Tom Head Gets Religion, Needs Guidance

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Tom Head, May 10, 2001.

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  1. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    As most of you folks know, I've pretty much given up on the idea of a Ph.D. in theology and am now leaning towards religion or religious studies, which backed up my original interest in theology anyway.

    After skimming the home pages of relevant professional associations, I feel that I've exhausted the Australian possibilities and now have a list of five schools worth considering. And as every schoolboy knows: once you use up the resources of one continent, you move on to the next.

    Therefore, I ask, with all humility: Can anyone name a British school that meets the following qualifications:

    1. A reasonably well-respected religious studies department that draws on a strong interfaith faculty. For those who have read my prior suggested dissertation topics, let me say that I'm now aiming towards something a little less earth-shattering (a history of Hinduism in Mississippi or what have you, rather than the world's first English subcommentary of the Pramaana LakshanamaH of Maadvha Acharya, an attempt to trace the Conservative Jewish movement in California rather than a detailed explication of the rabbinic theology of Max Kadushin, etc). Now that I have the option of writing books, I feel that I can get away with a slightly less highfalutin dissertation.

    2. Willing to negotiate minimal or nonexistent residency requirements. It is now reasonably possible for me to spend a couple of weeks in London for a dissertation defense and commencement, but yearly residencies might be a little harder to negotiate. The good news is that I do have sufficient library resources and can find suitable local faculty supervision; the bad news is that this is a much stronger bartering point for Australian schools than it is for British schools, or so it seems.

    Thanks for any leads. The ideal would be something like a list of religion departments affiliated with the British Academy of Religion, but I've checked the relevant British professional association pages and can find no list of this sort.


    Peace,

    ------------------
    Tom Head
    www.tomhead.net
     
  2. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    Hi Tom - It seems we've both strayed away from the South African doctoral degree idea. (It's too bad in a way because they're so damn inexpensive). I too made the rounds of the Australian schools but have been put off, as someone in another thread stated, by the fact that they can't seem to make up their minds about whether they really really offer external degrees. The most frequent answer I received was, "Well, I guess we could do that, I think we could, or at least I might have heard that someone did that once upon a time..." Anyway, that lead me to Britain. So far, the best suggestion I can make is for you to check out the University of Kent at Canterbury (http://www.ukc.ac.uk). They have a Doctoral program in Theology and Religious Studies and they specifically make reference to their External Degree Program (Check it out in the section for "Oversees Students").
    As you may remember, I'm more interested in a Philosophy doctorate and am pleased that they offer this as well. Good luck, Jack
     
  3. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Tom, I've been absent for a bit. What happened to Potch?

    Bruce
     
  4. CLSeibel

    CLSeibel Member

    Just curious--why has led you to categorically rule out South African doctorates? What are the issues or concerns that have caused you to draw this conclusion?
     
  5. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    Two things:

    1. The Ph.D.'s in theology. I've always wanted a Ph.D. in religion or religious studies.

    2. Potch is Dutch Reformed. The GST/Potch relationship allows a good bit of theological leeway, but I'd still be running around with a Potch doctorate.


    Peace,

    ------------------
    Tom Head
    www.tomhead.net
     
  6. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    How very interesting, Jack -- thanks!

    If you're interested in both philosophy and theology, you might also look into Australian Catholic University's Ph.D. offered through the new interdisciplinary subfaculty of philosophy and theology.

    Good luck!


    Peace,

    ------------------
    Tom Head
    www.tomhead.net
     
  7. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    C.L. - I spent a considerable amount of time exploring the prospects of earning an external Doctoral degree at all of the South African schools that have Philosophy departments (my count is 7). The only clear answer that I got was the "No!" from Univ. of Witwatersrand. Everyone else was either uncertain whether it could be done or they gave me several different answers. The different answers either came from different persons or they came from the same person at different times. Overall, what was strongly suggested was that they didn't have much experience with external study. Personally, I do not want to be a pioneer, blazing the trails of higher education. I do not want the most difficult aspect of my educational experience to be the navigation of the bureaucracy. As for UNISA, I know that they are much more experienced in this regard but, the fact is, I had a rather unpleasant response to my inquiry from the Philosophy department and it has put me off a bit. Plus, their literature is difficult to understand and they frequently don't respond to email for extended periods. Maybe I'm being too picky and maybe I'll wind up knocking on their door again but my experience to date has lead me to take a long hard look at all the other alternatives, both foreign and domestic. My guess is that if it wasn't for the low cost no one would be looking at UNISA because everything they offer can be found elsewhere (I think). If I can find a school that offers the program I want and I can understand their requirements and they treat me in a reasonable manner then I won't mind paying a few more bucks. Jack
     
  8. mattdennis

    mattdennis New Member

    Hi Tom,

    The University of Wales, Lampeter sounds like a place that meets all of your requirements (we've had an e-mail 'conversation' or two about this before). I understand the annual 'residential' can be waived when necessary. Both the Religious Studies and Philosophy departments offer DL programs, and the former is not in the least dominated by the Church of Wales. I'm thoroughly enjoying the program (although I'm currently the only active postgraduate in the old 'Death and Immortality' course). I have the e-mail addresses of two other Americans in the program (one MA, one PhD-level), which I could pass along via e-mail to you with their 'OK'.

    Good luck on your decision!

    Matt
     
  9. Lewchuk

    Lewchuk member

    Why be so secretive, what are the two American schools???

     
  10. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Jack, interesting post. What exactly was UNISA's unpleasant response. In other words was it rudeness or a feeling they were not open to foreigners?

    Thanks!

    North

     
  11. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    North - Yes, it was both of those things. As I stated above, I may have to reconsider UNISA at some point and I will do so if it becomes necessary but for now I'm holding off. I might also mention that the response I got from Univ. of Pretoria was more positive in general although my clear sense was that the Philosophy dept. had never done an external degree before. They seemed willing to give it a try and the Philosophy Chair emailed me several times in response to my inquiries. I think I'd return to U of Pretoria first even though I might have to do some of that trail blazing stuff.
    Good luck, Jack
     
  12. tcnixon

    tcnixon Active Member

    He's not being secretive about programs, but about personal contact information. If you re-read, you'll notice he says that he knows two Americans in the program (as opposed to two American programs).


    Tom Nixon
     
  13. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Sounds like under the circumstances you may be better off trail blazing and possibly helping to define the trail at U Pretoria than putting up with attitude and hostility (?) at UNISA.

    North

     
  14. Caballero Lacaye

    Caballero Lacaye New Member


    Dear Brother Tom,

    How is it going for you? As I told you privately, I did some research to try to help you, and I finally came up with the following:

    1) University of Sheffield has a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies.

    2) University of Edinburgh has a Ph.D. in Christianity in the Non-Western World.

    3) University of Aberdeen has a Ph.D. in Divinity with Religious Studies.

    4) University of Glasgow has a Ph.D. in Literature and Theology.

    5) University of Manchester has a Ph.D. in Religion, Culture and Gender.

    6) University of London (SOAS) has a Ph.D. in Religions.

    7) Univrsity of London (Goldsmiths) has a Ph.D. in Religious Studies.

    8) University of Newcastle has a Ph.D. in Religious Studies.

    9) Open University has a Ph.D. in Religious Studies.

    10) University of Stirling has a Ph.D. in Religious Studies.

    11) University of Manchester has a Ph.D. in Theological Studies.

    12) University of Edinburg has a Ph.D. in Theology.

    13) University of Glasgow has a Ph.D. in Theology.

    14) University of Kent has a Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies.

    15) University of London (King's) has a Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies.

    16) University of Wales (Lampeter) has a Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies.

    I hope this helps you, Tom.

    Brother, just let me add something, please. If you are going to include this list as part of your religious degree list, or if you are going to use it for any other purpose that you deem important, please include me as a source. You can use any name that you like inasmuch as you also include my real last name Lacaye.

    Wishing you all the best,


    Karlos Alberto "El Brother Caballero" Lacaye
    [email protected]
     
  15. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    Howdy!

    I've always liked Wales-Lampeter; a couple of years ago, I received a flyer from their religious studies department and told myself "yes, this is definitely it." I put it aside because of the residencies, but now I might actually be able to manage one or two, and your description of them certainly does paint a pleasant picture.

    Best of luck to you, and thank you!


    Peace,

    ------------------
    Tom Head
    www.tomhead.net
     
  16. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    When I applied for the DLitt et Phil in philosophy in late 1996/early 1997, I picked up traces of both. I'd assumed that this attitude would vanish when they stopped subsidizing foreign students, but apparently it hasn't.

    (Aside: About half of all academics I've met in the field of philosophy have been jerks. Personally, I think it's all that Nietzsche or Sartre creeping through. There's an apocryphal story that goes something like this: Albert Camus dropped by Jean-Paul Sartre's favorite bar/coffee shop, slapped him on the shoulder, said in a sweet voice "You hate us all, you bastard," and walked out.)


    Peace,

    ------------------
    Tom Head
    www.tomhead.net
     
  17. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    El Br. Caballero:

    Thank you, sir! Definitely some very wonderful stuff here -- Aberdeen, Newcastle, and Manchester, particularly. And my luck with Manchester might be particularly good, since I know for a fact that they've negotiated low-residency research Ph.D.'s in the past.

    I will most definitely cite you as a source if I use this information, though to be honest I don't know if I'll be doing a philosophy/religion book as I'd originally planned -- both Walston and Baker have some very strong books out there (Walston's about to release a fifth edition, Baker a second), and I'm not sure what I could do with the field that they're not already wonderfully doing. But I do appreciate this information just the same, and when the content area of degreeinfo.com is up, I think your post (attributed) would be an extremely helpful contribution to that.

    Sorry for the delay in responding; I have a touch of a cold, and have not been very sociable over the past few days.

    Take care, and thank you again!


    Peace,

    ------------------
    Tom Head
    www.tomhead.net
     
  18. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    Howdy!

    I've always liked Wales-Lampeter; a couple of years ago, I received a flyer from their religious studies department and told myself "yes, this is definitely it." I put it aside because of the residencies, but now I might actually be able to manage one or two, and your description of them certainly does paint a pleasant picture.

    Best of luck to you, and thank you!


    Peace,

    ------------------
    Tom Head
    www.tomhead.net
     
  19. Caballero Lacaye

    Caballero Lacaye New Member


    Dear Br. Tom,

    Thank you most sincerely!

    Warmest regards,


    El Brother Caballero Lacaye
    [email protected]
     
  20. mattdennis

    mattdennis New Member

    I did the same thing: received information from Lampeter a number of years ago, thought about it, then set it aside to "mull it over." Meanwhile, I entered and got about half-way through an MBA program here...then I realized that, with retirement six years away and me in a position I like and will stay in 'til then, the MBA degree wouldn't accomplish much. Instead, I bought all the textbooks and went through them (a great work-related library). That behind me, I revisited the Lampeter material once again...obviously I eventually followed through!

    Good luck on your decision!

    Matt
     

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