Religious studies, history or scandinavian studies

[Sleepless in skellefteå]

Hi! I'm a religious studies undergraduate student from the University of Uppsala in Sweden who is currently doing an exchange year in the US and is researching the possibility of also applying to grad school here. The process varies quite a bit from the Swedish one, so excuse me if I ask questions with obvious answers. 

1. I've narrowed down my academic interest to the swedish-american community of the early 20th century. I would either want to research the lutheran churchs role as a gathering force in the early community or how the immigrants choice of denomination impacted their understanding of their own national and ethnic identity. My home university would classify that topic as religious history, a field that falls under the faculty of theology and that is separate from regular history. However, the Divinity schools I've looked up at American universities seems to have a more strict focus on the philosophical study of religion. I'm also probably going to be doing an undergraduate study on the subject with the department of Scandinavian studies at my exchange university. If I applied to a grad school with this project in mind, would it most likely be classified as history, theology or Scandinavian studies?

2. Would I be able to find professors that would take me on as a graduate student? Or is it such a niche subject that the options would be limited/non-existent? Would I need to work with a professor with knowledge in Swedish or would it be enough if the person had expertise in religious developments in 20th century USA? 

Would greatly appreciate if someone wanted to take the time to help me understand the system! 

[TMP]

I'm not 100% clear.  But let me make suggestions:

1) You're right, Divinity schools in the US may not be the best avenue if you're more interested in the social/political/cultural aspects of the Lutheran church's role in the immigrant communities.  But it is not to say that if you don't have a deep understanding of the Lutheran church's teachings and history, a master's in divinity or religious studies may be a great way to go.  @telkanuru can speak to this more.

2) "Studies" are interdisciplinary, combining literature, language, history, politics, etc. A master's or a bachelor's in that is fine but not a PhD. You need disciplinary grounding to be taken seriously so a PhD in history will be best.

3) You will want to seek out History departments that offer faculty who do religious history or history of religion and history of immigration. You're already fluent in Swedish (it's your native tongue, after all ) and have a degree from Sweden so a faculty member is not so necessary.  You have contacts at your university who you can reach out if you have specific question about Swedish related issues.  Likewise, if the university which a History Department you're interested in HAS Scandinavian Studies, ALL the better! (University of Minnesota comes to mind)

4) If I understand your interests correctly, you're interested in examining the role of Lutheranism in the Swedish immigration to the United States? If so, definitely look to the Midwest for possible schools since it's where many Swedes settled in the 19th century.

[Sleepless in skellefteå]

Thank you, very helpful answer!

[dr. t]

3 hours ago, TMP said:

You're right, Divinity schools in the US may not be the best avenue if you're more interested in the social/political/cultural aspects of the Lutheran church's role in the immigrant communities.  But it is not to say that if you don't have a deep understanding of the Lutheran church's teachings and history, a master's in divinity or religious studies may be a great way to go.  @telkanuru can speak to this more.

 

4 hours ago, Sleepless in skellefteå said:

I would either want to research the lutheran churchs role as a gathering force in the early community or how the immigrants choice of denomination impacted their understanding of their own national and ethnic identity. My home university would classify that topic as religious history, a field that falls under the faculty of theology and that is separate from regular history.

 

If you want to look at how the theology or religious praxis formed in tandem with identity, then you can comfortably find a place in a religion department, either at a full divinity school or something like the Committee of the Study of Religion at Harvard. However, as it stands, you're posing the interest as a historical question.

For an M*, the same division stands. If you want to go more into the theology, do an MTS or a ThM. If you want to go more into social/cultural history, do an MA. 

[Sleepless in skellefteå]

7 minutes ago, telkanuru said:

 

 

If you want to look at how the theology or religious praxis formed in tandem with identity, then you can comfortably find a place in a religion department, either at a full divinity school or something like the Committee of the Study of Religion at Harvard. However, as it stands, you're posing the interest as a historical question.

For an M*, the same division stands. If you want to go more into the theology, do an MTS or a ThM. If you want to go more into social/cultural history, do an MA. 

Thank you! I'll probably go more for the historic side then the theological. I've just begun trying to navigate and get informed about which universities might be a good fit for my area of interest. Answers like these are really helpful. If I would take take a historians approach towards researching the lutheran church as an institution in the Swedish migrant community, would it be resonable to categorize it as ''American religious history''? 

[dr. t]

12 hours ago, Sleepless in skellefteå said:

Thank you! I'll probably go more for the historic side then the theological. I've just begun trying to navigate and get informed about which universities might be a good fit for my area of interest. Answers like these are really helpful. If I would take take a historians approach towards researching the lutheran church as an institution in the Swedish migrant community, would it be resonable to categorize it as ''American religious history''? 

Yes! And while I don't know the historiography, it sounds like an interesting project.