This area trains graduate students to reflect critically and comparatively on religious conceptions of reality, including the nature, role, and tasks of human beings. Going beyond canonical notions of philosophy of religion that focus on Christian claims about deity, students in this area will contribute to the reconceptualization of this subfield as a global field of study that addresses religious beliefs and practices, along with related issues such as how properly to conceive of “philosophy” and “religion” without presuming the primacy of “the West,” how to engage critiques of religion and “secularism,” the role of ideas and argument in religion, the significance of history and past injustices to present practice in the field, etc. Students will learn to think cross-culturally and inter-disciplinarily about the claims and practices that philosophical and religious traditions make and advocate in relation to their primary concerns. The areas of focus available for doctoral research reflect those of the core faculty, which currently include the philosophical and religious traditions of classical China, the pre-modern Mediterranean and Near East, India, Tibet, Mesoamerica, Hawaiʻi, and the modern West.

Special admissions requirements

To apply to the PhD, you should have, or should be finishing, a master’s degree in a relevant field. Unusually well-prepared graduates without a master’s degree will also be considered. In addition, you should have or be well on your way to acquiring the language skills to conduct research in your primary areas of interest. It is recommended that you contact members of the core faculty before applying.