Black Church Studies Certificate

Program Code: D-BLACK-C
Degree Designation: Certificate
Department: Divinity School
Website: divinity.duke.edu/academics/degree-certificates/black-church
Intranet (current students): intranet.divinity.duke.edu/certificate-info-requirements

Program Summary

The certificate in Black Church studies aims to help strengthen the body of Christ through critical reflection, dialogue, and practice for those who are interested in the intersection of race, faith, and Christian witness, particularly in the tradition of Black Churches.

Black Church studies is an intensely interdisciplinary, ecumenical, and intellectually inclusive endeavor. The certificate in Black Church studies enables students to engage theological, historical, and cultural aspects of Black Christian expressions toward deeper understanding and broader mastery of the life and thought of this complex community of people. It helps to equip leaders to develop capacities of contextualization and construction from Black Church life, thought, work, and witness.

The certificate can be earned as part of a residential master’s degree program (MDiv, MTS, and ThM) and the MA and hybrid MDiv. Students seeking this certificate have specific coursework requirements as well as opportunities to engage with preaching and teaching from prominent leaders in the Black Church and in the field of Black Church studies. MDiv students also have a field education requirement.

Academic Requirements

• MDVR Requirements

  • Take at least 3 courses from the BCS and AAAS Issues Courses list below

  • Field Education in Black Church or African American nonprofit

  • Participate in OBCS Lecture Events

• MDVH Requirements

  • Take at least 3 courses from the BCS and AAAS Issues Courses list below

  • Field Education in Black Church or African American nonprofit/Formation for Ministry

  • Participate in OBCS lecture events

• MTS Requirements

  • Take at least 3 courses from the BCS and AAAS Issues Courses list below

  • Thesis related to the Black Church

  • Participate in OBCS lecture events

• THM Requirements

  • Take at least 2 courses from the BCS and AAAS Issues Courses list below

  • Thesis related to the Black Church

  • Participate in OBCS lecture events

• MACP Requirements

  • Take at least 2 courses from the BCS and AAAS Issues Courses list below (except AAAS 503 and above)

  • BCS assignment in another course, with permission of the instructor

  • Integration paper - essay articulating how coursework integrates with current vocation with specific reference to the certificate 

  • Participate in OBCS lecture events

• BCS and AAAS Issues Courses

  • AMXTIAN 811

  • PARISH 802

  • PARISH 815

  • PARISH 823

  • PREACHNG 807

  • XTIANETH 817

  • XTIANETH 820

  • XTIANTHE 842

  • AAAS 503 and above

  • BCS 760 and above

Coursework for MDV, MTS, and THM include courses from the Divinity School (two courses in Black Church Studies) and Duke's African/African-American Studies Program (AAAS) (one course). The non-Divinity course in African/African American issues can be from another Duke University department (e.g., history, sociology, public policy, health, etc.) with the approval of the certificate director. Exception requests may be made to the certificate director.