MA Program Requirements

Registration materials are sent by e-mail during the summer from the School of Graduate Studies to all new and returning students. Students register by paying their fees.

New MA students: Incoming MA students will meet with the Graduate Director and their assigned Academic Advisor before the first enrolment, to discuss the details of their programs and to complete their enrolment form.

Returning students: Returning MA students taking course work and language study should meet with the Graduate Administrator during the enrolment period if they have questions about their program.

T-Cards: New students must obtain a T-card, which serves as a student identification and library card. T-cards are issued at Robarts Library upon presentation of appropriate identification and documentation. For information, visit the TCard website.

Course timetable: During the summer, the Department publishes a timetable of all graduate courses to be offered in the coming academic year by faculty members of the Department (including most cross-listings with cognate departments). The list will also include courses that have received approval too late to be published in the SGS Calendar. The timetable is posted on the Department’s web site.  Directed Reading courses meet according to the arrangements made with the professor in charge.

Other courses: Students are eligible to take any course offered in the School of Graduate Studies for which they have prerequisite knowledge, on condition that the instructors and departments offering the courses grant permission. Students are also eligible to take a course offered in the Toronto School of Theology (TST), provided it is an Advanced Degree course (5000 level only), and is taught by a TST faculty member who is also a member of the Graduate Faculty of SGS. For purposes of SGS registration, such a course is assigned the Department designation RLG4001 (Directed Reading: TST Seminar).

The Department’s advising process starts to work as soon as a potential student makes contact with the Department. It works intensively through admission and first enrolment, and continues until a student completes the program.

The potential student’s initial contacts with the Department are usually with the Graduate Administrator. Opening conversations and emails focus on whether the student is prepared for the Department’s program and whether supervision can be provided for the intended subject of study. During the application process the conversation continues, usually expanding to involve the Graduate Director and also professors whose research interests are similar to those of the applicant.

Following acceptance of the offer of admission, students will be contacted by the Graduate Director—usually by email or telephone—to begin discussions about their programs. Incoming students will be provisionally assigned an Academic Advisor, chosen on the basis of supervisory expertise in the student’s stated area of scholarly interest. Before the start of the academic term, the student, the Academic Advisor, and the Graduate Director will meet to work out the student’s individualized program of study.

Degree requirements for the MA are detailed in the Calendar of the School of Graduate Studies and the department's Graduate Handbook. In brief, they consist of the following:

1. Courses: Six semester-long courses: MA Method and Theory (RLG 1200); 1 Gateway seminar; 1 elective course from the DSR; 3 "open electives" that can be taken in any department (including the DSR).

2. Major Research Paper: The culminating experience of the MA program is the Major Research Paper (MRP), which is credited under the designation of RLG2000Y. The MRP is based on primary research and is usually around 15,000 words in length (i.e., around 50 double-spaced pages), somewhat longer than a normal journal article. The MRP is researched and written under the supervision of the Academic Advisor, who will submit an official grade. The student will also receive input from an assigned Second Reader, who will submit a formal “peer review” of the MRP in parallel with the official grading process.

3. Languages: Before completing the MA degree, students are required to give evidence of reading knowledge of at least one language, in addition to English, selected from languages of modern scholarship and/or necessary source languages. To satisfy the language requirements, students must pass a language requirement examination administered by the Department. Language courses are not accepted as equivalent.

Grades and Appeals

The regulations for grades and appeals are published in the Calendar of the School of Graduate Studies.