阿拉巴马大学

Taking the department's motto seriously studying religion in culture this MA degree explores cross-disciplinary theories on social formation and applies them to the study of religion, seeing each site studied as a test case in identity formation. Unlike other graduate programs in the study of religion, the MA in Religion in Culture at The University of Alabama therefore presses beyond mere description and cross-cultural comparison to use social theory to understand the effects that narratives, practices, classification systems, and institutional structures have on social groups and their members always doing so with an eye toward training students to use innovative technologies to effectively communicate their findings to wide audiences.

Two Key Foundations

The premise of the degree is that the work taking place in our field has wide relevance. Promoting both critical analysis and innovative communication skills are therefore the cornerstones of this MA. While all students will carry out their own independent research and gain co-writing experience with their supervisor, courses will require them to produce both original article-length research papers as well as create innovative digital presentations. In consultation with their supervisor, their culminating thesis project will emphasize one or the other of these two modes of scholarly communication allowing students to tailor the thesis to suit their own interests and career plans.

Supervision

Supervisors are assigned by the graduate committee when a student is accepted into the program, making the statement of purpose a crucial element of the application process, inasmuch as it is the primary means by which the graduate committee determines whether there is sufficient overlap of its expertise with incoming students' interests and needs. (This assignment is open to revision, at the discretion of the graduate director, should student interests change.)

Degree Structure

The 36 credit hour graduate degree (2 years of course work, including the final thesis) focuses on providing students with two critical foundations: (I) becoming conversant in contemporary social theory and applying it to their area of interest in the study of religion and (ii) developing competencies in the tools of the public, digital humanities. In their first semester students will not only be reading widely in social theory (and applying it to an historical, regional, or ethnographic example of their choice) but will also be gaining familiarity with a wide variety of digital tools -- from video and audio recording and editing, to making web pages and working with "big data" -- that will assist them to share those findings.