Having recently finished plowing through the innumerable applications for our three biblical studies openings at Biblical, I am amazed at the potential importance of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for setting the future trajectories of evangelicalism. I would say that probably close to a third of our applicants had a masters and/or Ph.D. degree from TEDS.
Of course, obtaining a Ph.D. is one thing, getting a job is something else (it seems that there are consistently +/- 3 times more entry-level candidates than there are jobs in biblical studies). Nonetheless, the sheer numbers of Trinity educated people on the job market indicates that the institution is going to continue to have a tremendous impact in directing the trajectories of evangelicalism for some time to come.
Since I know that a number of my readers inhabit Reformed worlds where places like Westminster Seminary are highly touted for their academic firepower, the contrast between the shools in this regard is quite striking. I think I had perhaps three applications with Westminster degrees on them, compared to what was probably closer to 20 for TEDS.
11 comments:
there are consistently +/- 3 times more entry-level candidates than there are jobs in biblical studies
Where do you see this going? And is it a problem? Should less people do PhDs? Or is it that those who don't get the job just find other ministry work?
I see it as the pinnacle of the process which began in America with the GI bill after World War 2, I think: more people getting more education. Schools need graduate degrees so that they can get higher billings in national rankings, schools have more students, draw more money from donors, want to hire big shots--all of these things come together in the proliferation of graduate programs.
Are too many people doing PhDs? Probably. I think that one implication is that there will be more PhDs in other fields--pastoring churches, killing youth groups, heading non-profits, going back to work at IBM with a Westminster Ph.D. to hang on their cubicle wall.
I think the "problem" comes, mostly, with the expectations that the degree generates of landing academic employment. It trains folks for academic employment. It trains them to write arcane articles that the other person who studies that field will care about, etc. That expectation is simply not legitimate anymore. Duke's Grad Program in Religion website now says something like, "Undertake your study for the love of knowledge, not solely for career purposes because you might not get a job."
On the other hand, it might play out in more pastors writing books which intelligent Christians want to read, which would be a good thing. It might also lead to higher levels of education for international pastoral education, which would be a good thing.
So how long does it take these stinkin' schools to let people know about interviews (on average)?
Disgruntled in Durham
It's usually pretty bad--often the week before SBL is when things shape up. Some schools end up getting buried under a pile of apps and not even getting back to folks until December.
Also, some schools don't send out rejection letters immediately, hedging their bets in case they don't like their interview pool.
Be disgruntled. Be very, very disgruntled.
There are a lot of great people at TEDS and a lot of idiots. I think I fit both categories when I was there ...
From what I have heard that school is a good one to go to for Evangelism and Missions.
One question though. Since you see so many resumes, vitas and applications for entry-level candidates, how can a "fresher" make their resume (vita or application) standout from the pack? Does membership with ETS give them another star, or if they have several book reviews in theological journals. Okay make it two questions. What can one do to help distinguish their self from the others in the stack on your desk.
If you like the four spiritual laws as the primary avenue of evangelism, then TEDS is a very good school (that's not a crack on it ... that's how it is).
As for missions, I have great appreciation for the foreign church planting insights of Dr. Craig Ott, but otherwise, I don't think that TEDS is known to be strong in missions.
Dan this is tough news to hear Im sure for many PhD's out there. Should people even spend the time and money pursuing PhD's at Evangelical seminaries if this is the outcome? Or should they limit themselves to the Ivy schools and oversee landmarks of academia? FYI, to see a Westminster PhD who did get a job check out Brandon Withrow, or a couple of the guys hired at the Dallas campus.
I see that I need to jump back in to what I started!
First, as a personal word, I have been addressed as "Dan" on my blog a couple of times in the past day or two. Tsk tsk. It's Daniel. Two syllables, God is my judge, in the lions' den, Day Lewis, etc.
Now, concerning applying for jobs:
(1) The best goals for doing an evangelical Ph.D. (WTS or TEDS, for example) are (a) teaching internationally, or sometimes (b) teaching at the degree-granting institution (or within that seminary's denominational seminaries, such as the Southeastern, Southwestern, Southern in the Southern Baptist world); or (c) church ministry.
a. FWIW (which isn't much): when it comes to rating the quality of doctoral programs I think that a standard view is something like this: American top-knotch university programs (Harvard, Yale, Duke, Emory, often Princeton Seminary), then British programs, and then seminary PhD's. Other US university programs are on a per-case basis. Entrance into the programs tends to be competitive in that order.
2. The broadest category of advice I have is this: know the school you're applying to. You show this in various ways:
a. Look at their website, get a feel for what they think is important, what they're trying to do as a school. This will start to give you a sense of whether a generic academic-like cover letter and CV are sufficient or whether you need to tailor your letter and/or CV for the institution.
b. Read what they want and give it to them. We asked for engagements with our schools mission and vision statements, not just a CV and cover letter.
c. One of the worst things you can do is send stuff they DIDN'T ask for and simultaneously NOT send stuff they DID ask for. On a job posting a school is telling you what they want in order to make a decision about their candidates. Extra information was almost categorically ignored in our search.
ONE EXCEPTION: In skimming through someone's "extra" material who was on the borderline, we saw a sentence that clearly indicated to us that he was out of step with where we wanted to go. He moved from borderline to rejection pile.
The point: When we are looking at 75 applications, we are not interested in the thickest packets, we are interested in the things we asked for being done well.
d. In our case, the most important thing, bar none, was that someone demonstrated understanding of our mission and vision. If a school has a particular bent, either show how you fit or self-select out of their process.
e. Related: if you can't sign on, don't apply. If you're a Dispensationalist, don't apply to Westminster; if you're a Presbyterian don't apply to Southwestern Baptist.
f. Don't make assumptions. You might know a school through your pastor who went there 30 years ago. Take a few minutes to peruse the writings, blogs, etc. of current profs to get a view of the current day landscape.
g. I say all this knowing full well that many folks just do blanket applications to schools with a generic CV and cover letter. That works sometimes. It wouldn't work for landing a job at Biblical because we see ourselves as up to something particular and want people who can contribute positively to where we're going.
3. The next important thing is to show that you know the academy:
a. Distinguish among your various types of publications on your CV. If you have a book review, a peer reviewed article, and a column for your denomination's webzine all under one heading of "publications" my reaction is: "This guy (or gal) is trying to make it look like s/he's done something when s/he has really done nothing."
b. Publication in more broadly read and less theologically affiliated journals looks better than publication in the journal of your seminary or even JETS. It shows that you can do scholarship that is considered legitimate because of its level of scholarship, not just because of the theological axe it happens to be grinding.
This doesn't mean that publication in JETS or WTJ or TrinJ is bad, just that it's not as impressive as JBL, NovT, JSNT, etc.
c. Society memberships are tricky. You can usually join SBL without it hurting you at an evangelical institution. But ETS could hurt you in a school that is less conservative.
I personally liked to see people in SBL and IBR because our school is serious about engaging (as opposed to retreating from) society in its postmodern manifestations. If all I see is "ETS" I start to wonder if a person is going to be too insular in their scholarship and engagement with the world to be useful for our vision and mission. Being in ETS didn't disqualify anyone in our search (we are interviewing people with ETS membership), but it certainly did not help them. This, again, is an area where you have to know the school.
4. GET YOUR MATERIAL IN ON TIME. With our ad running since August 1 (and getting our first application on August 1!), I was not impressed with late applications. They were presumed "no's".
5. Lots of schools are interested in diversity, so have a sex change or become non-anglo. This is probably the single-best thing you can do to help yourself.
6. Cultivate relationships with your professors and through them with other members of the academic world. This has accounted for every interview I ever got. So yes, what's here at the bottom is the single most important thing (besides a sex change operation for men). Bringing a new person to your faculty, expecially if you are a small school, is a risky business. You feel better about bringing someone for whom your friends have vouched for highly.
7. Recs: I can write a rec in my sleep: so and so wrote a world changing dissertation that will surely be published in a scholarly series, has already begun to contribute to the field, and is well on his/her way to establishing him/herself as a major contributor... Etc. etc.
a. IF A PROF HAS ANYTHING BAD TO SAY ABOUT YOU AT ALL DO NOT USE HIM OR HER AS A REFERENCE. The genre of academic references is such that one less-than-glowing comment separates you from the pack in a way that you do not want.
b. Despite what I just said, if at all possible use only references from your doctoral program unless there is a personal connection between a seminary prof who is close to you and a member of the faculty to which you are applying. When I get three recs from undergrad and seminary I immediately think that the person has bombed out in grad school.
Take that for what it is: advice of one guy at one place.
Daniel...
Daniel,
With respect to your FWIW, I imagine you're thinking specifically of Biblical Studies? For other fields within religious studies (theology, phil of rel, ethics, Islam etc.) that list would look very, very different. Indeed, from what I understand even in the world of Biblical Studies there's something of a methodological gulf between Harvard, Princeton, and Yale on the one hand, and Emory, Duke and PTS on the other.
Also, it seems worth noting that the overabundance of theologically orthodox folks doing PhDs is confined primarily to (a) folks working in seminaries or the UK and/or (b) folks in Bibilical Studies.
As I'm sure you would agree, there are in fact very few orthodox Christians pursuing PhDs at top research universities in the field of Religious Studies (again perhaps with the exception of folks in Biblical Studies) or other fields in the humanities (with the exception perhaps of Philosophy). There is no glut of Christian political scientists or literature scholars!
I also think your point about PhDs in evangelical seminaries is very important and worth reiterating: Given the great number of PhDs that places like WTS and TEDS produce, it's just statistically the case that very, very few of that number will find academic employment at institutions similar to the degree granting one in the US--which are the institutions that would be interested in hiring such a candidate in the first place. There are only a handful of such places to begin with and extremely slowly expanding faculties--if they're expanding at all. Moreover many of there recent hires are folks such as yourself from a research university. Additionally, Christian colleges and universities typically are not interested in/do not hire such candidates. Folks who pursue a PhD in seminaries such as TEDS and WTS should most likely plan on pastoral ministry and they stand to make a vital contribution there--would that more pastors had such training. Alternatively, the option of teaching somewhere overseas (not Australia or Western Europe), is also an incredibly important and, I would imagine, rewarding option. The bottom line, I think, is that folks who pursue a PhD at "evangelical" institutions should do so either with the vocational goal(s) of (a) bringing honed academic skills to the pulpit /pastorate (its desperately needed!) or (b) carrying those skills to seminaries in non-Western places.
Post a Comment