Academics: Traditional & Interdisciplinary
The next generation of faith leaders needs imagination and courage to constructively engage the challenges and opportunities of our age. This is built into how we do things. No matter your degree program, a Drew Theological School education includes interdisciplinary courses that demand out-of-the-box thinking, apprenticeship training that addresses real-world issues and modes of learning that promote adaptability and innovation.
Innovative Curriculum
Drew Theological School is always in motion. We are regularly working to improve programs, to meet new challenges and to pursue emerging opportunities. Dean Robert Seesengood and the Theological School faculty have developed an innovative curriculum with the following priorities to guide the school for the next several years:
- Revitalize distinct degree pathways that prepare students to address complex contemporary challenges in our world;
- Prioritize the student experience–ensuring a positive and productive experience from enrollment to graduation and beyond;
- Launch co-curricular initiatives in Ministerial Innovation, Social Engagement and Prophetic Action.
Drew Theological School has now embarked on a process of curriculum transformation that impacts all of our degree programs.
Course Schedule
The Theological School offers courses all year around, with classes scheduled in varying, flexible formats that are committed to learning in community. The following are the kinds of courses that are offered:
- On-campus: 1 three-hour session per week for 12 weeks, most scheduled in the afternoon and evenings.
- Evening hybrid: 1 one-hour and 45 minute early evening session per week for 12 weeks plus 12 hours off-campus (online, field trips, other events, etc.).
- Blended: 1-2 weekend sessions plus online meetings in-between.
- Weekend intensive: 3-4 weekend sessions.
- Weeklong intensive: 5 full days in a row plus independent work before and after.
- Online: Sessions that meet completely online.
The evening hybrid and required M.Div. courses are currently scheduled for full-time commuting students to be able to come to campus one day per week or two consecutive or non-consecutive days per week. It is possible for commuters to take nearly all of their courses in a combination of evening, intensive, online and hybrid courses, although this may not be done at a full-time pace.
“The question is a great religious act.”
—Rabbi Shmuel Sperber
In addition to our coursework, our centers and special programs approach the most profound questions of our time, of all time, with an interdisciplinary eye to text, tradition and experience.