Published 2017-18 SGS Calendar for editing purposes only: exported 2017/07/06

Religion: Introduction

Faculty Affiliation

Arts and Science

Degree Programs

Religion

MA
PhD

Collaborative Specializations

The following collaborative specializations are available to students in participating degree programs as listed below:
  1. Bioethics
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. Book History and Print Culture
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. Diaspora and Transnational Studies
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. Editing Medieval Texts
  • Religion, PhD
  1. Environmental Studies
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. Ethnic and Pluralism Studies
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. Jewish Studies
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. Knowledge Media Design
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. Sexual Diversity Studies
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. South Asian Studies
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. Women and Gender Studies
  • Religion, MA, PhD
  1. Women's Health
  • Religion, MA, PhD

Overview

The Department for the Study of Religion offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy programs in the study of religion and facilitates research and publication on religion. The department consolidates the vast curricular and faculty resources that are distributed throughout the many departments and colleges of the University and enables its students to use any resource in the University which serves the study of religion.
The department conceives the academic study of religion in interdisciplinary terms and embraces humanistic, historical, and social scientific approaches and methods. Programs of study are constructed individually to fit the specific needs and interests of each student. As a guideline for areas of strength in the department, we are organized by the following fields:
  • Buddhist Studies
  • Christianity
  • Hinduism and South Asian Religions
  • Islam
  • Judaism
  • Religion, Culture, and Politics
  • Religion, Ethics, and Modern Thought
  • Religion and Medicine
  • Religions of Mediterranean Antiquity
These fields do not determine program requirements. Most faculty and students participate in multiple fields.

Contact and Address

Web:
Email:
Telephone: (416) 978-3057
Fax: (416) 978-1610
Department for the Study of Religion
University of Toronto
Room 305, 170 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5R 2M8
Canada

Religion: Religion MA

Master of Arts

Program Description
The MA program may be taken on a full-time or part-time basis. The department's Graduate Studies Handbook, available on the web and from the department, provides additional details on admissions and programs as well as the research and teaching interests of the faculty.
Minimum Admission Requirements
  • Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department for the Study of Religion's additional admission requirements stated below.
  • Normally, an appropriate bachelor's degree with specialization in religion or a cognate discipline from a recognized university, broadly equivalent to the University of Toronto's BA Specialist degree in religion, with at least B+ standing in the final year. Students without appropriate preparation may be required to take additional work either before admission or during an extended master's program.
Program Requirements
  • Courses.Students must complete 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) including:
  • RLG 2000Y Major Research Paper (1.0 FCE)
  • RLG 1200H MA Method and Theory Workshop (0.5 FCE)
  • In some cases, students may be required to take additional courses, some of which may be at the undergraduate level. Students may be required to take more than 4.0 FCEs if their preparation is considered deficient in a subject required for their program.
  • Satisfactory performance requires the completion of all coursework taken for graduate credit with an average grade of at least A-.
  • Language(s). Reading knowledge of at least one language, in addition to English, selected from languages of modern scholarship and/or necessary source languages, as approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.
Program Length
3 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: F/W/S);
6 to 8 sessions part-time
Time Limit
3 years full-time;
6 years part-time

Religion: Religion PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

Program Description
From the point of admission onward, doctoral student programs must be matched with the expertise of at least three professors who help supervise the student's work. The department's Graduate Studies Handbook, available on the web and from the department, provides additional details on admissions and programs as well as the research and teaching interests of the faculty. The PhD program is taken on a full-time basis.
Minimum Admission Requirements
  • Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department for the Study of Religion's additional admission requirements stated below.
  • Normally, completion of all requirements of the department's MA program, or a comparable program at another university, with an average of at least A- in coursework and with no individual course falling below B.
Program Requirements
  • Courses.Students must complete aminimum of 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs), including:
  • RLG 1000Y Method and Theory in the Study of Religion (1.0 FCE)
  • at least 0.5 FCE outside the area of specialization.
  • Students may be required to take more than 4.0 FCEs if their preparation is considered deficient in a subject required for their program.
  • Satisfactory performance requires the completion of all coursework taken for graduate credit with an average grade of at least A-.
  • Languages. Reading knowledge of at least two languages in addition to English, selected from languages of modern scholarship and necessary source languages provided that at least one shall be a language of modern scholarship, as approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. The language requirements must be fulfilled before writing the general examinations.
  • Professionalization seminar. Doctoral students must complete SRD 4444Y Doctoral Seminar Series—Compulsory Attendance (CR/NCR, 0.0 FCE). This seminar consists of a series of workshops, all of which must be completed to fulfil the requirement.
  • General examinations. Upon completion of coursework, the language requirements, and the thesis pre-proposal, the student's supervisory committee will set General Examinations to assess the student's readiness for thesis research. There are three components in the General Examinations:
  • a four-hour written examination will cover the student’s area of specialization,
  • a three-hour written examination will cover at least one important cognate area, and
  • a two-hour oral examination on all materials assigned for the General Examinations.
  • A student who fails any portion of the General Examinations may be re-examined once, no later than nine months after the date of the first examination. The General Examinations must be completed before the end of the third year of doctoral study.
  • Thesis proposal. Within three months of successful completion of the General Examinations, the student must submit a thesis proposal for approval by the student's supervisory committee.
  • Thesis. Upon approval of the thesis proposal by the student's supervisory committee, the candidate proceeds to research and write a doctoral thesis which must be defended successfully at a Doctoral Final Oral Examination.
  • Colloquium presentation. Once general examinations are completed, PhD candidates are required to participate at least once in the Department for the Study of Religion's colloquium before undertaking their Doctoral Final Oral Examination.
  • Doctoral Final Oral Examination. The supervisory committee must approve the completed thesis before it is submitted for examination.
  • Residence. Students are required to spend at least two Fall and Winter sessions on campus in full-time study, normally in Years 1 and 2.
Program Length
4 years (some students may take longer)
Time Limit
6 years

Religion: Religion MA, PhD Courses

Not all courses are offered every year. Please consult thedepartment's website, which lists the courses the department will offer this year as well as those cross-listed from other departments.

Religion

RLG 1000Y / Method and Theory in the Study of Religion
RLG 1200H / The MA Method and Theory Workshop
RLG 1501H / Directed Reading
RLG 1502H / Directed Reading
RLG 2000Y / Major Research Paper
RLG 2008H / Sex, Gender, and the Body in Religious Perspective
RLG 2010H / Religion and Liberalism
RLG 2011H / Natural Law in Judaism and Christianity I
RLG 2012H / Natural Law in Judaism and Christianity II
RLG 2015H / Comparing Religion
RLG 2016H / Radical Evil: Religious, Philosophical, and Psychological Response
RLG 2017H / Religion, Secularism, and the Public Sphere
RLG 2020H / Early Christianity, Ancient Judaism, Ancient "Magic"
RLG 2022H / Religion and Trauma: Psychoanalytic Narratives of Transmission and Transformation
RLG 2025H / Critical Theory of Religion
RLG 2027H / Law and Religion: Critical Conversations
RLG 2028H / Enemies of God: Religion and Violence in a (Post) Modern Time
RLG 2030H / Historiography of Religion
RLG 2043H / Buddhism as Translation
RLG 2060H / Religion and Philosophy in the European Enlightenment
RLG 2062H / Modern Hermeneutics and Religion
RLG 2063H / Hermeneutics and Critical Theory
RLG 2064H / Constructing Religion
RLG 2067H / Philosophical Topics in the Study of Religion
RLG 2072H / Kant’s Theory of Religion
RLG 2073H / Que(e)rying Religion
RLG 2083H / Social Scientific Approaches to the Study of Religion
RLG 2084H / Social Science Approaches to Early Christianity: Topical Investigations
RLG 2085H / Genealogies of Christianity
RLG 2086H / Fieldwork in Religious Studies
RLG 3114H / Christianity and Judaism in Colonial Context
RLG 3143H / Hebraica
RLG 3144H / Isaiah and Prophecy in the Early Judaism and Christianity
RLG 3190H / Pseudepigraphy in Ancient Mediterranean Religion
RLG 3201H / Topics in Christian Origins I
RLG 3212H / Martyrdom and Christian Identity
RLG 3215H / Ethical Issues in Early Christianity
RLG 3216H / Christianity in the Ancient Near East
RLG 3228H / Social History of the Early Jesus Movement
RLG 3232H / Sacred Space
RLG 3237H / Religion and Social Reform in Canada
RLG 3241H / Galatians
RLG 3242H / Christian Asceticism in Late Antiquity
RLG 3243H / The Synoptic Problem
RLG 3249H / Studies in the Synoptic Gospels
RLG 3250H / Heresy and Deviance in Early Christianity
RLG 3252H / The Letter of James and Early Christian Wisdom
RLG 3272H / Jews and Judaism in Christian Traditions
RLG 3280H / Christianities of South Asia
RLG 3290H / Words and Worship in Christian Cultures
RLG 3413H / Burmese Religions
RLG 3414H / The Vessantarajataka
RLG 3415H / Theravada Practice
RLG 3454H / Readings in Tibetan Buddhism I
RLG 3455H / Readings in Tibetan Buddhism II
RLG 3458H / Rhetoric and Discipline in Buddhist Studies
RLG 3460H / Sanskrit Readings
RLG 3461H / Sanskrit Readings II
RLG 3464H / History and Historiography of Buddhism
RLG 3468H / The Buddhist Canon
RLG 3470H / Buddhist Tantra
RLG 3480H / Religion and Magic in Asia
RLG 3490H / Buddhist Auto/biography
RLG 3501H / Special Topics in Islamic Studies
RLG 3505H / Topics in Islamic Religious Literature
RLG 3510H / Studies in Islamic Thought and Spirituality
RLG 3512H / Introduction to Islamic Law
RLG 3514H / Ismaili History and Thought: The Persian Tradition
RLG 3515H / Law, Ethics and Society in the Islamic Tradition
RLG 3516H / Islamic Law and Society
RLG 3517H / Shi’i Studies: The State of the Field
RLG 3544H / Islamicate Material Cultures
RLG 3590H / Islam and Sexuality
RLG 3601H / Philo: The First Jewish Philosopher
RLG 3610H / Wisdom in Second Temple Judaism
RLG 3611H / Hebrew Literature and Religion: Midrash Aggadah
RLG 3615H / Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought
RLG 3621H / Modern Jewish Thought
RLG 3622H / Maimonides and His Modern Interpreters
RLG 3634H / Worship and Scripture at Qumran
RLG 3645H / The Jewish Legal Tradition
RLG 3647H / Early Rabbinic Judaism
RLG 3653H / Jewish Exegetical Traditions in Antiquity
RLG 3655H / Readings in Jewish Literature (200 BCE–200 CE)
RLG 3703H / Indo-Islamic Civilization: The Sultanate and Mughal Periods
RLG 3710H / Newar Religion
RLG 3714H / Sacred Biography in South Asia
RLG 3715H / Readings in Hindu Tantra
RLG 3720H / Sex, Body, and Gender in South Asian Religious Traditions
RLG 3730H / Fasting and Feeding in Hindu Traditions
RLG 3740H / The Mahaparinirvanasutra
RLG 3741H / The Guru—East and West
RLG 3744H / Hindu Epics
RLG 3750H / Topics in South Asian Religions
RLG 3760H / Vedanta Through the Ages
RLG 3762H / Religion and Aesthetics in South Asia
RLG 3931H / Topics in North American Religions
RLG 4001H / Directed Reading: TST Seminar
RLG 4004H / Colloquium Presentation
SRD 4444Y / Doctoral Seminar Series—Compulsory Attendance (CR/NCR)

Joint Courses

JAR 6510H / From Theory to Ethnography: Anthropological Approaches to Religion
JPR 2057H / Democracy and the Secular
JRG 2050H / Religion, Culture, and Global Politics
JRP 2000H / Religion and Public Policy
JPR 2058H / Postsecular Political Thought

Other Departments

Other departments and collaborative specializations (see programs listed at the beginning of this entry) offer courses that may contribute to graduate programs in the study of religion. Visit the department's website for a current listing of such course offerings from:
  • Anthropology
  • Art
  • East Asian Studies
  • English
  • Ethnic and Pluralism Studies
  • German
  • History
  • History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
  • Italian Studies
  • Law
  • Medieval Studies
  • Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
  • Philosophy
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Toronto School of Theology

1