The University of Chicago Divinity School is a graduate professional school at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today is without any sectarian affiliation. It is ranked number one in the field of the study of religion according to the National Research Council's measure of faculty quality in its survey of all doctoral granting programs in religious studies. Scholarly work is organized by three faculty committees, each of which is further subdivided into areas of study. PhD students concentrate their work in one of eleven recognized areas of study. Students in the various master's programs combine study in these areas with courses specific to their programs. All students are taught by the same faculty.

History

A distinguished

Semiticist Semitic studies, or Semitology, is the academic field dedicated to the studies of Semitic languages and literatures and the history of the Semitic-speaking peoples. A person may be called a ''Semiticist'' or a ''Semitist'', both terms being equi ...

and a member of the Baptist clergy, Chicago's first university president

William Rainey Harper William Rainey Harper (July 24, 1856 – January 10, 1906) was an American academic leader, an accomplished semiticist, and Baptist clergyman. Harper helped to establish both the University of Chicago and Bradley University and served as the i ...

believed that a great research university ought to have as one central occupation the scholarly study of religion, to prepare scholars for careers in teaching and research, and ministers for service to the church. Having taught at what was then the Baptist Theological Union Seminary, Harper incorporated it into the University of Chicago as its Divinity School, the first professional school at the university. The Baptist Theological Union (BTU) had founded the Seminary, established in 1865, "alongside" the

Old University of Chicago The Old University of Chicago was the legal name given in 1890 to the defunct school previously named "University of Chicago". The school, founded in 1856 by Baptist church leaders, was called the "University of Chicago" (or, interchangeably, "Ch ...

which opened nine years earlier in 1856. The old university had ceased operations under bankruptcy in 1886, with the exception of its law school which was absorbed by

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. The Divinity School is located in Swift Hall, on the main quadrangle of the university's campus in close proximity to the Divisions of the Humanities and the Social Sciences for interdisciplinary work.

Degrees

The University of Chicago Divinity School grants

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(Ph.D.),

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

(M.Div.),

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(M.A.), and Master of Arts in Religious Studies (A.M.R.S.) degrees. It offers several dual-degree programs with other schools at the University of Chicago.

Curriculum

Candidates for the Ph.D. choose among 11 areas of academic focus: * Anthropology and Sociology of Religion * Bible * History of Christianity * History of Judaism *

History of Religions The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The prehistory of religion involves the st ...

* Islamic Studies * Philosophy of Religion * Religion, Literature, and Visual Culture * Religion in America * Religious Ethics *

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

The faculty are organized into three Committees of Study: The Committee on Religion and the Human Sciences * History of Religions * Anthropology and Sociology of Religion * Religion, Literature, and Visual Culture The Committee on Historical Studies in Religion * History of Judaism * History of Christianity * Biblical Studies The Committee on Constructive Studies in Religion * Philosophy of Religion * Ethics * Theology

Research and special programs

The Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion

The vision of establishing an institute for the advanced study of religion at the University of Chicago came from

Joseph M. Kitagawa Joseph Mitsuo Kitagawa (March 8, 1915 – October 7, 1992) was an eminent Japanese American scholar in religious studies. He was professor emeritus and dean of the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is considered one of the founders of the ...

, the Dean of the Divinity School from 1970 to 1980.

Martin E. Marty Martin Emil Marty (February 5, 1928 – February 25, 2025) was an American Lutheran religious scholar who wrote extensively on religion in the United States. Biography Early life Marty was born on February 5, 1928, in West Point, Nebraska, ...

, a historian of modern Christianity, worked closely with Dean Kitagawa to formulate the purposes and operation of the institute within the context of the Divinity School's general mission of teaching and graduate research. The Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion officially opened in October 1979, with Professor Marty as its director. Subsequent directors have been Bernard McGinn (1983–1992), a historian of medieval Christianity;

Frank Reynolds Frank James Reynolds (November 29, 1923 – July 20, 1983) was an American television journalist for CBS and ABC News. Reynolds was a New York–based anchor of the '' ABC Evening News'' from 1968 to 1970 and later was the Washington, D ...

(1992–2000), a historian of religions who specializes in Buddhist studies; W. Clark Gilpin (2001–2004), a historian of American Christianity and theology; Wendy Doniger (2004–2007), a historian of religion who specializes in Hinduism and mythology; and William Schweiker, who works in the field of theological ethics. In 1998, the Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion was renamed the Martin Marty Center, to honor its founding director for his singular distinction as historian, author, and commentator on religion and public life.

Buddhist Studies Program

A number of faculty in the Divinity School and the humanities departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations (SALC), East Asian Languages and Civilizations (EALC), History, and Art History participate in an interdisciplinary program in the study of the Buddhist Traditions. Degrees are offered through matriculation in one or the other of these programs. The program sponsors workshops and seminars throughout the academic year. Affiliated faculty include Daniel A. Arnold, Steven Collins, Paul Copp,

Matthew Kapstein Matthew T. Kapstein is a scholar of Tibetan religions, Buddhism, and the cultural effects of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He is Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and Director of Tibetan ...

, James Ketelaar, Gary A. Tubb, and Christian K. Wedemeyer.

Awards and Prizes

Each year, the Divinity School awards prizes for specific student achievements. These include: the John Gray Rhind Award, to an advanced student in the ministry program at the Divinity School whose excellence in academic and professional training gives notable promise of a significant contribution to the life of the church, and the J. Coert Rylaarsdam Prize, to a student who has made special efforts, curricular or extracurricular, to promote interfaith relations, particularly between the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions. Additionally, the school awards a prize for

Frederick Buechner Carl Frederick Buechner ( ; July 11, 1926 – August 15, 2022) was an American author, Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies ...

Award for Excellence in Writing. The school also awards the Divinity School Prize for Excellence in Teaching, to recognise the efforts of doctoral students in their teaching, and the

Tikva Frymer-Kensky Tikva Simone Frymer-Kensky (Hebrew: תקווה פריימר-קנסקי; October 21, 1943 – August 31, 2006) was a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She received her MA and PhD from Yale University. She had previously ser ...

Memorial Prize, for a student who has written the most accomplished essay integrating the materials and insights of at least two of the fields to which Professor Frymer-Kensky's own scholarship contributed: Hebrew Bible, biblical law, ancient Near Eastern studies, and ritual and/or

feminist theology Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Jainism, Neopaganism, Baháʼí Faith, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scri ...

Journals

The Divinity school publishes the journals ''

'' and ''

The Journal of Religion ''The Journal of Religion'' is an academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press founded in 1897 as ''The American Journal of Theology''. The journal "embraces all areas of theology (biblical, historical, ethical, and constructive) ...

''.

Swift Hall

Completed in 1926, Swift Hall was designed by Coolidge and Hodgdon in the

collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

style of architecture. It contains lecture halls, seminar rooms, faculty offices, a student-run coffee shop, a commons, and administrative offices. The lecture hall was formerly the home of the Divinity Library, before its holdings were consolidated into the central research library, the Joseph Regenstein Library.

Bond Chapel

Southwest of Swift Hall and connected to it by a stone cloister is the Joseph Bond Chapel. Both Swift Hall and Bond Chapel were designed by the architects Coolidge and Hodgdon at the end of the Gothic revival period in America. The chapel was given by Mrs. Joseph Bond in memory of her husband, a former Trustee of the Baptist Theological Union, the predecessor institution of the Divinity School. Mr. and Mrs. Bond's daughter, Elfleda, married Edgar J. Goodspeed, a member of the university faculty noted for his translation of the New Testament. After her death in 1949, Mr. Goodspeed donated the stained-glass windows in her memory. The cornerstone of the chapel was laid by Mrs. Bond on April 30, 1925, and the chapel was opened in October, 1926. In 2012–2013, the chapel was renovated and its organ was replaced by the Reneker Organ. Inspired by instruments built in northern Germany in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Reneker Organ was built by Canadian master organ builder Karl Wilhelm in 1983 for Graham Taylor Hall at the former home of the Chicago Theological Seminary. It was dedicated in 1984 in honor of the late Robert W. Reneker and Betty C. Reneker, and was moved to Bond Chapel in the autumn of 2012. The cloister connecting Bond Chapel to Swift Hall was reconstructed in 2014. A cloister garden is due to be installed between Swift and Bond in 2015. As a Divinity School chapel in a major university, its main function is to provide a sanctuary for reflection, worship, and community gatherings. It is used extensively for weddings, funerals, mid-week Divinity School worship services, other religious services, theater presentations, and musical events performed by the university's smaller musical groups, such as Collegium Musicum. It seats about 300 persons.

Notable faculty and former faculty

* Daniel A. Arnold, Indian and comparative philosophy of religion *

Hans Dieter Betz Hans Dieter Betz (born May 21, 1931) is an American scholar of the New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Chicago. He has made influential contributions to research on Paul's Letter to the Galatians, the Sermon on the Mount a ...

, emeritus, New Testament *

Anne Carr Sister Anne Carr (11 November 1934 – 11 February 2008) was a Catholic nun, a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an activist, and feminist theologian at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where she was the first female permane ...

, feminist theologian (deceased) *

Ioan Petru Culianu Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano (5 January 1950 – 21 May 1991) was a Romanian historian of religion, culture, and ideas, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He served as professor of the history of religions at t ...

, historian of religions (deceased) *

Arnold Davidson Arnold Ira Davidson (born 1955) is an American philosopher and academic, and the Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy, Comparative Literature, History of Science, and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Chic ...

, philosopher and

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

specialist *

Wendy Doniger Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (born November 20, 1940) is an American Indologist whose professional career has spanned five decades. A scholar of Sanskrit and Indian textual traditions, her major works include '' The Hindus: An Alternative History'' ...

, scholar of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

and

comparative mythology Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.Littleton, p. 32 Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used ...

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and in ...

, scholar of comparative religions (deceased) *

Jean Bethke Elshtain Jean Paulette Bethke Elshtain (January 6, 1941 – August 11, 2013) was an American ethicist, political philosopher, and public intellectual. She was the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics in the University of C ...

, political philosopher and ethicist (deceased) * Michael Fishbane, Semitic languages, biblical studies, and Judaica * Franklin I. Gamwell, emeritus, scholar of ethical and political theory (deceased) * Robert M. Grant, New Testament and church history scholar (deceased) * Seward Hiltner, pastoral theologian (deceased) * Dwight N. Hopkins, constructive theologian *

, scholar of Tibetan religions and Buddhist philosophy *

Hans-Josef Klauck Hans-Josef Klauck OFM (4 June 1946 – 27 March 2025) was a German theologian, Franciscan priest, and historian. After teaching New Testament as professor at the universities of Bonn, Würzburg and Munich, he was Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Prof ...

, emeritus, New Testament *

Bruce Lincoln Bruce Lincoln (born 1948) is Caroline E. Haskell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Religions in the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, where he also holds positions in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Com ...

, emeritus, historian of religions and Indo-Europeanist *

Jean-Luc Marion Jean-Luc Marion (; born 3 July 1946) is a French philosopher and Catholic theologian. A former student of Jacques Derrida, his work is informed by patristic and mystical theology, phenomenology, and modern philosophy.Horner 2005. Much of h ...

, phenomenologist and theologian *

, emeritus, religion in America (deceased) *

Shailer Mathews Shailer Mathews (1863–1941) was an American liberal Christianity, liberal Christian theologian, involved with the Social Gospel movement. Career Born on May 26, 1863, in Portland, Maine, Portland, Maine, and graduated from Colby College. Mathew ...

, former dean (1908–1933) * Bernard McGinn, emeritus, medieval mysticism * Paul Mendes-Flohr, modern Jewish intellectual history * Margaret M. Mitchell, former dean (2010–2015), specialist in Early Christianity *

David Nirenberg David Nirenberg (born 1964) is an American medievalist and intellectual historian. He is the Director and Leon Levy Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. He previously taught at the University of Chicago, where he was Dea ...

, dean, historian of religions *

Martha C. Nussbaum Martha Nussbaum (; Craven; born May 6, 1947) is an American philosopher and the current Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is jointly appointed in the law school and the philos ...

, associated faculty; philosopher, legalist and public intellectual *

Norman Perrin Norman Perrin (29 November 1920 – 25 November 1976) was an English-born, American biblical scholar at the University of Chicago. Perrin specialized in the study of the New Testament, and was internationally known for his work on the teaching ...

, New Testament scholar (deceased) *

Paul Ricoeur Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

, philosopher (deceased) * Martin Riesebrodt, German sociologist and specializing on

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

's works (deceased) *J. Coert Rylaarsdam, Old Testament scholar (deceased) *

William Schweiker William Schweiker is an American theological ethicist. He is the Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on globalization as an ethical problem, hermeneutic philos ...

, theological ethics *

Michael Sells Michael Anthony Sells (born May 8, 1949) is John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature in the Divinity School and in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago. Michael Sells studies and teaches in t ...

, Islamic Studies and Qur'an *

Gerald Birney Smith Gerald Birney Smith (May 3, 1868 – April 2, 1929) was a Christian author, educator, and administrator at the Chicago School. He was born in Middlefield, Massachusetts and attended Brown university in 1891. He taught at Oberlin Academy, Worces ...

, professor of Christian Theology (1900–1929) *

Jonathan Z. Smith Jonathan Zittell Smith (November 21, 1938 – December 30, 2017), also known as J. Z. Smith, was an American history of religion, historian of religions. He was based at the University of Chicago for most of his career. His research included ...

, emeritus, influential historian of religions (deceased) *

Kathryn Tanner Kathryn Eileen Tanner (born 1957) is an American Anglican theologian who serves as Frederick Marquand Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. Biography Born on March 29, 1957, Tanner earned her BA, MA, MPhil, and PhD degrees ...

, theologian *

Paul Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (; ; August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German and American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran theologian who was one of the most influential theologians of the twenti ...

, theologian (deceased) *

Emilie Townes Emilie Maureen Townes (born August 1, 1955, Durham, North Carolina) is an American Christian social ethicist and theologian. She was Dean, E. Rhodes, and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society at the Vanderbilt University Div ...

, Christian social ethicist, womanist theologian *

David Tracy David William Tracy (January 6, 1939 – April 29, 2025) was an American Catholic theologian and priest. He was the Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies at the University o ...

, emeritus, Catholic theology * Christian K. Wedemeyer, historian of religions, Indian and Tibetan esoteric Buddhism *

Allen Wikgren Allen Paul Wikgren (December 3, 1906 – May 7, 1998) was an American New Testament scholar and professor at the University of Chicago. His work centered on the text of the New Testament and New Testament manuscripts, but also included Hellen ...

, New Testament textual critic (deceased) *

Laurie Zoloth Laurie Zoloth (born 1950) is an American ethicist, currently Margaret E. Burton Professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School. From 2017 to 2018, she served as the Dean of the Divinity School and as such was the first Jewish dean of the Di ...

, former dean (2017–2018), bioethics and Jewish studies

Publications

Several publications associated with the university: *''

'' (academic journal) *''

'' (academic journal, founded 1882) *''Ethics'' (founded in 1890, no longer in publication) *''Criterion'' (founded in 1961 by then-dean Jerald Brauer, published twice a year). *''Circa'' (founded in 1992 as the dean's newsletter; alumni magazine published in the fall and spring quarters)

References

External links

Official site
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Divinity School A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

Seminaries and theological colleges in Illinois Universities and colleges established in 1891 1891 establishments in Illinois