Degrees

Doctor of Philosophy in Spirituality

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Doctoral Program Deadlines

✵ Fall — Feb 1 for PhD, June 30 for DMin
✵ Winter — October 15 for DMin
✵ Spring — November 30 for DMin
✵ Summer — March 15 for DMin

Program Details

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Fully-Funded Residential Program

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5 Years

The Doctor of Philosophy degree was established in response to an expressed interest for academically rigorous graduate formation and scholarship in Spirituality. This is a full-time residential program designed to give each student the tools to assess religious experience, critically evaluate contemporary movements within spirituality, help mentors others in spirituality, and do scholarly research and publishing. Our faculty is comprised of internationally recognized and published scholars, authors, and leaders in the field of academic spirituality not available in one program like this anywhere else.The Doctoral Program in Spirituality produces scholars with comprehensive knowledge of the overall discipline as well as a specialization in at least one particular area of Christian Spirituality. The specific approach is academic and theological from the Roman Catholic tradition, with genuine openness to ecumenical and interreligious perspectives.

Featured Doctoral Students

 

  • Batavia, New York

    “I choose Oblate School of Theology (OST) for a number of reasons. First, it is the only school in the United States that offers a PhD in Spirituality which I envision as a critical framework to integrate, teach, mentor, research, and publish in the Roman Catholic spiritual tradition in tandem with my lifelong experience in healthcare and leadership. Secondly, my undergraduate degree was obtained at Niagara University, a Vincentian school whose mission embraces serving the worlds poor. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate share this mission making study at OST a natural integration of charisms while providing a spiritual home.  Thirdly, OST offers the unique opportunity to study with some of the most accomplished and respected scholars in the academic discipline of spirituality testifying to the quality of the school’s  educational offerings.”

    Research

    “The focus of my research explores the phenomenon of aging in the contemporary context and the spiritual practice of renunciation utilizing the hermeneutical lens of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. This research examines the paradox of growth and diminishment encountered in the life stage of late old age within the tetradic boundaries of liminality, the spiritual practice of renunciation, late life stages in human development, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s paradigm of the spiritual life. This research is being done in collaboration with Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, Dr. Philip Sheldrake, and Daniel Horan, OFM.”

    Publications

  • Orizaba, México

    “OST is a great hub for intellectual and personal encounter, I was very pleased to find a small and yet diverse and rich community open to the exploration of new avenues for theology, spirituality, philosophy and Christian life, and at the same time well rooted in the continuous dialogue with the riches inherited from the Christian tradition.”

    Research

    Paniel is a first year PhD Student in Spirituality focused in the Eastern Byzantine Tradition of Hesicast Spirituality, He previously was awarded his MPhil and PhD in Philosophy by The University of Sheffield, UK. In his PhD Thesis he researched the place of Scholastic Realism in Peirce’s Pragmatist Philosophy under the supervision of Professor Christopher Hookway and Steve Makin. Though Paniel’s approach is centered in the pragmatist tradition, he has a wide range of theological and philosophical interest: Paniel has published papers on spirituality, philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics, medieval philosophy, philosophy of religion and German Idealism. Paniel has ample participation in academic conferences in many different countries and is founder of the Peirce Latin-American Society. In Oblate School of Theology, he has worked closely to Fr. John Markey OP, who has helped Paniel to see the relevance of a semiotic paradigm for the academic study of Spirituality. 

    Books

    Journal Articles

  • San Antonio, TX

    “The choice to study at OST has been a Spirit-influenced endeavor. The PhD in Spirituality program is unique, and frankly, the Spirituality discipline suits me, particularly at this stage of its development, because the frontier is still relatively open. As an inherently interdisciplinary field of study, bridges are still being built between different elements of theology and the social sciences (and others). I enjoy having the liberty to “range around” and find connections among the different fields.”

    Research 

    Grady is currently in his sixth year as a PhD student and is in the writing phase of his dissertation, which is being directed by Professor Philip Sheldrake. Grady’s research interests and concentrations include modernity, narrativity, eschatology, and the French and Desert traditions of spirituality.

    Publications

    I have one published article (Offerings, vol. 15) that comparatively analyzes Flannery O’Connor and Charles Taylor, particularly with regard to grace and modernity. Some of my poetry has been selected for upcoming publication (Teleios).

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