A concurrent B.A./M.A. degree program in religious studies offers a select group of exceptional undergraduates the opportunity to begin graduate work while still an undergraduate and thereby complete the B.A. and M.A. degrees simultaneously and on an accelerated schedule. The entire program normally requires 5-6 years and permits six credit units to be double-counted toward both degrees. Otherwise requirements for the two degrees remain unchanged.
Such programs are widely available across campus. Departments that currently offer concurrent B.A./M.A. programs include: Classics; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; EALC; German; Psychology; Economics; Linguistics; Math; Integrated Physiology; French; Business and Engineering.
The advantages of such a program to our students and our department are manifold, including:
- The opportunity to present an undergraduate program that makes full use of our unique resources as a research university and that fosters meaningful undergraduate research.
- A path for our best students to continue their study of religion here through a range of courses of increasing sophistication and specialization.
- A source of in-state graduate students of proven ability to take graduate level courses and contribute to the vital graduate student community in the department.
- The opportunity to plot extended academic paths for undergraduates that include requisite language learning and study abroad.
Students admitted to this degree program will include exceptional undergraduates who plan to pursue academic careers in the field of Religious Studies or related disciplines and students who wish to pursue more extensive study of religions than is permitted within the normal B.A. degree. Only a few students each year will be admitted, at the discretion of the faculty.