Long-distance/part-time/non-traditional Ph.D.?

Bill,

Thanks for your thoughts. I do know that in America, they give you like a 10-year limit of statutes or something like that Well, 10 years to get your degree, to be a 'respectable school.' I'm well aware of this, and when I say I don't mind getting a degree in 20-30 years time, I don't mean enrolling right now. My "end-game" might be, for the last x years enrolling/matriculating to completion.

However, in the meantime, I can always be learning and doing the coursework (or equivalency). I can learn as much as I can through the advice of friends and mentors and so on (I realize this may not be as good as being in a classroom setting). Any work that I do now may reduce the work I have in the future.

In an analogy, it's like this:

One year, I realized I was going to take a preaching class in the Fall, and Exegesis of Romans in the Spring. Knowing that we'd probably have 1800+ pages of required reading (usually read an entire commentary plus 4-5 other books) and paper work and reading of journal articles for paper work, I went about doing it this way:

Over the summer, 7 months before the start of the class, I translated all of Romans. It worked out to like 5-10 minutes a day (5 verses a day!)

Over the Fall, I contacted the prof and got the partial reading list and started reading over Christmas.

Going into the class, if I had my way, I would have walked in having read all 1800 pages of required reading and having translated Romans (I was at around 300 pages of required reading and all translations), so I could just focus on class and papers.

Turn that into a bigger analogy: What if I could do most of the significant reading and learning for a Ph.D., especially most of the coursework (or like 50-75% of the work for the coursework) before I enrolled? It would be much easier to get a Ph.D.

I realize from my friends getting Ph.D.'s here in America that many of the doctoral advisors want to "make you into their image" or put their stamp of approval on you, thus why they want you to be in full-time studies.

By the way, I too will continue to serve the Church (but in my own ways). The marketplace needs good theologians too ... (thus the Theology of Work). I forgot to mention in my curriculum vitae:

Adult Sunday School, teacher (2000-present)
Koine Greek (equivalent to first-year Biblical Greek) 2000-2001
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Cost of Discipleship” Fall 2001
Apologetics Spring 2002
Koine Greek (equivalent to first-year Biblical Greek) 2002-2003
Apologetics Fall 2003
Planned: World Religions from a Christian perspective Spring 2005

-Chris

 

One question: you're obviously a conscientious and bright guy. With the plethora of educational institutions, not least theological ones, in your home town, why are you interested in DL? This isn't rhetorical--you may have quite a good reason that casts a different light on the appeal of distance learning. Janko

 

Hi Uncle Janko:

There are a number of good institutions that award Ph.D.'s here (Harvard, BC, BU, Tufts) but the interests don't exactly line up.

Many of the theological schools that area associated with the Boston Theological Institute don't award Ph.D.'s (the only doctorate that GCTS awards is a D.Min. -- what my friend jokingly calls the "mini-doctor", and one seminary prof wrote about the "D.Min.-ization of ministry").

I think more than a long-distance arrangement, I'm looking at a non-traditional arrangement. Like I don't want to finish in the next 5-10 years (that would probably kill me, between full-time engineering work and a Ph.D.)

-Chris