The Department of Religious Studies is pleased to offer a Master of Arts degree. It is designed for those who have a first degree in Religious Studies, and who want to engage in the advanced study of religion.  The Department has three options: a course-based diploma, a one-year course-based MA with a project and a two-year thesis-based program.  Students interested in pursuing graduate work in Theology should contact Queen's College at Memorial. 

Please note that we are not currently accepting applications. We hope to reactivate admissions for Fall of 2024.

For more information about our program streams, please visit our Guide for Current and Prospective Students.

Set in Canada's unique city of St. John's, Newfoundland, ours is the largest graduate program in Religious Studies in Atlantic Canada, and one of the largest in the nation. Important resources include a large library with a generous collection of online periodical literature, the Religion of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives, courses in ancient and non-western languages, and eight highly qualified, full-time faculty members. 

Each student in our graduate program takes a core selection of courses designed to provide a comprehensive knowledge of Religious Studies as a discipline, and is assigned a supervisor with whom he or she works closely and receives individualized guidance in the preparation of a thesis or master essay.

We offer graduate-level instruction in a range of areas of study. See our Guide for Current and Prospective Students for more details. 

An online application form to the Graduate Program is available.

Financial Assistance

Memorial University offers financial assistance in two forms:

• Graduate Fellowships
• Graduate Assistantships

Most full-time applicants are automatically considered for university funding. Students at MUN are also eligible to apply for funding from SSHRC and other granting agencies. Students here also benefit from the fact that the tuition rate at MUN is one of the lowest in Canada, and the cost of living in St. John's is less than in larger Canadian cities.

Further Information

In order to better inform prospective graduate students, and in addition to our departmental handbook, we have more detailed information about the requirements for applying to and succesfully completing a Master of Arts degree in our department.

For general information about Master of Arts degrees at MUN, see the Memorial University Calendar for this current year, as made available by the Registrar's Office or the School of Graduate Studies.