History of Religion and Modernity

Drawing on the skills of historical contextualization and close, textually grounded analysis, the History of Religion and Modernity (H-RAM) examines the intersection of religion with the period known as modernity (roughly the eighteenth century to the present). Our teaching and scholarship focus on religious engagements, responses, and creativity within modern historical contexts. These include, but are not limited to secularization, state formation, multicultural and multireligious societies, geographical constructs such as “the West,” “the East,” and the “Global South,” modern psychology, democracy, constructions of race, gender, class, and sexuality, colonization and decolonization, and developments in aesthetics, art, devotional life, lived religion, spirituality, and theology. While we welcome applicants working on any aspect of religion in the modern world, our faculty strengths include the history of modern Christianity (both Protestant and Catholic) and modern Islam. 

Language Requirements
Language requirements for the Ph.D. in Fordham’s Theology department are individualized: each student will work closely with their academic advisor at the beginning of the program to determine appropriate language requirements and proficiency levels tailored to their specific needs and goals. 

Comprehensive Exams

Comprehensive exams are designed to develop teaching competencies in multiple areas while laying the foundation for dissertation research. The exact plan of comprehensive exams is developed individually with the primary advisor, but typically History of Religion in Modernity students take comprehensive exams in one or two of the primary religious traditions of the period, with a third exam selected from another field of study in the department and a fourth dissertation area exam.