The completion of a minimum of thirty course credits is required of all students pursuing a Master's Degree in Religion.
M.A. Students are required to take ten courses that comprise these thirty credits:
- All students are required to take "Theory and Method in the Study of Religion" (16:840:501).
- A combined maximum of two graduate-level courses may be taken in other Rutgers departments (or other universities, e.g., through the Princeton-Rutgers Exchange), subject to the approval of the Graduate Director.
- 400-level courses taught by full-time department faculty may be counted toward graduate credit, provided that additional work is performed (e.g., additional readings and a 25-page term paper).
- Subject to the approval of the Graduate Director, a maximum of two upgraded 300-level undergraduate courses may be taken for credit toward the M.A.
- Combined 300- and 400-level courses may not exceed 12 credits.
- Only one independent study course is normally allowed.
- All students are required to complete either:
a) A 6-credit thesis (840:701, 840:702) taken during the last two semesters and for which students must apply to the Thesis Proposal Committee thirteen months before completion of the M.A. (for full-time students on the 2-year program, this will mean the second semester of study). Please refer to the M.A. with Thesis Timeline.
OR
b) A 3-credit capstone project (840:599) taken in the last semester of study. The capstone project requires close consultation with the advisor, but no formal application to a committee. Please refer to the M.A. without Thesis Timeline.
Language Courses
To encourage language training, which is especially important for our students who intend to pursue a Ph.D., relevant language coursework at the 300-level or higher may be counted as credit towards the M.A. degree. Language course credits require the approval of the Graduate Director in consultation with the student's advisor.
Our faculty members work with texts written in Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Pali, Persian, and Sanskrit, as well as other classical and vernacular languages, and can direct independent readings in these languages. Students are advised to consult with the relevant language and literature programs at Rutgers to confirm available course offerings.