Duke Divinity School has several student exchange programs with prestigious universities in England, Germany, and The Netherlands. The distinctive culture and educational settings of each of these universities offer Duke Divinity exchange students with significant opportunities to broaden intellectual, cultural, and theological horizons – a set of learning experiences that will enrich and inform their theological perspective when the students return to Duke to complete degree requirements.
Divinity students interested in the exchange programs should contact Professor Stephen Gunter.
Through a partnership with The Methodist Centre at St John’s College (Durham University), full-time Duke Divinity School students may matriculate for a full year in residence at Durham University.
This matriculation will give students full access to all the course offerings at Durham University as well as St John’s College, which is an integral part of the university. This formal agreement allows matriculation for no additional tuition at Durham University. The student is responsible for travel, room, and board. St John’s College facilitates the (in-house at St John’s) room and board, and compared to living on the economy in England, these costs are relatively modest. The exchange program allows for one student per year to participate, and Duke may welcome one student per year from Durham.
Through a formal agreement with Tübingen University and the Reutlingen (Methodist) School of Theology, full-time Duke Divinity students may matriculate for a full year in residence at Reutlingen School of Theology while attending lectures at both Tübingen and Reutlingen.
The Reutlingen School of Theology serves as the host community and assists students with (in-house at Reutlingen) room and board, and these costs are significantly less expensive than living on the economy in Germany.
This formal agreement allows matriculation for no additional tuition. Students in the Germany study program must have an adequate command of the German language prior to enrolling. Full-time intensive refresher language programs are available in Tübingen in the weeks prior to the beginning of term in Germany, which is typically the first week in October. The study program allows for one student per year to participate, and Duke may welcome one student per year from Germany. (Reutlingen and Tübingen are only a 15-minute train ride from each other, and it is a short walk from both train stations to the theology schools.)
Duke Divinity School has a formal agreement with The Free University of Amsterdam through which a maximum of two students per year from Holland and two students per year from Duke Divinity School may participate. The exchange student incurs no additional tuition fees for up to one year of matriculation at the Free University (VU-Vrij Universiteit).
The international student liaison office at the VU assists all international students with locating apartments on the local economy in Amsterdam. There are no ‘in house room and board’ amenities. The VU is genuinely international, and students are not required to learn Dutch to matriculate. When there are international students enrolled in a class, the class is simply taught in English.
Requirements for Study Abroad
Study abroad, with limited transferable credit toward graduation, may be allowed for a candidate for the Master of Divinity degree or Master of Theological Studies degree by approval of the associate dean for academic formation. A strong academic record is a prerequisite. Ordinarily, permission for such study may be granted to students who have completed the work of the middler year for Master of Divinity students and the first year for Master of Theological Studies students. Both the institution abroad and a specific course of study proposed must have the prior approval of the associate dean for academic formation, and most required courses and the two field education units must be completed. The student should view matriculation in a study abroad program as a theological, intellectual, and cultural broadening of horizons, and not as a replacement for coursework at Duke Divinity School.
Students who participate in a study abroad program will need to register in a continuation course at Duke Divinity School. Those who choose to transfer credits from approved study abroad programs will be required to pay the equivalent of Divinity tuition for those courses. The student may be eligible for financial aid, but receiving financial aid is contingent on the student paying for the equivalent of part-time Divinity School tuition. A student who is interested in receiving financial aid for approved study abroad programs must communicate with the offices of financial aid and academic formation and programs before the beginning of the study abroad program.