Program Director Mary Foskett

Overview

The JD/MA in Religious Studies dual-degree program facilitates an interdisciplinary and comparative study of law and religion and encourages students whose academic or career interests require gaining competence in both disciplines. Students interested in this joint degree must apply to each program separately.

Students who enter the joint degree program can combine the standard three-year law curriculum and the standard two-year MA curriculum into a four-year dual-degree program. Students will first complete a year of work in the Department for the Study of Religions. Years 2 and 3 will be completed in the School of Law. For the 4th year, students will enroll in each school for one semester, completing any remaining degree requirements and elective courses that are appropriate for the dual-degree.

Law School Requirements

When undertaken as part of the JD/MA in Religious Studies dual-degree program, the JD degree requires completion of the degree requirements prescribed by the law school for graduation. Applicants should familiarize themselves with requirements pertaining to the LSAT or GRE, the JD application, the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS), and the MA in Religious Studies application.

To submit your GRE score(s), applicants need to log into their ETS account and select Wake Forest University School of Law as a recipient using ETS institution code 3760. You must submit all GRE scores from the past 5 years. LSAT scores from the past 5 years are automatically provided to Wake Forest University when you apply. Any test scores provided (LSAT, GRE, or both) will be considered in your admissions decision.

Department for the Study of Religions Requirements

The dual-degree requires completion of 27 hours of graduate coursework in Religious Studies. At least 9 of the 27 hours in coursework must be in courses numbered 700 or above, and one of these courses must be “REL 700: Theory and Method in the Study of Religion.” The remaining 18 hours may be in courses at either the 600-level or 700-level. No less than one month before the end of their final semester, students must submit a final portfolio to a committee consisting of one professor of their choice and the graduate director. The final portfolio includes the student’s resume, personal statement, a selection of 3 papers (at least 1 theoretical) from any graduate-level courses they have taken during their M.A. coursework, and a 12-15 page reflection paper that discusses their intellectual trajectory, engagement with theory and method, and personal growth across the 3 papers and the way in which the student’s views of “religion,” broadly defined, have developed. In addition, students will present and discuss their portfolio with their committee in a meeting lasting no longer than one hour. The portfolio will be graded pass/fail (with an option to resubmit) and the committee will consider its overall presentation, clarity of expression and purpose, depth of reflection, and the student’s articulation of what they have learned through their course of study.

In special cases, students can finish the degree on the Thesis Option. To finish the JD/MA in Religious Studies dual-degree program on the Thesis Option, the student must submit a thesis proposal a full semester before their final semester in the Department for the Study of Religions and receive approval from the graduate program director. The student, however, must take a minimum of 24 hours of coursework as outlined above and complete an additional 6 hours of thesis research (REL 791 and REL 792), typically in the final semester of study. In total, the student would thus be required to finish the MA degree on the Thesis Option with 30 hours of coursework in Religious Studies, rather than the standard 27 hours.

For additional degree requirements, see Requirements for Degrees.