Hebrew Bible at Harvard

[Abdelazar]

Anyone know what's the situation with the Hebrew Bible dept at Harvard? Elsewhere on GradCafe, people have reported that Machinist is retiring very soon. Is Levenson also near retirement? Any word new faculty soon?

 

I'm planning on visiting and applying this year, so any advice would be appreciated.

[newenglandshawn]

Is Levenson also near retirement? Any word new faculty soon?

 

No, Levenson told me that he wasn't planning on retiring in the next few years (though he admitted that one never knows what might come). He did say that he is due up for one semester of leave during the 2015-2016 year though.

 

Perhaps you already know this as well, but he also shared with me that the Divinity School has eliminated the ThD. Thus, whereas before you could apply to the NELC department, the GSAS, and HDS, the former two are now the only doctoral programs in Hebrew Bible at Harvard.

[xypathos]

From what I understand from faculty at Vanderbilt, they didn't necessarily cancel the ThD. Rather, they merely merged the two programs.

From Harvard's site, they list the program size at 63 so this seems likely.

[newenglandshawn]

From what I understand from faculty at Vanderbilt, they didn't necessarily cancel the ThD. Rather, they merely merged the two programs.

From Harvard's site, they list the program size at 63 so this seems likely.

 

I think you're right! The HDS website also confirms this: "HDS recently changed its doctoral designation from ThD to PhD in Religion. . . . This is a joint degree program offered by the HDS and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, administered by the Committee on the Study of Religion."

[dr. t]

From what I understand from faculty at Vanderbilt, they didn't necessarily cancel the ThD. Rather, they merely merged the two programs.

From Harvard's site, they list the program size at 63 so this seems likely.

 

Although I'm at HDS, I haven't been paying much attention to this because I'm looking for a PhD in history, not religion, but from what I've read it seems that they're not intending to increase the PhD cohort size, so there are, effectively, half as many spots. 

[diazalon]

Although I'm at HDS, I haven't been paying much attention to this because I'm looking for a PhD in history, not religion, but from what I've read it seems that they're not intending to increase the PhD cohort size, so there are, effectively, half as many spots. 

 

Are you sure that the PhD cohort doesn't include ThD? My impression was that they are just changing the name of all the ThDs, for all intents and purposes, and keeping the CSR cohort size, which would mean that there are just as many spots.

[dr. t]

Are you sure that the PhD cohort doesn't include ThD? My impression was that they are just changing the name of all the ThDs, for all intents and purposes, and keeping the CSR cohort size, which would mean that there are just as many spots.

 

I couldn't state definitively one way or the other. The website, which is all that's been said officially, points everything to the CSR.

[theophany]

I think you're right! The HDS website also confirms this: "HDS recently changed its doctoral designation from ThD to PhD in Religion. . . . This is a joint degree program offered by the HDS and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, administered by the Committee on the Study of Religion."

 

The language on HDS's website is misleading on this point. There will no longer (except for those already in the program) be doctoral students enrolled at HDS, but the whole group will be enrolled through the GSAS. Only the GSAS can award the PhD. The "chang[ing] its doctoral designation" bit should be understood as they are canceling the ThD, and all applicants then have to go through and be admitted by the GSAS instead. The "joint degree" part comes from the fact that the CSR is composed of equal numbers of HDS and FAS faculty.

 

Are you sure that the PhD cohort doesn't include ThD? My impression was that they are just changing the name of all the ThDs, for all intents and purposes, and keeping the CSR cohort size, which would mean that there are just as many spots.

 

From the way people in the CSR have been talking, it doesn't seem like they're downsizing the total size of the cohort. Rather all official language has indicated formally "unifying" the two programs, or of the ThD "becoming" the PhD—which suggests that the numbers will stay the same. Really, it's a question of money; it makes sense that the ThD funds aren't just going to disappear but be rerouted.

[dr. t]

I just had a conversation with one of the assistant deans - there will probably be a couple fewer spots, all told, but not any sort of drastic reduction.