead), continental thought broadly conceived (Derrida, Levinas, Lacan, Deleuze, etc.)) It also gets really difficult at that point because many texts utilized from these traditions in the philosophy of religion are not necessarily explicitly about religion. Wittgenstein, for example, doesn't really write anything explicitly about religion (he does, but it's not what philosophers/theologians typically draw upon.)
 
There's also everything that comes before the early modern period in the Christian tradition. I didn't include anything from the medieval or Patristic eras (or from the ancient world) because those are way outside my area. I'm sure someone else here could add some things from there if you needed them though.
 
Something you might find helpful in that regard is as podcast called "The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps." On the website (historyofphilosophy.net) you can find the episodes that the host (Peter Adamson) has done on religion, God, etc. He's covered [almost] all of the philosophy of the ancient world (only the West), the Hellenistic period, and late antiquity to John Philoponus. He has a whole set of episodes on ancient Christianity from the Greek fathers to Boethius. Most recently, he has been working his way through the philosophy of the Islamic world, including philosophy in Andalusia (which includes medieval Jewish philosophy of that region, e.g. Maimonides.) All of that to say, you may find some helpful primers on very early "philosophy of religion" from a wider variety of traditions than what I've listed. There are also other podcasts (Philosophy Bytes, In Our Time) which quite often tackle issues or figures in philosophy of religion and their archives are extensive.
 
One last thing: I don't know that I would actually attempt Hegel, Schleiermacher, or Rosenzweig (or Whitehead for that matter) on my own particularly if you've never studied any of them with an expert. You may know that already, but it's worth saying: they're incredibly difficult.

Hello,
I am currently an M.St. student at Oxford in the Study of Religion. The way that the course is set up, you are required to take two terms of general theory (Durkheim, Weber, Eliade, etc.) in addition to covering two religious traditions over two terms. Last term I was studying Indian history and Hinduism in colonial India with Professor Gavin Flood. This term I am looking at both general Christian theology and Christianity in India with Professor Nicholas Wood. Personally, I think the structure of the degree is excellent. As an international student from Los Angeles, this is my second MA degree in Religion. I must say that though it is very fast-paced (only 9 months), I have sincerely enjoyed my time here. Oxford offers you a wide array of optional supplemental lectures and seminars that can greatly enhance the study of your particular interests. Moreover, the tutorial system allows you to sit one-on-one with some of the most renowned scholars in Theology and Religion in the world. If you are okay with the degree being self-funded (funding at Oxford is very scarce), then I would definitely recommend it. 
 
As a small aside, and this shouldn't weigh to heavily on your decision to apply, the weather here is atrocious. Coming from Los Angeles, I actually had to second-guess whether I could put up with this weather if I were to do a PhD here. The academic atmosphere, however, does minimize this to some degree. Also, note that admission to the M.St. has become very competitive. My current cohort has three individuals that already have an MA (me included) and two that came from top universities. Do let me know if you have any questions. I would also get in contact with Professor Sondra Hausner as she oversees the course.

I'm sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree here. Vandy, Yale, Harvard, PTS, Candler, UChicago, Syracuse, Drew, Eden, Duke, and many many other programs offer 100% tuition offers on the basis of merit. You are correct that they can be competitive (perhaps less than 30% of accepted students receiving these offers among these schools), but describing them as "rare" might be a bit of an overstatement. I was only fortunate enough to get one good offer as a masters student, but I had several friends who received 3-4 full offers, some of which had stipends as high as $15k.

To be clear, I am not saying that theological education has a surplus of financial resources. Many people do in fact go into substantial debt in pursuit of an MTS, Mdiv, or MA. Rather, many programs realize that this line of work is not the most lucrative, and do their best to incentivize people to come. 

i'd also like to contribute a bit to this thread as i am experiencing analogous emotional difficulties and strain near the end of my masters program which was a very intense experience for me. i've come to realize that one of the hardest parts of graduate school is not just the studying itself, it's the other stuff. i came in think i'm smart and a good student and academics is what i do well so i should get along just fine because it's more of the same, just at a higher level. but it comes packaged with all sorts of weird stuff like the lack of a supporting social environment, indivualistic study, very high expectations of yourself and other, the acute awareness that if you were a big fish in a little pond before there are tons of other big fish here now, this obssessive compulsive desire to know and learn everything and be the best couple with an increasing awareness of how small your and how big your field and the academy and the world of knowledge are so that you get helpless, professors who want to mould you much like metalwork is done, the increasing conflation of your personal worth with your academic success and the kinds of anxieties and self-doubt and self-identity issues it generates, etc. all of these are very real problems that i think many of us share. i personally have found relief or have begun to find relief in beginning the process of self-help through cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. the envioronment and your relation to it generates all sorts of modes of thinking that generate great unhappiness and all sorts of emotional highs and lows and confusion and exhaustion. There's a book called feeling good written by an enormously successful practicing psychiatrist that teaches the tools for coping with different forms of depressed states that I am find very helpful. It's called feeling good. For me it comes down to the recognition that while graduate school is a difficult environment, especially when coupled with other personal complications like moving, relationships, personal histories, the kind of impact it has on you (not talk academically here, but as a life-situation) depends a lot on how you deal with it, deal with yourself and the world, the same way it is for other things. But it is special in that it is more difficult than many things most, at least in developed nations, will go through, so it's definitely not merely like anything else. But in another sense it is, and for me the good news was that there are better and worse ways of dealing with it and other things (better and worse in terms of my emotional and mental health and happiness).
Maybe this helps?

I just feel like humanities students are the most pathetic forms of people. Humanities are easy and pointless and that's why the field is so flooded. Sciences (such as physics) are what really impacts the world and changes things and helps people. What do humanities really do?

The students are pathetic too. They are miserable because they tried to do what they loved but society hated it. Society hates them because they are just writers and 99.9% of writers are pathetic too. Even the Simpsons hates grad students. Those poor grad students, they can't even watch the simpsons to escape their woe!

Idk, I loved humanities and thought they were great but now I realized that I was wrong to enjoy them and that writing, and humanities are bad, their practitioners are pathetic and that sciences are the only way, even if you don't enjoy them, because they are the only way to actually do things.

Maybe I'm just cynical.

This is totally the weirdest trolling post I've ever seen... I mean, it's not even funny! It would be like going onto a pet adoption site and being like "Kittens are stupid! I sure do hate kittens! I mean who do they think they are with those cute little faces! I used to love kittens, but now I realize that they're pointless and dumb!"

If you want to start a flame war, you have to at least say something controversial. This is just... weird.

O_o

i'd also like to contribute a bit to this thread as i am experiencing analogous emotional difficulties and strain near the end of my masters program which was a very intense experience for me. i've come to realize that one of the hardest parts of graduate school is not just the studying itself, it's the other stuff. i came in think i'm smart and a good student and academics is what i do well so i should get along just fine because it's more of the same, just at a higher level. but it comes packaged with all sorts of weird stuff like the lack of a supporting social environment, indivualistic study, very high expectations of yourself and other, the acute awareness that if you were a big fish in a little pond before there are tons of other big fish here now, this obssessive compulsive desire to know and learn everything and be the best couple with an increasing awareness of how small your and how big your field and the academy and the world of knowledge are so that you get helpless, professors who want to mould you much like metalwork is done, the increasing conflation of your personal worth with your academic success and the kinds of anxieties and self-doubt and self-identity issues it generates, etc. all of these are very real problems that i think many of us share. i personally have found relief or have begun to find relief in beginning the process of self-help through cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. the envioronment and your relation to it generates all sorts of modes of thinking that generate great unhappiness and all sorts of emotional highs and lows and confusion and exhaustion. There's a book called feeling good written by an enormously successful practicing psychiatrist that teaches the tools for coping with different forms of depressed states that I am find very helpful. It's called feeling good. For me it comes down to the recognition that while graduate school is a difficult environment, especially when coupled with other personal complications like moving, relationships, personal histories, the kind of impact it has on you (not talk academically here, but as a life-situation) depends a lot on how you deal with it, deal with yourself and the world, the same way it is for other things. But it is special in that it is more difficult than many things most, at least in developed nations, will go through, so it's definitely not merely like anything else. But in another sense it is, and for me the good news was that there are better and worse ways of dealing with it and other things (better and worse in terms of my emotional and mental health and happiness).
Maybe this helps?

i'd also like to contribute a bit to this thread as i am experiencing analogous emotional difficulties and strain near the end of my masters program which was a very intense experience for me. i've come to realize that one of the hardest parts of graduate school is not just the studying itself, it's the other stuff. i came in think i'm smart and a good student and academics is what i do well so i should get along just fine because it's more of the same, just at a higher level. but it comes packaged with all sorts of weird stuff like the lack of a supporting social environment, indivualistic study, very high expectations of yourself and other, the acute awareness that if you were a big fish in a little pond before there are tons of other big fish here now, this obssessive compulsive desire to know and learn everything and be the best couple with an increasing awareness of how small your and how big your field and the academy and the world of knowledge are so that you get helpless, professors who want to mould you much like metalwork is done, the increasing conflation of your personal worth with your academic success and the kinds of anxieties and self-doubt and self-identity issues it generates, etc. all of these are very real problems that i think many of us share. i personally have found relief or have begun to find relief in beginning the process of self-help through cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. the envioronment and your relation to it generates all sorts of modes of thinking that generate great unhappiness and all sorts of emotional highs and lows and confusion and exhaustion. There's a book called feeling good written by an enormously successful practicing psychiatrist that teaches the tools for coping with different forms of depressed states that I am find very helpful. It's called feeling good. For me it comes down to the recognition that while graduate school is a difficult environment, especially when coupled with other personal complications like moving, relationships, personal histories, the kind of impact it has on you (not talk academically here, but as a life-situation) depends a lot on how you deal with it, deal with yourself and the world, the same way it is for other things. But it is special in that it is more difficult than many things most, at least in developed nations, will go through, so it's definitely not merely like anything else. But in another sense it is, and for me the good news was that there are better and worse ways of dealing with it and other things (better and worse in terms of my emotional and mental health and happiness).
Maybe this helps?