Requirements | Scholarships | Mentoring | Curriculum

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PhD in Intercultural Studies

School of Mission and Theology

The Doctor of Philosophy in Intercultural Studies (PhD ICS) degree represents the highest academic credential in the study of Christian mission. It is offered through Fuller’s Center for Missiological Research (CMR), a world-renowned institution for missiology, intercultural studies, and world Christianity. The PhD ICS program at Fuller provides exceptional candidates with the opportunity to design, develop, and complete a customized research plan in consultation with faculty advisors through a tutorial-driven process that integrates a wide range of academic disciplines. PhD ICS graduates make an original contribution to missiology. They are well-trained scholars prepared to teach at the university and seminary level and with the standing to provide global leadership.

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Cutting-edge

Annual Missiology Lectures

Cohorts

8–15 new students per year

Global Community of Learning

Study with faculty like these:

Kirsteen Kim

PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY AND WORLD CHRISTIANITY AND ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR THE CENTER FOR MISSIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Johnny Ramírez-Johnson

PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY, PROFESOR DEL CENTRO LATINO

Ryan K. Bolger

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF CHURCH IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE

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Requirements

To be considered for a PhD in Intercultural Studies, applicants will have achieved a master’s degree and have completed graduate-level coursework of a theological nature that includes some missiology.

Application is through an online form, including transcripts and references, together with a statement of the proposed area of research for the dissertation. The PhD program starts for new students in the fall quarter (late September).

Admissions Requirements

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"I serve as a pastor in a second generation Singaporean immigrant church in Toronto. The PhD ICS allowed me to join my passion for mission in this context with rigorous scholarship and research. The program gave me the opportunity to step back from frontline ministry and reflect on my context with other ministry-minded scholars who shared a passion for mission. I also leave Fuller with a greater capacity for theologically reflective practice, as well as skills for teaching at the graduate level."
– Ryan Seow, PhD ICS, 2022

Become a Student

Scholarships

Scholarships are available to eligible incoming PhD Intercultural Studies students each year on the basis of an outstanding application. These can cover 90 percent of the cost of tuition for up to three years of the program. In addition, students may apply for other scholarships, some of which have been established to provide financial aid to Intercultural Studies students.

Tuition Costs and Financial Aid

Mentoring

At the time of admission each student is assigned to a mentor whose expertise is relevant to the student’s main research interest. This mentor becomes the primary consultant who helps the student determine the feasibility and scholarly credibility of their project. Further, students work with other scholars in tutorials and courses, and are required to invite one or two additional professors to serve on their advisory committee. While a student’s mentor must be a Fuller faculty member, the PhD ICS program is flexible enough to allow students to work with any appropriately trained scholars on various aspects of their research.

In addition to providing mentorship by a faculty advisor, CMR promotes academic relationships between cohorts through a semistructured mentoring program connecting first-year students with those already in the program.

Faculty Mentors

Erik Aasland
Specialties: Ethnography, orality, and folklore

Jose Abraham.
Specialties: Islamic studies, theology of religion, interfaith relations, South Asian history, Hinduism, Christian traditions of India, postcolonial studies, history and anthropology of religion, the sociology of modernity

Steve Argue
Specialties: Emerging adult formation and advocacy, youth ministry, young adult ministry, adolescents, teaching and learning, leadership development, adolescent culture, family ministry, faith formation, spiritual development, spiritual struggle, parenting, qualitative research, Sticky Faith, undergraduates

Ryan Bolger
Specialties: Faith and technology, emerging church, missional church, church growth, contemporary culture, contextualization, local theology, Jesus and mission

Mark Lau Branson
Specialties: Congregational life and community engagement, congregational revisioning and transformation, leadership development, intercultural studies, urban churches, missional ecclesiology, practical theology

Kutter Callaway
Specialties: Theology and culture, theological aesthetics, public theology, media and technology, film, music, television and audio-visual culture, the church in contemporary culture

Collin Cornell
Specialties: Old Testament, Psalms, tabernacle, ancient Israelite religion, Hellenistic Judaism, Trans-jordanian religions, Elephantine, Old Testament missiology, theological interpretation of Scripture, K. H. Miskotte

Oscar García-Johnson
Specialties: Pneumatologies of the South, critical ecclesiology, theological method and de/postcolonial theory, theology and Latinx culture, Transoccidental hermeneutics, Latin American (systematic) theology, global theology, social ethics, Latin American studies, Transoccidental theory, transnational religion, hybrid cultures, decolonial theories and literatures, globalization, leadership (politics) of liberation, pastoral leadership, church planting, Latinx (millennial) mentorship, practical theology, women ministry studies, desert mothers/fathers spirituality, spiritualities of the South, political spirituality

Tommy Givens
Specialties: New Testament, theological ethics, Christian nonviolence, political theory, scriptural reasoning for Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations

Joel B. Green
Specialties: Luke-Acts, theological interpretation of Scripture, James and 1 Peter, the significance of Jesus’ death, the interface of science and theology

Matthew Kaemingk
Specialties: Christian ethics; work and marketplace theology; Christianity and Islam; religious pluralism; political ethics; theology and culture; Reformed public theology; worship, ethics, and public life; Abraham Kuyper and neo-Calvinism; ethics and globalization

Veli-Matti Karkkainen
Specialties: Pneumatology, ecclesiology, ecumenics, Pannenberg’s theology, Luther studies, Pentecostal-charismatic theologies, theology of religions and missions, intercultural theologies, comparative theology

Enoch Kim
Specialties: Intercultural communication, urban mission and ministry, research methodology, inter-ethnic dynamics

Kirsteen Kim
Specialties: Theology of mission, missiology, pneumatology, world Christianity, ecclesiology, Asian Christianities, Korean studies, intercultural studies, study of religions, globalization, development studies

Sebastian Kim
Specialties: Public theology, Korean Christianity, world Christianity, Asian theologies, theology and peacebuilding, theology and society

Roberta King
Specialties: Christian ethnomusicology in mission, worship, church music, intercultural communication, qualitative research, spirituality and mission, African music, music and peacebuilding studies, orality

Daniel D. Lee
Specialties: Karl Barth, contextuality, Asian American theology, systematic and constructive theology, integration of theology and psychology, theology of cultural representation, theology of trauma, theology and culture, missional church, theology of family

Douglas McConnell
Specialties: Leadership, missiological integration from a global perspective, examining the role of churches in ministry, advocacy to children-at-risk

Dwight A. Radcliff Jr.
Specialties: Black church studies, Black theology, Church, theology and culture, church planting, cultural anthropology, Hip Hop culture, homiletics and hermeneutics, missiology, Pentecostalism

Soong-Chan Rah
Specialties: Practical ministry, evangelism, cross-cultural ministry, social ethics, American religious history

Johnny Ramírez-Johnson
Specialties: Mission research, research methods, cultural psychology, practical theology, ethnography, human development, anthropology, sociology of religion, psychology of religion, congregational and social research

Alexia Salvatierra
Specialties: Holistic mission, Christian community development, faith-rooted congregational and community organizing, biblically based public policy advocacy, intercultural leadership, integrated communal discipleship, and empowering pastoral care––healing the psychological and spiritual damage produced by oppressive systems which serves to perpetuate them

Dave Scott
Specialties: Mission with children at risk, cognitive anthropology, cognitive research methods, child participation and human rights for children, motivation and retention among children and youth workers, theology of children

Daniel Shaw
Specialties: Social anthropology, cognitive anthropology, anthropology of mission, Bible translation, communication theory, qualitative research methods

Amos Yong
Specialties: Global Pentecostalism, theology and science, theology of mission, political theology, systematic and constructive theology, theology and disability, comparative theology, theology of religions, interfaith encounter/dialogue, Buddhist-Christian dialogue

Residence and Study Process

The PhD in Intercultural Studies program is designed to be completed in 4–5 years. Students complete the first year of the program by studying together as a cohort. After that, students customize their own program including tutorials, courses, library research, and in most cases, fieldwork. Half-time study may also be an option depending on the student’s circumstances.

Upcoming Events

INTERCULTURAL STUDIES LECTURES

Fuller's annual Intercultural Studies Lectures bring in the top scholars from around the world to interact with the Fuller academic community.

Curriculum

The curriculum of the PhD in Intercultural Studies comprises four first-year seminars, five tutorials, two methods classes, four comprehensive exams, and a dissertation of approximately 75,000 words (58 total units). Each of these components is customizable to meet the specific research interests of the student under the guidance of their faculty mentor and guidance committee. With relatively little classroom-based instruction in this program, a high premium is placed on rigorous faculty-supervised academic reading and writing.

Through a carefully designed process, students will develop their own research project. Core areas in which current students and mentors focus include the following: children at risk, cultural anthropology, decolonizing mission, development studies, evangelism studies, global Pentecostalism, Islamic studies, public theology, technology in mission, theology of mission, theological of religions and comparative theology, urban mission, and world Christianity. Research topics vary depending on student preference and faculty expertise.

Upon completion of the program, PhD ICS students should be able to:

Think critically and constructively about missiology as a field of inquiry
Demonstrate critical and constructive capacity in one or more principal disciplines that contribute to missiology
Do effective research in intercultural studies
Make an original contribution to missiological theory and knowledge
Demonstrate the potential to make a practical contribution to the mission of the church
Demonstrate integration of spiritual formation, academic work, and professional development

The first-year seminar-style courses – Advanced Missiological Research 1 & 2, and Missiology as a Discipline – enable students to create a distinctive research proposal that is methodologically viable, undergirded with a strong theological and historical foundation, and aware of current missiological literature and issues. Through taking these seminars in cohort and participating in the activities of the Center for Missiological Research, students become members of its lively and diverse research community and benefit from critical peer and faculty interaction.

The purpose of the methods courses is to learn about and refine data collection and analysis methodologies within the academic disciplines most relevant to the student’s interest. The tutorials represent the bulk of the PhD coursework. The first tutorial, the Initial Literature Review, is completed in the first year of the program. Each tutorial provides a supervised opportunity for the student to conduct research that will contribute to their final dissertation.

Students are helped toward successful completion of an original research project in several stages. The Initial Research Proposal Evaluation is held at the end of the first year. The research proposal is then further refined for the Research Proposal Defense. Next, students take their comprehensive exams before beginning the dissertation writing process. The completed dissertation is then subjected to a rigorous review by the student’s advisory committee and an outside reader as a final check on the quality of their work.

PhD ICS Process

PhD ICS First Year

FULLER dialogues: Evangelism in a Post-Christendom Era

Scholars, activists, and practitioners from around the world reflect together on the work of deconstructing former models of evangelism and reconstructing renewed expressions for faithful and effective witness in today’s context.

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Community

Students admitted to the PhD in Intercultural Studies join a cohort of PhD and ThM students learning together in a diverse community of scholars. This collegiality is lived in important ways through the Center for Missiological Research (CMR), which is made up of PhD and ThM students in all years of the program (totaling more than 50), plus faculty and scholars visiting through the Global Research Institute. As befits missiology, PhD ICS students come from all continents, and students and faculty share intercultural and transnational research interests. The CMR administers the PhD program, connects students across different year groups, and arranges shared activities for all members of CMR. The center’s activities include regular academic colloquia, informal fellowship, spiritual formation events, and special lectures, such as the annual Missiology Lectures.

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Get to know your admissions counselor | Joel Short

I came to study at Fuller in 2004 and have worked on Fuller’s admissions team since I graduated in 2007. I am inspired by the many people I meet who are seeking to change the world by changing hearts and minds. I am privileged to listen to so many wonderful stories and to help pour light on the path. I love history and enjoy books, podcasts, museums, maps, antiques and anything else that helps me understand how the past relates to the present and the future.

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626.584.5400

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