| The Doctor of Philosophy degree is designed to equip students for creative scholarship, independent research, and effective teaching and preaching. The Doctor of Philosophy program involves a minimum of two years of study beyond the Master of Divinity degree or its equivalent. Students entering the program should be aware that three or more years are frequently needed for completion of the degree requirements, depending upon individual circumstances.
The Doctor of Philosophy program consists of graduate seminars, an examination covering each seminar as it is completed, comprehensive written examinations, directed reading and research, teaching under faculty supervision, the writing of a dissertation, and an oral examination covering the dissertation and related fields. The program is specifically oriented toward preparing students for teaching in universities and seminaries; for specialized church, missions, and denominational leadership; and for scholarly writing.
Objectives
In addition to the program objectives set forth in connection with the Master of Divinity program, the Doctor of Philosophy program is designed to provide opportunity for the student to develop in the following advanced disciplines:
Creative Scholarship
The Doctor of Philosophy program seeks to guide the student to develop the capacity for critical evaluation and quality in research which produce creative scholarship and contribute to the field of theological knowledge and literature.
Independent Research and Writing
The Doctor of Philosophy program seeks to guide the student to develop competence in principles of independent research and to achieve a proficiency in the techniques of scholarly writing.
Graduate-Level Teaching
The Doctor of Philosophy program seeks to guide the student in advanced studies in a specialized field and to help him develop skills which qualify him for teaching at the graduate level in a college, university, or theological seminary.
Specialized Leadership
The Doctor of Philosophy program seeks to prepare the student for the assumption of specialized pastoral leadership in the church, in missions, and/or in administrative leadership in the denomination.
Admission Requirements
The Doctor of Philosophy is the highest academic degree offered by the Seminary. The program is reserved for students of exceptional academic ability and promise. Students must demonstrate an understanding of the basic techniques of scholarly research and writing, as well as an ability to communicate through effective teaching. They must be committed to the program and demonstrate that they are willing to fulfill the time requirements and the disciplinary standards that are required for distinguished scholarly achievement. Students’ health, finances, and outside responsibilities must be within such a level of tolerance that they are not unduly distracted from reasonable pursuit of the demands of the program.
Applicants must have a Bachelor of Arts degree or its equivalent from an accredited college or university, including sixty semester hours of liberal arts content. Any exception must be approved by the Doctor of Philosophy Committee.
Applicants must have a Master of Divinity degree or its equivalent from this Seminary or from another accredited seminary which has comparable language requirements. Students must have maintained in their Master of Divinity work the equivalent to a 3.00 grade point average (on a 4.00 scale) or better. Any exception must be approved by the Doctor of Philosophy Committee.
Application for admission into the Doctor of Philosophy program is processed through the Doctor of Philosophy Committee. Applicants must submit an application to the Doctor of Philosophy Committee on a form which may be obtained from the office of the Director of the Doctor of Philosophy Program. The application must be submitted by April 1 in order to begin seminar work in August and by September 1 to begin seminar work in January. Students are not fully admitted into the Doctor of Philosophy program until written acceptance is issued by the Director of the Doctor of Philosophy Program.
For a full description of the admission requirements and procedures, please see the Catalog.
Completion Requirements
The candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree must be registered for each semester of the regular academic year during the period of time taken to earn this degree. Continuous enrollment includes both the time spent in seminar study and the time spent in the writing of the dissertation, whether or not the student is actually on campus. Failure to register for any semester is automatically considered as withdrawal from the program.
Doctoral students must maintain residency throughout the Doctor of Philosophy program. With the approval of the Doctor of Philosophy Committee, one session may be spent in another institution. No credit toward this degree is given for work done in other institutions unless it has first been approved by the Doctor of Philosophy Committee.
The candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree must have a working knowledge of two languages (in addition to the normal requirements of Greek and Hebrew) suited to his academic interests. The student and the major department will negotiate the best combination of languages for the specific student’s program. Normally the languages considered are Latin, French and German.
Eight graduate semester-long seminars are required in the Doctor of Philosophy program. Each seminar meets two hours weekly during the semester. Four of the seminars are to be in a given field of discipline and shall constitute the major field. The other four seminars are to be in two fields other than that of the major and shall constitute the two minor fields. Students have the option of taking five seminars in their major field, two seminars in one minor field, and an elective(may be in their minor field). A maximum of two seminars per semester may be carried at any one time.
Students must spend at least eight hours weekly in on-campus research for each seminar. Thus, a student taking two seminars should be engaged in sixteen hours of on-campus research each week. Cards indicating time spent in such research work are to be submitted weekly to the secretary of the Doctor of Philosophy Committee. All research hours must be completed in the semester in which the seminar is taken.
Each student enrolled in Doctor of Philosophy seminars is required to attend two doctoral colloquia each academic year. One colloquium will be program-wide and held in conjunction with the annual Forum of Contemporary Theological Issues. One colloquium will be sponsored by each academic department offering a doctoral seminar for departmental majors and seminar participants. A departmental colloquium will meet for two hours and will normally consist of a presentation by a guest scholar or of discussions of trends, issues, and bibliography in the academic field. Doctor of Philosophy students with candidacy status are encouraged to attend colloquia.
At the conclusion of each doctoral seminar, one day is designated for students to take a comprehensive final examination over the content covered in the seminar. The examination is administered and evaluated by the seminar professor. A minimum grade of “B” is required in order for the student to receive credit for the seminar.
After the completion of seminars, each doctoral student who has completed his seminar work will take a week of comprehensive written examinations. Each day the examination will be a minimum of four hours and a maximum of eight hours. The examinations include: (1) General Field, one day; (2) Major Seminars one, two, three and four, one day; (3) Remaining Seminars, one day. A minimum grade of “B” is required to pass an examination. A student must pass at least five of these examinations on the first attempt. In cases of failure, the student may retake a maximum of four of the examinations. If the student fails the second attempt, he must retake the seminar; but no additional time in the program is allowed.
Candidacy Status
At the completion of seminar work, the student is expected to qualify for candidacy status. Candidacy status means that he may officially work on his dissertation. The student is declared a candidate for the degree if he completes the following:
(1) successful completion of the comprehensive examinations, (2) completion of the colloquia requirements, (3) good standing in Practical Missions, (4) exemplary conduct, (5) dissertation subject approved by the Doctor of Philosophy Committee, and (6) major department recommendation. Any exceptions to this procedure must be approved by the Doctor of Philosophy Committee.
After a minimum of four doctoral seminars and completion of the Graduate Research and Writing course and the Graduate Teaching course (20 hours), each student is required to teach in his major field under the guidance of his major advisor. With the approval of his major department and the Doctor of Philosophy Committee, he may teach in another department if he has received credit for two semester-long Doctor of Philosophy seminars in that field. The student will work under the direct supervision of his major advisor in development of a course syllabus, a teaching plan, and the assignment of course grades. At the discretion of the Doctor of Philosophy Committee, other arrangements may be made for students whose second language is English to fulfill their supervised instruction requirement.
The Doctor of Philosophy degree is a research and teaching degree. Because Mid-America is committed to preparing men to train others for effective ministry, we believe that it is important for those who teach to have significant ministry experience. The completion of the Doctor of Philosophy degree, therefore, requires two years of pastoral ministry, significant church-staff service, missionary service, or significant denominational service. Final evaluation of the completed practical experience is made by the Doctor of Philosophy Committee.
Each candidate must write a dissertation in his major field of study in accordance with directions specified by the Doctor of Philosophy Committee. The dissertation must demonstrate the ability to do independent research and must make a solid contribution to the literature of the field in which it is written. The dissertation should consist of 150-200 pages in the main body. Variations from these numbers must receive prior approval from the Doctor of Philosophy Committee.
A one-hour oral examination is conducted during the last academic semester prior to the commencement service in which the student expects to graduate. The oral examination covers the dissertation and relevant areas of cognate academic disciplines which are necessary for a full evaluation of the research.
| Summary of Requirements |
| Graduate Research & Writing |
2 Hours |
| Graduate Teaching |
2 Hours |
| Graduate Research Methodology (Education students only) |
2 Hours |
| Major Seminar One |
4 Hours |
| Major Seminar Two |
4 Hours |
| Major Seminar Three |
4 Hours |
| Major Seminar Four |
4 Hours |
| Minor Seminar One |
4 Hours |
| Minor Seminar Two |
4 Hours |
| Minor Seminar Three (or Elective) |
4 Hours |
| Minor Seminar Four or Major Seminar Five |
4 Hours
|
| Supervised Instruction and Departmental Reading |
4 Hours |
| Comprehensive Program Exams |
4 Hours |
| Dissertation |
16 Hours |
| Oral Examination |
4 Hours |
| Total |
64 Hours |
|
