The PhD Degree

The program leading to the PhD in The Graduate School provides advanced academic training in broad areas of Judaic scholarship with intensive specialization in one area in preparation for an academic career. The degree certifies that the recipient is qualified to teach a wide range of Judaica on the undergraduate level and to train graduate students in his/her field of specialization. It also requires the knowledge of foreign languages and may require course work at other institutions participating in a consortium with The Graduate School. It is a full-time program.

Students working toward the PhD may specialize in ancient Judaism, Bible and ancient Semitic languages, Jewish history, Jewish literature, Jewish philosophy, liturgy, medieval Jewish studies, Midrash, modern Jewish studies, and Talmud and rabbinics.

Upon successful completion of all requirements for the PhD other than the dissertation, a student may apply for the degree of MPhil.

The Graduate School offers a number of substantial merit fellowships for students pursuing PhD studies. All entering students are automatically considered for these fellowships. These include the Revson Fellowships, made possible through the Charles H. Revson Foundation; the Professor Saul Lieberman and Dr. Judith Berlin Lieberman Graduate Fellowships in Talmudic Studies, made possible by the Dr. Bernard Heller Foundation; the Dr. Bernard Heller Fellowship; the Rabbi Seymour Siegel Scholarship; the Rabbi Benjamin Plotkin Fellowship; the Gerson D. Cohen Fellowship; the Stroock Fellowship in Ancient Judaism; the Anna and William Blanksteen Fellowship for the study of European Jewish Civilization; the Robert Lee Kohns Foundation Graduate Fellowship; the Michael Klebanoff Graduate Fellowship; the Jacob Shatzsky Memorial Fellowship; the Stanley J. Friedman Graduate Fellowship in Jewish History; the Louis and Alice Shimberg Fellowship; the Betsy and Edward E. Cohen Fellowship; and the Elbogen Fellowship.

All entering and continuing PhD students are automatically considered for these fellowships.

Application Procedures
Application forms may be obtained from the Office of Admissions, JTS Graduate School, 3080 Broadway, New York, New York 10027; (212) 678-8022, by completing our inquiry form, or through Admissions.

An applicant for admission as a degree candidate must submit the following:

• A completed application form and the $50 fee
• An official transcript of academic records from each college and university previously attended
• Official scores of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Miller Analogies Test (MAT)
• Three letters of academic recommendation
• A sample of written academic research in English in the field of study

An interview with a member of the admissions committee and/or department chair is recommended and may be required.

Applicants whose native language is other than English and who have not been educated at a college where English is the language of instruction must submit official scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A minimum TOEFL score of 100 (Internet-based) is required. The Graduate School also may require that nonnative English speakers prove satisfactory proficiency by scoring at level 10 on the placement test administered by Columbia University's American Language Program (ALP). For more information, please contact The Graduate School's Admissions Office at (212) 678-8022.

Requirements

Residence
Two consecutive academic years of full-time residence are required of all students in the PhD program.

Full-time residence demands that advanced study be the student's principal responsibility. The student must be free to devote himself/herself primarily to study and research, schedule courses without limitations on hours, participate fully in The Graduate School and departmental activities, and arrange conferences with the adviser and other faculty members. A student fulfilling full-time residence may accept outside employment only with permission of the dean.

For information concerning student status following completion of the two-year residence requirement, click here.

First-Year Review
The candidacy of each first-year PhD student will be reviewed after the first year of residence. The student's department, in conjunction with the dean, will review the progress the student has made to date and assess the student's potential to complete the degree. If the department or the dean is not satisfied with the student's progress or potential, the student will be dropped from the PhD program but will be allowed to complete the first year of residence.

Hebrew
All entering students must take the Hebrew placement examination on line and demonstrate knowledge of at least one year of college-level Hebrew, placing into HEB 2103 or higher in both the reading comprehension and grammar modules. Progress beyond this level is part of the first-year review. To receive the degree, students must demonstrate a proficiency in Hebrew equivalent to the level of HEB 5303 (advanced) in both the reading comprehension and grammar modules. Beginning with the first semester of matriculation, students must study Hebrew every semester until this proficiency is attained.

Prior to taking the Comprehensive Examination, doctoral students are required to pass a proficiency exam in reading Hebrew academic texts, for which HEB 5999: Reading Academic Texts provides the requisite skills.

Prerequisite Courses
In addition to department or program requirements, all students must complete the year-long interdisciplinary seminar MDS 5101-5102: Classics of the Jewish Tradition I and II, demonstrate that the course material was taken for credit previously or may show proficiency by examination. This seminar is to be taken during the first year of graduate study.

Students who have never studied Bible in the original with a scholarly perspective are required to take BIB 5011: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Students who have never studied Talmud in the original are required to take TAL 5025: Introduction to Text Study, for which BIB 5011 and Hebrew proficiency at the level of HEB 2201 are prerequisites. Individual departments and programs may also require additional course work from students where appropriate. (See department listings for details.) All of these requirements are in addition to the thirty-credit minimums.

Course Work
A minimum of thirty credits of graduate course work beyond the master's degree in Judaica is required. Twenty-one credits are to be in the area of specialization and ancillary subjects; the remainder may be distributed according to the student's needs. All programs must be worked out in consultation with the departmental or program adviser and require the adviser's advance approval.

As part of the thirty-credit minimum, PhD students are required to take at least one graduate-level course in religion (which may include Theory and Method in Study of Religion, History of Religion, or similar courses approved by The Graduate School) at one of the institutions in the consortium.

Consortium
The Graduate School has a consortium agreement on the PhD level with numerous institutions including Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University, Fordham University, New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton University, Union Theological Seminary, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Yale University. Students may be required to take courses in other universities for supplementary study in the area of their specialty. A student may receive credit for courses taken at these institutions only with the advance approval of the adviser and registers for them at JTS. These credits are not considered transfer credits. The host institution reserves the right to give its own students priority enrollment.

Transfer Credit
A student who wishes to request transfer credit for graduate-level courses taken at other institutions of higher learning must submit an official transcript with complete course descriptions to the dean, who will consult with the appropriate department. Credits counted toward another degree will not be considered. The maximum number of credits accepted for transfer is nine. No credit will be accepted for transfer from courses in which a grade lower than a B was earned. To be considered for transfer, credits may be no older than ten years.

Foreign Language Requirements
Every PhD candidate must demonstrate reading proficiency in German and at least one other modern research language to be determined by the candidate's department or program. Some departments or programs require proficiency in additional languages as well. Proficiency can be demonstrated by one of three options. First, by examination. Foreign language examinations are offered once each semester; for specific dates consult the academic calendar. Use of a dictionary is permitted during the exam. Second, by course work completed within the previous four years. Two years of study of a foreign language on the undergraduate level with a grade of B or better each semester of the second year will be accepted in lieu of the examination. The third option is successful completion of the second semester of a year-long reading course with a grade of B or better. Foreign language requirements must be completed prior to taking the comprehensive examinations.

Communication Skills
Each candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy is required to demonstrate skill in communicating scholarly findings to students or to an educated public. Students may provide evidence of such skill in one of two ways:

1. The successful teaching of an undergraduate course in the candidate's field, under expert supervision, with an appraisal of performance by a qualified and experienced teacher; or
2. The presentation, in a public lecture or in print and in language understandable to the educated public, of the findings and significant implications of his or her research.

The adviser will confirm in writing to the dean that the requirement has been fulfilled.

Comprehensive Examination
Most departments require a comprehensive examination in the field of specialization and related ancillary subjects. It is to be taken upon completion of all required course work and foreign language examinations. The comprehensive examination will be graded on the following scale: pass with distinction, pass, and fail. A student who fails the examination may take it once more. A second failure automatically terminates the student's participation in the PhD program.

Dissertation
Upon completion of all course and examination requirements, the student must select an appropriate dissertation topic for an original contribution to the area of research. A written proposal must be submitted to the adviser and approved in writing by the adviser. Both the proposal and the adviser's approval are then submitted to The Graduate School office for final approval. The dissertation is written under the direct guidance of the adviser who approved the proposal and a second member of the faculty selected by the adviser and the student in consultation with the dean. Dissertations are written in English.

After the dissertation is approved by the adviser and the second reader, it is defended before a committee. The committee consists of at least five members: the adviser, the second reader, and three other faculty members, one of whom is from another JTS department and one of whom is from another institution. The committee will be determined by the dean, the adviser, and the student. Copies of the approved dissertation must be submitted to the office of The Graduate School for distribution to the members of the committee at least eight weeks before the defense. A student must apply for permission to defend the dissertation during the registration period of the semester in which he/she plans to defend. The defense committee may approve the dissertation as submitted, accept it with minor or major revisions, or reject it. If major revisions are required, a subcommittee will be appointed by the defense committee chair and adviser in consultation with the dean to review the revised dissertation. Rejection of a dissertation automatically terminates the student's participation in the PhD program.

After final approval by the defense committee or the subcommittee, the dissertation shall be prepared in final form for deposit at least six weeks before commencement. Guidelines for the preparation and deposit of doctoral dissertations are available in The Graduate School office.

Completion of Requirements
A candidate must complete all requirements for the PhD degree including courses, demonstration of foreign language proficiency, comprehensive examination, and deposit of the dissertation in no more than seven years from the date of formal admission to the PhD program. The dean regularly reviews student files to ascertain that appropriate progress is being made toward the completion of degree requirements. However, candidates engaged in the writing of the dissertation may apply in writing to the dean for an extension, which ordinarily cannot exceed two years.

To be considered making satisfactory academic progress in order to continue receiving federal Title IV funds (GSL), full-time students normally must complete all the course requirements within the first three years of the program or a minimum of one-third the required number of credits, depending on area of specialization and prerequisites needed. Students in the fourth and fifth years prepare for the comprehensive examination and begin research for the dissertation. The sixth and seventh years are devoted to completion of the dissertation, which must be defended by the second semester of the seventh year.