Practical Theology
The Practical Theology path prepares students to pursue questions of religious practice attentive to the contextual realities of individuals, communities, and cultural systems. This path encompasses work in areas such as liturgy and worship, ecclesial practice, homiletics, pastoral care, religious and theological education, spirituality, lived theology, congregational studies, and other areas of inquiry. Faculty support students in developing methodological competencies appropriate to their research trajectories, including ethnographic, social scientific, narrative, and cultural analytical approaches. Studies in Practical Theology tend to be interdisciplinary by nature, and students may collaborate with faculty and students in the Christian Ethics, Theological Studies, Historical Studies in Theology and Christianity, Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and other paths. Students pursuing work related to culture, migration, and diaspora will benefit from collaboration with paths including Religions in the Americas and Africana Religions. Students engaging in fieldwork may collaborate with the Ethnography and Social Theory path.
Path Advisor
Associate Professor of Catholic Studies susan.bigelow.reynolds@emory.edu
Susan Bigelow Reynolds
