Why study this program?

The Religious Studies program is an interdisciplinary program within the Department of History, Classics, and Religion and offers programs leading to the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy.

For the graduate degrees in Classics and History, see Graduate Programs in History and Classics .

Entrance Requirements

For the MA program, the minimum admission requirements are an undergraduate degree in Religious Studies or a related area with an admission GPA of at least 3.3 on the 4-point scale from the University of Alberta, or an equivalent qualification and standing from a recognized institution. The admission GPA will be calculated on the last 60 units of graded coursework completed, or on the equivalent of the last two years of full-time graded coursework.

Applicants whose degree is not in Religious Studies must have at least 30 units in Religious Studies courses at the senior level, or the equivalent. Applicants may be admitted as qualifying graduate students .

For the PhD program, the minimum admission requirements are an MA in Religious Studies or the equivalent with an admission GPA of at least 3.3 on the 4- point scale from the University of Alberta, or an equivalent qualification and standing from a recognized institution. The admission GPA will be calculated on the last 60 units of graded coursework completed, or on the equivalent of the last two years of full-time graded coursework.

Applicants may be admissible if they have completed an MA in a field other than Religious Studies if their thesis and/or course work had Religious Studies content relevant to their proposed thesis topic and if they have earned substantial Religious Studies credits at the BA level. Applicants may be admitted as qualifying graduate students .

Where applicable, applicants must provide proof of English Language Proficiency (refer to English Language Requirement ). Any one of the following is acceptable:

• a minimum TOEFL score of 92 (Internet-based),
• the equivalent as defined by the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies.

All applicants are required to submit a CV, statement of research intent, a writing sample, and three letters of reference. Applicants must also have designated a supervisor by the time of application.

Applicants to the PhD program must contact the Religious Studies Graduate Coordinator, or a potential doctoral supervisor, to determine if the applicant’s research goals appropriately match the Program’s profile and supervisory resources.

The deadline to apply for the Religious Studies PhD and MA programs is January 15.