SIP: Comparative

UVA's Graduate Program in Comparative Scripture, Interpretation and Practice prepares students for advanced research and teaching about the phenomena of scriptural study, textual interpretation, and religious practice in all three of the Abrahamic traditions, as well as in other scripturally centered traditions. The first goal of the Program is to examine the Bible, the Qur'an, and other scriptures as literatures that generate communities of religious practice: practices of study, of interpretation and reflection, of ritual, and of social life. The PhD in Comparative SIP is designed to prepare students for teaching positions in departments of Religious Studies, where they will be able to offer advanced courses in their primary tradition of study (Judaism, Christianity, or Islam) and more general courses in the Abrahamic traditions.

Coursework in Comparative SIP focuses primarily on the three Abrahamic traditions. There are foundational courses: in the languages, texts, and histories of the TANAKH, the New Testament, and the Qur'an; and in the interpretive traditions of rabbinic Judaism, of early and Patristic Christianity, and of classical Qur'anic exegesis and interpretation. There are ethnographic and comparative courses in the religious practices of each tradition, from reading practices to ritual and prayer practices, in the past and today. There are courses on interpretation theory, on ritual theory, and in philosophical hermeneutics, pertinent to each of the traditions and to broader, comparative studies. And there are courses on the practice and theory of "scriptural reasoning": our term for modes of study, fellowship, and analysis that bring the three Abrahamic text-traditions into sustained dialogue.

Core Faculty:

Elizabeth Alexander: Rabbinic literature and hermeneutics.
Jenny Geddes: Religion, literature and culture.
Eleanor Kaufman (English Dept): Literary theory; Modern comparative literature
Peter Ochs (convener): Scriptural reasoning in the Abrahamic traditions.
Vanessa Ochs: Jewish ritual studies and material culture.
Augustine Thompson: Christian historical theology.
Abdulaziz Sachedina: Islamic and Shi'ite Studies.
Corey Walker: Critical Religious and Theological Studies

Associate Faculty: Students may also take courses with other members of the Department of Religious Studies and, with approval, other members the Arts and Sciences Graduate Faculty.

Degree Requirements:

PhD.
Concentration

Scriptural Tradition: On matriculation, studentsdeclare their primary tradition of study (Judaism, Christianity, or Islam). PhD students specialize in one Abrahamic tradition and take courses in the other two traditions as well.
Discipline: After the first year of study, PhD students must, in consultation with a faculty advisor, declare a primary discipline of study: History/Text-criticism; Theology/Philosophic Hermeneutics; Religion and Literature; or Ritual Studies/Ethnography.

Course Requirements:
All PhD candidates within the Department of Religious Studies who do not hold a graduate degree are required to pass a minimum of 54 credits (18 courses) in classes at the 500 level and above plus 18 additional credits (which may be taken in non graded non-topical research consultation). Students who already hold a graduate degree in Religious Studies from another University (M.A., M. Div., or equivalent) may petition for advanced standing at the end of their first year of residence and be permitted to waive up to 24 credits (8 courses) of the course-work requirement.

All Ph.D. candidates in Comparative SIP must fulfill the following distribution requirements:

Scriptural Tradition: At least two courses in each of the three Abrahamic traditions, and at least eight courses in their primary tradition of study.

Practicum: During their first year, all students attend a practicum in Abrahamic scriptural reasoning, held every two weeks.

SIP Seminar: All students are required to enroll in one SIP seminar each year. The seminar offerings will vary, in alternate years, between comparative studies and methodology.

Languages: Like all Doctor of Philosophy Candidates in Religious Studies, candidates in SIP must demonstrate by examination a reading competency in both French and German, but one substitution may be approved when other languages are appropriate to the field of concentration. Candidates in SIP must also demonstrate by examination a reading competency in languages specific to their primary area of concentration:

Jewish Tradition: reading competency in Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew. Students concentrating in rabbinics must also show competency in Aramaic. Other language competences will be assigned when appropriate to a particular concentration.

Christian Tradition: reading competency in Biblical Greek. Students concentrating in Bible must also show competency in Biblical Hebrew. Those concentrating in Patristics or medieval studies must also show competency in Latin. Other language competences will be assigned when appropriate to a particular concentration.

Muslim Tradition: reading competency in Qur'an and in classical and medieval Arabic religious texts. Persian language competence will be assigned when appropriate.

All traditions: It is strongly recommended that students take at least one course each semester that requires readings in their primary scriptural languages.

Comprehensive Examinations. No sooner than one semester and no later than one year after the completion of all coursework and language examinations, PhD candidates must pass four comprehensive examinations in Comparative SIP. The examinations must be taken in the following four areas:

Primary scriptural tradition: A 6 hr. exam in either Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic Interpretation; or Old/New Testament and Patristic Exegesis; or Qur'an and traditions of classical and medieval exegesis.

Secondary traditions: A 6 hr exam in the two other Abrahamic traditions of scriptural reading and interpretation.

Issues in Comparative SIP: A 3hr exam on issues of text interpretation as a basis for comparative study of all three Abrahamic traditions; and a 3hr exam on issues of ritual and religious practice as a basis for comparative study of all three Abrahamic traditions. (A research paper may be substituted for either exam.)

·Theories of Comparative SIP: A 6 hr exam (or research paper) on theories of SIP as articulated within a student's primary discipline of study.

Dissertation: Upon successful completion of the comprehensive examinations, a PhD candidate will be invited to choose a dissertation advisor from the SIP Faculty and, with the advisor's guidance, to gather a dissertation committee including at least one other member of the SIP Faculty and at least one faculty member outside of SIP (in any other Area of the Graduate School). the candidate will then prepare a dissertation proposal and submit it to the committee for approval. The candidate is strongly advised to complete the dissertation within two years -and no longer than three years - after completing the comprehensive exams.

MA.
Concentration:

Scriptural Tradition: On matriculation, studentsdeclare their primary tradition of study (Judaism, Christianity, or Islam). MA students specialize in one Abrahamic tradition and take courses in the other two traditions as well.

Course Requirements:

For all candidates within the Department of Religious Studies. The M.A. in Religious Studies has the following general requirements. Either: a) The successful completion of 24 credit hours (8 courses) of course work, of which at least 6 hours must be taken in courses with a strong emphasis on method; and the preparation and successful defense of a thesis which exhibits competence in the area of specialization, skill in a given method of study, and an ability to employ resources in the relevant foreign language(s); OR b) The successful completion of 30 credit hours (10 courses) of course work, of which at least 6 hours must be taken in courses with a strong emphasis on method; and the satisfactory performance in a comprehensive examination based upon a reading list approved by the relevant field committee; (The choice between these options is determined in consultation between the student and faculty advisors, and with a view to the student's objectives in graduate study.)

Course Distribution Requirements: MA candidates in Comparative SIP must fulfill the following distribution requirements:

Scriptural Tradition: At least one course in each of the three Abrahamic traditions, and at least four courses in the primary tradition of study.

Practicum: During their first year of study, students are required to attend a practicum in Abrahamic scriptural reasoning, held every two weeks.

SIP Seminar: All students are required to enroll in one SIP seminar each year. The seminar offerings will vary, in alternate years, between comparative studies and methodology.

Languages: A reading knowledge of either French or German and one scriptural language must to be demonstrated by examination (although another language may be substituted under appropriate circumstances and with the approval of the Committee on Graduate Studies).