Religion

The Graduate Division of Religion (GDR) prepares scholars and teachers of religion and theology, requiring mastery of a specialized field in the context of a general knowledge of the study of religion and the varieties of religious expression and practice. The GDR brings together the resources of Emory University in a rigorous interdisciplinary program of graduate doctoral education. The GDR is unique because of the collegiality and collaboration that characterize this mix: not only faculty working with students, but also theologians working with sociologists, ethicists working with lawyers, Islamicists working with Buddhist scholars, ethnographers working with historians.

The GDR offers 10 distinct courses of study: American Religious Cultures; Comparative Literature and Religion; Ethics and Society; Hebrew Bible; Historical Studies in Theology and Religion; Jewish Studies; New Testament; Person, Community, and Religious Life; Theological Studies; West and South Asian Religions

The GDR stands at the center of one of Emory’s deepest and broadest communities of inquiry. At Emory, religion is a major focus of interest and research for scholars not only in religion and theology, but also in such areas as African-American studies, anthropology, comparative literature, history, law, medicine, Middle Eastern studies, neurophysiology, nursing, psychology, public health, sociology, South Asian studies, and women’s studies.

The GDR brings together faculty from the Emory's Candler School of Theology and the Emory College Department of Religion.