International Ph.D. Program

Hartford Seminary, recognizing the desire of students to utilize our unique educational resources in working toward a Doctor of Philosophy degree and the importance of international diversity in higher education, has entered into a partnership with the University of Exeter.

Through this program, students will work toward their degree under direct supervision of a Hartford Seminary lead advisor with a University of Exeter faculty member serving as the second advisor. The standards and policies for the program will follow the model of United Kingdom Ph.D. programs and the degree will be awarded by the University of Exeter.

In the United Kingdom model, students working on a Ph.D. degree attend a limited number of courses and spend the largest portion of their time working independently under the supervision of their lead advisor. Consequently, students interested in this program must be highly self-motivated and sufficiently prepared in their area of study to conduct doctoral level independent research.

To insure a quality educational experience, this program will be limited in the areas of study and in the numbers of students admitted. Currently, the two tracks of study available to potential Ph.D. students are: Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations and Theology and Ethics. Students exploring this degree option should have a clear idea of the topic they wish to pursue in their research before applying.

Hartford Seminary values the relationship between the academic pursuit of knowledge and practical application. All areas of study will explore this relationship and doctoral dissertations must have both academic depth and practical value.

Director of the program is Dr. Najib Awad, Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Hartford Seminary. His website is http://www.hartsem.edu/faculty/najib-awad.

For additional information or an application packet, please contact the Ph.D. Administrator, at PHDAdmin@hartsem.edu.