Doctor of Intercultural Studies
Overview
Due to the closure of the Cook School of Intercultural Studies (effective at the end of the 2023–24 academic year), this program will be housed within Talbot School of Theology at Biola University starting Fall 2024. For details regarding the closure, please refer to the university’s official announcement.
Biola’s Doctor of Intercultural Studies program further equips those currently engaged in a cross-cultural or multicultural setting by deepening their understanding and application of lessons from history, theology and the social sciences. Graduates of this program may continue in their present vocational placement or step into various teaching positions and leadership roles. The program may be completed wholly on campus and up to 50 percent in Thailand or online.
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Why Choose the Doctor of Intercultural Studies at Biola?
The Doctor of Intercultural Studies (DIS) degree is a practitioner's degree designed to enhance people, partnerships, and publications that advance the mission’s enterprise in scholarship, spirituality, service and sacrifice through the critical strategizing of three cross-disciplines: church history, theology, and the social sciences. As a student of this program, you will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of important theories and theorists relevant to one’s research area and/or ministry context.
- Construct new applied understandings explaining how the student can improve vocational engagement outcomes.
- Demonstrate a mastery of important theoretical constructs in missiology applied to the student’s vocational engagement.
- Discuss and analyze the integration of one's faith commitments, theological understandings, and pertinent educational convictions.
- Exemplify rigorous scholarship accompanied by Christ-honoring professionalism in all scholarly activities.
What Will I Study?
In order to foster the university's emphasis on developing critical thinking and encouraging sound Biblical faith, the course offerings for this program are highly integrative in nature. You will be challenged to critically evaluate and test various theoretical models, subject them to theological and Biblical examination, and apply those concepts for the purpose of service and ministry in the world. As a D.I.S. student, you will engage in courses such as:
- Orientation to Graduate Intercultural Studies
- Intercultural Communication
- History of the World Christian Movement
- Culture and Transformation
- Cross-Cultural Leadership
Those considering the Ph.D. program at CSICS will find the program challenging and Christ-centered. Scholarly research aligns with spiritual discernment and a commitment to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Intercultural Studies, Ph.D. '21