PhD in Divinity - History of Christianity in Chicago United States | University of Chicago

The Christianity History specialization examines a principal Western religious tradition, exploring its development and interactions with other faiths and cultures throughout history. This field promotes understanding of diverse Christian communities from ancient times to the modern era, while enabling focused study on specific movements or periods, such as early Christianity (pre-Constantine), medieval Christianity, the Reformation, Puritanism, and various expressions of American Christianity. Students develop skills in analyzing historical documents and artifacts, evaluating methodological approaches, and understanding historiography's purposes and audiences. The curriculum recognizes overarching themes relevant across all eras—including biblical interpretation methods, orthodoxy/heresy distinctions, church-society relations, and expressions of piety—while examining how these manifest differently across time and place. This approach integrates intellectual, social, institutional, and cultural histories to properly interpret evidence and address key questions about Christianity's diverse historical expressions.