Description of program: The program provides advanced studies in the social scientific study of religion, practical and pastoral theology, care, and counseling, and religion and culture. It prepares students for scholarship and teaching in seminaries, divinity schools, and colleges and also provides a foundation for clinical and ministerial practice.

Faculty and faculty interests: Volney Gay (Ph.D., University of Chicago) works in psychology of religion, psychoanalysis, and anthropology, teaches in the Religious Studies Department and Psychiatry Department of the Medical School, and practices as a psychoanalyst. Leonard Hummel (Ph.D., Boston University) has a strong background in community psychology, historical theology, and additional experience and interests in practical theology, chaplaincy, and parish ministry. Bonnie Miller-McLemore (Ph.D., University of Chicago) specializes in religion and culture, theological ethics, women's studies, and pastoral theology, and brings experience as a chaplain, pastor, and therapist. The program also relies on other faculty in the GDR and the university at large.

Admissions requirements: B.A. and master's level work (M.Div. or other advanced training); prior experience in pastoral ministry, counseling, or psychotherapy; and general knowledge in the field of religion. Campus visits highly recommended.

Program requirements: 72 hours of course work, including required colloquium on the study of religion and seminar on teaching (for all first-year GDR students), 12 hours in 2 minor fields (6 in another area in the GDR; 6 in a cognate social science), and 3 hours clinical seminar; reading knowledge of 2 foreign languages (normally a modern European language and a research language, such as statistics); qualifying exams, usually taken after the fourth semester of matriculation, in 5 areas: (1) Pastoral Theology; (2) Religion, Personality and Culture; (3) Methods in Religion and Personality; (4) GDR minor; and (5) Social Science minor; successful execution of the dissertation and its oral defense

Clinical component: Clinical seminar provided through the Pastoral Counseling and Consultation Centers of Tennessee. Students also gain teaching experience in M.Div. and undergraduate religion courses.

Duration of the program: Approximately 4-5 years.

Titles of recent dissertations: 1) As Long as I Have King Jesus: African American Women's Health, Spirituality, and the Black Church; 2) The Context of Compassion: A View from the Perspective of Pastoral Theology, Object Relations Theory and Dialogical Intersubjectivity.

Cost and financial aid: All students receive 100% tuition; qualified candidates receive stipends of up to $15,000.

Current number of students: Approximately 6-8 students in course work and 5-8 students at exam or dissertation stages.

Contact persons: GDR office, 615-343-3977, http://divinity.lib.vanderbilt.edu/vds. Faculty: Gay, 615-322 6341, volney.p.gay@vanderbilt.edu; Hummel, 615-343-3975, leonard.m.hummel@vanderbilt.edu; and Miller-McLemore, 615-343-3970, bonnie.miller-mclemore@vanderbilt.edu.

(updated 04/25/01)

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