Master's Program
Global Justice, Religion and Culture (MA)
Welcome to the Global Justice, Religion and Culture MA program! Our innovative Master of Arts (MA) combines the fields of Religion, Culture and Global Studies to examine how religious thinkers, traditions, practices, and ideologies inform global processes, social movements, intercultural interactions, community formation, individual identity, and other aspects of contemporary life.
Through academic study and interdisciplinary analysis of religions, cultures and global issues, GJRC students deepen their understanding of the global contexts of religious and cultural content. Our seminars provide training in relevant methods and theories at the graduate level thereby encouraging students to develop strong inter-cultural competencies for confronting global and local level changes, challenges, and transformations--particularly as they relate to broader questions and understandings of justice.
We are committed to creative teaching and strive to foster the spirit of free inquiry, the determination to pose probing questions, and the critical skills and knowledge you will need to succeed.
The GJRC program draws upon the shared faculty strengths, research specializations, and teaching and advising interests of the Religion and Culture and Global Studies departments.
The two departments also have ties to the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA).
Faculty Research Areas
Active scholars, faculty members in the Department of Religion and Culture and Global Studies have expertise in fields that include:
- Global justice
- Global conflict
- Peace studies
- Islam, especially contemporary Islamic thought
- African diasporic religions
- South Asian religions
- Caribbean religions
- Aboriginal religions
- Buddhism in North America
- Global Christianity
- Cultures among immigrant and refugee communities
- Multiculturalism
- Psychology and religion
- Gender and sexuality
Program Options
MA students in Global Justice, Religion and Culture have options for completing the program with coursework, a major research paper (MRP), or a thesis. Students are initially admitted to the coursework or MRP options, the latter of which includes the option of a supervised internship. Admission to the thesis option is granted upon the successful completion during the Fall or Winter term of an accepted thesis proposal.