The program in American Religious History trains graduate students in the history and contemporary practice of religion in North America. It also explores religion as a central problem in the definition of the nation and in the historical accounts we give for its continuation. The subfield is closely affiliated with related disciplines in the humanities and social sciences and allows students freedom in the selection of sources and methods for the study of religion.

The goal of the program is to train scholars and teachers of Asian religions with a primary competence in one tradition and geographical focus and a strong secondary competence in another Asian religion and geographical focus. Students will do their thesis work in one area, while also taking courses in the second area. 

EMWAR is a multidisciplinary program that enables students to develop research expertise and teaching competence in the fields of Second Temple and Hellenistic Judaism, New Testament, Ancient Christianity, and Rabbinic Judaism, or in cross-field areas of specialization such as Scriptures and their Interpretation, West Asian Religions of the Sasanian and early Islamic era, and Christianity and Judaism in the Hellenistic East.

The program in Hebrew Bible is designed for students who wish to prepare for teaching and research on any facet of the Hebrew Bible: its history, literary analysis, interpretation, reception, and more. Students normally do work in all of these areas before specializing in one of them and are also expected to do advanced work in Biblical Hebrew and cognate languages. Students are encouraged to take advantage of Yale’s resources in other relevant fields, such as Jewish Studies, EMWAR, Comparative Literature, NELC, and Anthropology. 

Students in Islamic Studies are expected to develop both a comprehensive knowledge of Islamic intellectual history and religious thought, as well as expertise in a field of specialization and the requisite tools for critical scholarship on Islam. 

The Jewish Studies subfield offers an interdisciplinary approach to the critical study of the religion, history, literature, languages, and material culture of the Jews from ancient to modern times. Jewish society, texts, ideologies, and institutions are studied in comparative historical perspective in relation to the surrounding societies and cultures. Student choose an area of specialization within Jewish Studies and work closely with faculty in the Religious Studies Department and the Program in Jewish Studies.

The program prepares students for research and teaching in Philosophy of Religion, broadly conceived. Students will engage both analytic and the continental traditions and will acquire a knowledge of the history of the subject from its ancient origins to the present day. Methodological issues in the study of religion are also an important focus.

Religion and Modernity is a multidisciplinary program of study whose aim is conceptual and historical work in the study of its principal terms. Students in this program may undertake a wide range of projects on materials from around the globe, focusing for example on literary or philosophical corpora, social institutions, collectives, or networks of objects. Such projects will: 1) investigate some aspect of religion and modernity taken individually as well as together and 2) draw on both conceptual and historical modes of inquiry. 

Religious Ethics offers an interdisciplinary approach to critical and constructive reflection on human agency, character, and action as bound up with religious traditions and practices, exploring questions concerning the good life, social justice, and the common good, including what it means to live well in relation to human and nonhuman animals and in the context of both natural and social systems. Students develop competence in theological, philosophical, and social ethics, with attention to historical development as well as areas or issues of contemporary concern.

Students in Theology are expected to exhibit (a) competency in a range of literatures, thinkers, and problems in both historical and contemporary theology, and (b) an ability to address topics of interest from both theological and interdisciplinary perspectives.