Graduate Programme
The Department of Religious Studies is pleased to offer a Master of Arts degree. It is designed for those who have a first degree in Religious Studies, and who want to engage in the advanced study of religion, or who want to pursue an academic career in research and teaching. The Department introduced a new one-year "Course-Based MA with a Project" option in September 2010. This does not replace the thesis-based programme and will operate in conjunction with it; both will share three required courses. For more details, please contact our Graduate Officer, Dr. Michael Shute, mshute@mun.ca (864-8113).
Set in Canada's most unique city - St. John's, Newfoundland - Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) offers the largest graduate programme in Religious Studies in Atlantic Canada, and one of the largest in the nation. Important resources include a large library with a generous collection of periodical literature, the Religion of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives, courses in ancient and non-western languages, strong computer support, and ten highly qualified, full-time faculty members. The Department is also the home of the Journal of Macrodynamic Analysis.
One of the strengths of the graduate programme is the individual attention given to students. Each student, for example, is assigned a supervisor with whom he or she designs a personalized reading course and receives individualized guidance in the preparation of a thesis, including a thesis proposal.
We offer graduate-level instruction in the following areas of study:
- Hinduism
- Classical Confucianism
- Philosophical Daoism
- Chinese and North American Buddhism, Buddhism and Psychology
- Judaism
- Christianity
- Hebrew Bible
- New Testament
- religious history of Canada
- religious history of Newfoundland and Labrador
- medieval religious thought
- religion and culture [including pop culture]
- new-age religious movements
- ethics and social justice
- philosophy of religion
An online application form to the Graduate Program is available.
Financial Assistance
Memorial University offers financial assistance in two forms:
- Graduate Fellowships
- Graduate Assistantships
Most applicants are automatically considered for university funding. Students at MUN are also eligible to apply for funding from SSHRC and other granting agencies. Students here also benefit from the fact that the tuition rate at MUN is one of the lowest in Canada, and the cost of living in St. John's is far less than in larger Canadian cities.
Further Information
In order to better inform prospective graduate students, we have more detailed information about the requirements for applying to and succesfully completing a Master of Arts degree in our department. We have also prepared a list of recent theses that have been successfully defended by our graduate students, and the research interests of the faculty. For general information about Master of Arts degrees at MUN, see the Memorial University Calender for this current year, as made available by the Registrar's Office, or the School of Graduate Studies.
