Doctor of Theology (Th.D.)

Duke Divinity’s Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) program provides students with academically rigorous training, comparable to the demands of the Ph.D., focused on the ministries and practices of Christian communities. The program centers on areas of study such as worship, preaching, evangelism, and the arts. At the same time, as an integral component of its mission, the Th.D. program seeks to reconfigure the way in which such practices are brought into creative interdisciplinary conversation with the established academic discourses of biblical studies, historical studies, and theology and ethics. The interdisciplinary scope of the Th.D. program extends to other areas of the university and addresses fresh areas of research. The program encourages scholarly studies that probe the intersections of interest between Christian communities and the broader society, or theology and the broader university—such as theology and healthcare or the theological undergirding of peacemaking and reconciliation. The curriculum for the Th.D. includes two academic years of full-time residency (with three courses per semester) and completion of an academic dissertation. We designed the Th.D. program to deepen the ways in which we cultivate scholars, teachers, and pastors who embody the integrative theological task—ranging across the boundaries between the traditional academic disciplines of biblical, historical, systematic, and ministerial studies—to encourage and support theological reflection on matters of faith and practice in Christian communities.