PhD Program

The Pines School of Graduate Studies of Hebrew Union College is a center for study, training, research, and publication in Judaica and Cognate Studies. The resources and scholarly staff, library holdings, and research facilities of the College make it a unique institution of higher learning. The Pines School of Graduate Studies provides PhD programs of the highest quality in order to prepare its students for careers in teaching and scholarly research. The award of the PhD degree signifies broad general competence in Judaica and Cognate Studies as well as professional expertise in a particular area of specialization.

This program is no longer accepting applicants.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students awarded the PhD will:

• be able to read and interpret primary source materials, particularly in their respective areas of specialization;
• be able to interpret the meaning and place of source data within larger contexts and categories of humanities discourse relating to culture, society, history and religion;
• be able to understand independent, advanced research within their fields of expertise, and should make significant contributions to scholarship;
• possess teaching and communication skills; and
• appreciate and foster intellectual collaboration and cooperation among people of diverse religious backgrounds who are part of the academic community.

Foreign Language Requirements

Hebrew

Students in all fields are expected to achieve mastery of that aspect of Hebrew most closely related to their particular field of study, as well as some facility with other varieties of Hebrew. Students specializing in Hebrew Bible, for example, must develop a professional level of expertise in Biblical Hebrew. In addition, they are expected to know the rudiments of Rabbinic Hebrew and to be able to read scholarly works in their field in Modern Israeli Hebrew.

French and German

Students are not eligible to take candidacy exams until these modern language requirements are fulfilled. Competence is to be determined on the basis of students’ ability to translate and comprehend texts that are directly related to their major area of interest. Reading knowledge of French and German, the principal languages of scholarly research other than English, is required for the PhD. The requisite competence normally is to be demonstrated in the following way:

• Passing an examination administered by a faculty member.
• Alternatively, students may fulfill the German language requirement by passing the German readings course or enrolling in a full-year German language course and passing with a grade of B or better. Language courses may be taken through participating in consortium schools.

Other Language Requirements

Other ancient and modern languages are often required to meet the needs of students’ academic programs. Such requirements are determined through consultation between students and their faculty advisors. In general, students fulfill these requirements in one of two ways:

• By successfully completing the relevant course work.
• By passing a candidacy examination that is devoted to testing proficiency in the language. This method normally is used if the language is central to the student’s area of specialization.

Degree Requirements

Program Requirements

Each program has its own course requirements. Please consult with your faculty advisor about this. All students are required to take some time during their program a one-semester course dealing with theory and method in the study of literature, history, or religion. Courses being offered in any academic year that fulfill this requirement will be announced during the pre-registration period; students will have options in fulfilling this requirement.

Research Competencies

All students must acquire the appropriate research competencies to engage in dissertation-related research in their specific field. In addition to required coursework and preparation for comprehensive examinations, these competencies may be acquired further through one or more of the following: research assistantships, archaeological fieldwork, field-appropriate professional internships.

Residency Defined

Residency is defined as the period of enrollment in full-time course work (at least two years on campus; normally three years), up to the completion of seventy-two course credit hours or the equivalent.

The normal course load is four 3-credit courses per semester.

Students must enroll in three 3-credit courses in order to be considered full-time.

It is also possible for students to fulfill residency requirements on a part-time basis.

Faculty Advisors

The faculty advisor usually should be the faculty member whose expertise is most compatible with the student’s interests. Students work together with their advisors both to decide on a long-term course of study and to plan their programs for individual semesters. Students are required to meet with their faculty advisors at least once each semester, prior to course registration.

Course Work Required

Students have the right to know both the specific course requirements and the criteria according to which they will be evaluated in any course. If those requirements and criteria are not made clear to them, they should request the necessary clarification from the course instructor or, if that proves unsatisfactory, from the director of the Pines School of Graduate Studies.

Timetable for stages of the PhD Program

Students with questions regarding their timetable should reach out to the Pines School of Graduate Studies directly.

• Three years – residency/coursework (72 credits or their equivalent) One year – candidacy (2 credits)
• Four years – dissertation (8 credits)

Residency

The period of enrollment in full-time course work (at least two years on campus; normally three years), up to the completion of seventy-two course credit hours or the equivalent.

Students admitted to official residency are expected to work towards the fulfillment of the seventy-two credit hours of graduate work or the equivalent on a full-time basis.

The normal course load is four 3-credit courses per semester (see below for candidacy and dissertation). It is also possible for students to fulfill residency requirements on a part-time basis; for more information, consult the director of the Pines School of Graduate Studies.

Candidacy

The period from the completion of course requirements until the student passes the candidacy examinations. This is followed by the submission and approval of the dissertation proposal. Credit for full-time candidacy is nine credits per semester. The student in candidacy is considered to be full-time.

Dissertation Phase (ABD)

The period of writing the dissertation is four years (students who require extensions, approved by the Graduate Executive Committee, can remain in good standing for an additional three years) from the completion of the candidacy examinations. Credit for the full-time dissertation phase is nine credits per semester. The student writing a dissertation is considered to be full-time.