PhD in Divinity - Religions in America in Chicago United States | University of Chicago

Program participants have the opportunity to explore diverse dissertation subjects, ranging from Native American spirituality to African American Islamic movements, contemporary religious media trends, Judeo-Christian perspectives on America's self-proclaimed status as a modern Israel, interpretations of late 20th-century American secularism, various faith communities' reactions to capitalist economics, the development of New Thought philosophy in the 1800s, and the experiences of Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist communities in America. Since 1927, the University of Chicago has pioneered the academic examination of American religions, establishing the country's first endowed chair in American Christian history initially occupied by William Warren Sweet (1881-1959). Sweet championed an interdisciplinary approach to religious studies, analyzing faith traditions within their societal, political, and economic frameworks. His intellectual legacy was continued by subsequent scholars like Sidney Mead, Jerald C. Brauer, W. Clark Gilpin, and Martin E. Marty, who both maintained his analytical rigor and expanded the Divinity School's focus to include all religious traditions present in the United States.