Re: Automatic retrieval of information from qa.debian.org
On Mon, 2007-10-08 at 16:19 -0400, Shawn McMahon wrote:
> In the US, not only does "doctor" mean a medical professional with an MD
> degree and anybody with a Ph.D. degree, but also a Doctor of Divinity
> degree (which is the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree in anything else)
> and even the Juris Doctor degree that all law school graduates have
> (which is roughly the equivalent of a Master's Degree in most fields).
A DD is *not* the equivalent of a bachelor's degree. There is an old
"bachelor of divinity", which like the old "bachelor of laws" was a
post-graduate degree. But even that is gone.
The standard professional degree for religious types in the US is the
Master of Divinity (M.Div.), which is a three-year professional degree
in the style of the MBA, MSW, JD, and MD. This replaced the old
Bachelor of Divinity for the same reason that the JD and MD were
created.
The Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S.) is a two-year academic
masters, like the MA or MS.
The Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) is a practical advanced doctorate,
assuming the M.Div. already and based upon practical work. It is
similar in purpose to the Ed.D., as a further-training degree for
professionals "in the field" with lesser reasearch requirements than a
research doctorate.
The Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) is a research doctorate with the same
sort of requirements and importance as the Ph.D.
The Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) is awarded as a honorary degree. For
example, in the Episcopal Church, bishops are customarily awarded the
D.D. by their seminary. Other people who have "made a name" in the
field of religion or theology are given the D.D. as a recognition of
their accomplishments.
So in religious stuff, there are essentially two tracks, one "academic"
and one "practical":
M.Div. -> D.Min.
M.T.S. -> Th.D.
Of course, many people have various other combinations.
Thomas
Reply to: