Phd History or Phd Religion in Historical Theology

[AGingeryGinger]

9 hours ago, tdwightdavis said:

If I get all rejections this year I'm considering applying to a couple of MA programs next year. I'm not 21 or 24, but 27 isn't a whole lot older so I'm not super concerned about how long it'll take to get to the PhD.

What is the area of study you applied to?

[tdwightdavis]

19 minutes ago, AGingeryGinger said:

What is the area of study you applied to?

Theology. 

[marXian]

On 2/17/2016 at 9:04 AM, AGingeryGinger said:

Thank you for sharing all that! My biggest concern is that being at a secular university I don't truly have anyone that's remotely in the same boat of wanting to study theology as well as history. 

Just out of curiosity, what is your PhD in? I've known that people with two masters (i.e. In your case) blending theology and literature makes for not only a great candidate, but very unique topics due to the blend of masters degrees. 

I'm hoping that a similar case could be made for my eventual studies. My end goal is to study the history of Christianity with an emphasis on early Anglican theology. There is a professor at UC that I'm dying to work with who studies the development of reformation thought and heresy from the late medieval to early modern periods. So hopefully the blend of an MA in history having the historical background and an MDiv would give a great edge when applying to history of Christianity programs at say U of Chicago, Marquette, Boston college, Yale, Harvard etc.

the issue of practicality is another major topic. I'd be hard pressed to find another school offering a full tuition scholarship and assistantship. Using that as a springboard for a good MDiv in theology such as beeson, Princeton theological, Yale, Vanderbilt, etc. would make the history MA invaluable. 

Thank you again for your help, it's certainly setting my mind at ease about the chaos of graduate admissions.

With regard to your concern, I guess it kind of depends on what your undergrad or even high school situation was. I went to public schools through my entire education until seminary. So people not sharing my theological interests was something I was used to. Unfortunately I think it's true that history departments tend to be a little more confused by "theological commitments" than other humanities disciplines, but I really do think it will be worth it to become conversant with the way that "secular" historians handle church history. 

My PhD is in religious studies, but I'm in the "theology" track within my department. I study social philosophy and liberal Protestant theology at the turn of the 20th century. My English MA has allowed me to combine my interest in Critical Theory with religious studies in some very fruitful ways with regard to my dissertation, so I'm definitely thankful for that training as a spring board for what I'm doing now.