Applying for second doctorate in Theology or Philosophy

[terrellcarter]

Hello. I am a new member/first time poster. I am writing to get general advice about pursuing a second doctorate from anyone who may be willing to comment.

 

 

I am a full time Asst Prof and Dir of Contextualized Learning for an ATS/HLC accredited seminary in the Midwest. I earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from this seminary a few years ago and was hired within 7 months to the position that I currently hold. Prior to this position, I worked for the seminary part time coordinating their St. Louis campus, which is the city where I live, and running a certificate program for them. The position that I currently hold is what I have dreamed about for years.

 

 

I have also taught for a community college for 13 years as an adjunct (also an alum from there and I only teach online) and also at another religious college. At both of these institutions, I teach art and interdisciplinary studies courses (I have an MFA degree, as well).

 

 

I have also written/published 4 books since 2015. 3 popular level (1 dealing with race and Christian faith, 1 dealing with police-African American community relations, 1 dealing with general leadership ideas in a religious context) and 1 academic (my DMin dissertation about the historic differences between how black and white religious leaders are trained/educated and how to bridge the identified gaps in learning opportunities). I have another popular level book that should be out by the summer (also dealing with race and faith) and I have contracts for 2 more academic books that are due in December 2017 (another one about the intersection of race and faith) and December 2018 (a study on how the training/education level of black religious and political leaders affects/influences the level of community engagement the people they lead are willing to participate in). I also write regularly for two online religious sites and one local newspaper.

 

 

The main reason that I am thinking about pursuing a second doctorate/PhD is that it, along with all the writing I do, would hopefully open up other opportunities to teach in a secular university closer to home. I live with my family in a St. Louis, which is 4 hrs. away from the seminary where I’m employed. So, I have to commute back and forth every week. I spend 4 days out of town and 3 days at home with my family. As you can imagine, this got old for my wife pretty quickly. She is very supportive, but would like to have me around more. Having my family move to the area where I teach is not an option at this time. My wife has worked for Washington University in St. Louis for 17 years, and she is the director of a dept. She’s at least 5 years away from retiring (due to age and accumulated years of service). Additionally, WashU pays for our kids to go to college. We have a son who is a sophomore at a college in St. Louis. Our daughter is 12, so we have time before she starts higher ed.

 

 

I know that I am hampered in the kinds of teaching positions I can get outside of a seminary due to the fact that my highest degree is a DMin (a professional/practitioners degree). So, I’m thinking about pursuing a PhD in theology and philosophy so I can teach more than ministry courses. I’m baptist, but St. Louis doesn’t have a baptist seminary. I have also considered pursuing an EdD, but don’t really have a desire to get an education degree.

 

 

I am looking at “dissertation only” programs overseas. My plan is to make one of the academic books that I am working on into a dissertation. The contracted length for both academic books are 230 pgs. each. I am currently working on the next academic book and should have it done by December. (I am able to do this because while I am away for 4 days a week by myself, I spend my free time writing and researching so when I’m at home with my family, I am able to give them my undivided attention.)

 

 

I have been accepted into the South African Theological Seminary’s PhD program. The problem is the cost ($13,000).

 

 

So, I guess my question is, can anyone help advise me on finding any other overseas dissertation only program that’s less than $13,000? I have looked at multiple UK and South African programs, but it’s hard to tell how much programs cost because most fees pages that I have looked at aren’t updated or they ask for you to contact them about pricing, but never get back with an answer. I have looked at the usual suspects like UNISA, London School of Theology, etc. It would be nice to find something less than $8,000.

 

 

I have also considered PhD by publication. I have found 3 programs that this is possible through for foreign students. I could simply wait till the next two academic books are written and then submit those, along with any other writings that flow together and a unifying document and call it a day. The costs for these programs are less than $6,000.

 

 

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any constructive comments.

 

 

Terrell

[xypathos]

Hi Terrell,

It sounds like you're asking us to help you comb through a list of "dissertation only" PhD/DPhil and "degree by publication" programs. Is that correct? I just want to make sure that we don't miss another concern you may have.

The immediate concern I had was one of how your degree will be received. Prospective schools that you will be teaching at are required to meet certain minimum qualifications -  such as having faculty qualified to teach subjects. Anyway, you already work in academia so you're aware of this and it's probably something you've thought of!

As for dissertation only programs, that's pretty much every school in the UK and South Africa, as you've already noted as well. I've had faculty that did their PhD at Durham, Andrews (or maybe it was Aberdeen, or maybe both - I don't remember right now), while holding teaching jobs in the States. I know Durham takes such students and you come to the UK twice a year, otherwise you're wherever you need to be.

Degree by publication is a little harder to come by but I know of a couple such programs in Australia and New Zealand. I think the Hussite scholar Thomas Fudge did his second PhD at Otago by distance/publication. Granted his first DPhil was from Cambridge so have to keep that in mind too.

Unless you have a pressing issue that says you have to have this degree done in less than three years, I'd look at some distance programs in the UK. Mileage varies and it depends on where you want to end up but UK degrees carry more weight than SA ones. As well, if you want to end up teaching at a secular school, a DPhil in Religion/Theology from Durham (for example), will carry more weight than a PhD from SATS.

Knowing more about what you want to study would also help to focus on specific schools that might be worthwhile to look at. There are a slew of unaccredited PhD programs in theology that require little to no face-time with your professor but that's not a road you want to go down.

[Averroes MD]

As someone who, like you, has a professional doctorate (MD in my case), time to degree was a major concern of mine. Additionally, I was initially keeping myself very geographically restrained due to the higher level of personal and family commitments associated with being an older person. 

However, I have realized that no matter how you slice it, you always get back what you put in. That is to say, I don't know how much you will gain out of receiving a PhD by distance by publication. I mean this in two ways: (1) How much a secular university would value such a degree, and (2) perhaps more importantly, how much of a developed scholar you will become. On this latter point, I think the PhD is meant to take time, as the process itself is important and is what will turn you into a real scholar.

In the end, I've decided to bite the bullet and dedicate myself wholeheartedly to the endeavor of theology and religious studies, so I am hoping to get into a rigorous PhD as opposed to something that can be sped through. 

Having said that, our situations may be different. You seem to already have teaching positions in the field of your interest, and also have many publications. Therefore, at this point in time, you may not feel that a PhD is needed for you any more. However, even still, I wonder how much a distance PhD will truly help you to break into the secular academy. 

In any case, good luck! 

[terrellcarter]

Thank you xypathos and Averroes MD for your responses. I appreciate you taking the time to engage with my post.

I'm not necessarily asking for help with combing through a list. I guess I'm asking if anyone has experience with a PhD by publication program or has gained insight from someone else who has gone through such a program. The desire for finding a PhD program that could be completed within 1 year or 1.5 years comes from the fact that I have to commute 4 hours away/be gone 4-5 days per week from my family to work. I spend a lot of time away from my family because this is the only job I could get with my particular doctorate degree. My wife works for Washington University in St. Louis and they provide the majority of benefits for our family, including covering tuition for our 19 year old son who is in college. My wife has at least five years before she can retire, so she and my daughter will continue to live in St. Louis while I commute. The sooner I earn the degree the sooner I hopefully/prayerfully could find a position closer to home.

I don't want to earn a PhD just to have one. I want to earn one in order to be able to teach at a secular university. Obviously, if a position opened up at the community college where I have taught for 13 years, I could be considered for that due to my longevity with them, but those jobs are few and far between. Multiple positions have opened up at Washington University and other schools in St. Louis, but they all require the PhD.

I am drawn to the PhD by publication because I have three academic books that I am under contract to write. One should be completed by this summer. The second by December/January. And the third by next December (with my current position and living arrangements, I am able to spend a lot of time researching and writing, so completing the manuscripts will not be a problem). My hope is to submit these three books, which all deal with the intersection of race and religious faith, as the basis for my research and write a document that ties them all together. I think/hope that I am/will be developing as a scholar through the research, writing and teaching that I am already involved in.

I think it would make sense for me to contact other professors that I know at the schools in St. Louis and ask their opinions about the PhD by publication and whether it would be acceptable to them or not. That actually sounds like a worthy research idea/article, as well. Thanks, again for your input.