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On behalf of more than sixty faculty and more than seventy students, we welcome you to the Graduate Division of Religion. A unit of the Laney Graduate School that draws together faculty from across the university, the GDR is a diverse community of interdisciplinary practice dedicated to preparing the next generation of scholars in religion and theology.

The GDR embraces a variety of persons and intellectual perspectives. Our faculty and students represent a remarkable range of approaches to the study of religion. Located in the vibrant context of Atlanta, the GDR offers a variety of research and learning possibilities. Faculty and students fan out to study religion as lived in Atlanta’s historic churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues. Our scholarship and teaching also reflect global concerns and international collaboration, with many faculty and students conducting fieldwork and archival research in different parts of the world. Our overall orientation reflects the shared view that religion is one of our most intriguing and enduring prisms into the central truths of human existence.

The study of religion lies at the heart of Emory’s signature commitment to be an exemplary community of moral inquiry and social responsibility. No student in the GDR graduates without substantial work completed outside their focus area, taking full advantage of the intellectual resources and collegial spirit of Emory University. These multi-disciplinary partnerships equip GDR students to advance the study of religion across many sectors of society and beyond the professoriate.

By maintaining a distinguished, world-renowned faculty and cultivating a vibrant learning community, Emory’s Graduate Division of Religion seeks to educate the next generation of religion and theology scholars to be leaders in their respective fields in and beyond the university. This mission is shaped by four core values: the enduring power of religious cultures, scholarly creativity, interdisciplinarity, and diversity. It is carried out within a distinctive intellectual ethos that shapes the educational experience of Emory doctoral students in religion.