Puritan Studies Emphasis?

[ttados]

Hey guys, first off, I am not sure if I should post this in the religion, history, or philosophy forum so if I or a moderator needs to move it that is ok.

As the title suggest I am interested in studying the American Puritans. I have looked at several schools and it seems like my best bet is to do something along the lines of an independent study program. I found a professor at Harvard that focuses on Puritanism but outside of seminaries I haven't really found anything. I also haven't looked at specific professors, for the most part, just programs. To narrow it down a little more I would really like to focus on Jonathan Edwards and how his theology was influenced by enlightenment thought or how Puritan thought had an influence on the constitution.

Before you can really answer any questions I guess I should give you some background about myself. I graduated from a small division II university with a BA in History/Mass Comm. The main problem is my GPA was really really low, it was a 2.6. On the other hand my GPA was low because, quite honestly, my freshman and sophomore level classes were extremely unchallenging and boring so I didn't try at all and made a C in several of them. I know that is not even close to a decent excuse but just know my GPA came from lack of motivation not incompetence. In the upper level history classes I took I made A's and a couple of B's. Currently, I am working on a M.A. in Theological Studies from a seminary and I am planning on having a 3.75 or above GPA by the time I graduate.

My main question is what schools should I be looking at to pursue a PhD.? I want a wonderful program and I will demand excellence from myself but I am not dead set on a top ten program or an ivy league school. My next question is will my undergrad GPA cast a negative impact when applying to PhD programs? My final question is does anyone know anything about the history of ideas PhD program at University of Texas at Dallas?

Thanks for any help and/or suggestions

[DaisyO]

How about the New England Studies program at the University of Southern Maine? I am sure they read a lot about the Puritans there.

[getmeout]

You should check out Vanderbilt. Peter Lake and Paul Lim both work on the English Puritans, and Jimmy Byrd does American Puritans. Three faculty working on Puritans is a rarity in the US.

Regarding your undergrad GPA, yes this will probably hurt you. If it was at least 3.0 it would be a lot better. That said, if you can finish with a 3.7 or higher at a respected seminary/div school then you will still have a chance. If not you will probably not have a chance. GPA and GRE won't get you in, but they definitely can weed you out. If you are below 3.7 in grad school or your verbal GRE is below 700, I wouldn't bother applying. Just being honest...

Also, don't waste your time getting a degree from a program that is not top ten, unless you don't care that much about getting a teaching job when you are done. The job market is RIDICULOUSLY competitive, and the reality is that when you are competing for a job, a degree from random U. isn't going to cut it against the folks who have top ten pedigree. The only qualification to this would be if you are working with a big name in a field (say, Richard Muller at Calvin or something like that) who just happens to be in a non-top-tier institution. Again, just being honest. You don't want to waste 5-7 years of your life doing something that can't get you a job when you're finished...

[Theophilos]

I'll second the Vandy recommendation. I'm not familiar with Byrd, but Lake and Lim are excellent.

[ddsdevil]

Yale University has a Jonathan Edwards Center.

[whubbla]

Yes, Vanderbilt is a good idea. Also, consider Union Presbyterian Seminary in Virginia where Mark Valeri writes about Puritans and Edwards. Ditto for Mark Peterson at UC Berkeley in the history department, but less about Jonathan Edwards. Not a comprehensive list, by any means, but worth examining.

[getmeout]

Yes, Mark Valeri at UPS (Richmond) is very good. Last I heard, though, the PhD program was not admitting students due to funding issues (this has been the case for at least the last two years). Perhaps they have reopened the program this fall?

Also, at Notre Dame there are a number of folks in the Theology doing resourcement work with Edwards's thought (and apparently Mark Noll has begun to focus some attention on him as well), although less attention is given to reading him contextually. So if you fancy yourself a historian it probably won't be the best fit. You could give it a spin, though, if you are interested in the theology side of things.