Congratulations, Xavier!

Congratulations to Summa Philosophiae’s own Xavier, whose exceptional work has earned him a place in the PhD program in philosophy at the University of Dallas. Way to go!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 Responses to “Congratulations, Xavier!”

  1. KT Says:
    April 16, 2008 at 4:18 pm | Reply

    Congrats, Xavier.

  2. Xavier Says:
    April 16, 2008 at 11:04 pm | Reply

    Thanks dude.

  3. Ben Says:
    April 17, 2008 at 5:51 am | Reply

    Props, Xav. Glad to hear things are going well! Looking forward to pics of the baby.

  4. Clinton Says:
    April 18, 2008 at 3:47 pm | Reply

    Way to go Xav!

  5. Tim Says:
    April 24, 2008 at 8:38 am | Reply

    Congrats on the news! I am a frequent reader of your blog. I have a couple of questions related to the latest news. I finished my M.A. from a seminary recently and have been wrestling with where to do a PhD, unversity (if I could even get in), seminary, divinity school.
    First, on a seminary level, what are some things to look for in a seminary PhD program when considering to apply there? Second, on all levels: University, Seminary, Divinity School, does one choose based on the institution or on the basis of a professor one whats to study with? Third, in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter what seminary one does his/her Phd, seeing usually it will limit where they will teach in the future regardless?
    I really would appreicate any advice or imput you all could give.

    Tim

  6. Keith Says:
    April 25, 2008 at 10:28 am | Reply

    Tim, thanks for stopping by. Congrats on completing seminary! I think the obvious first (and perhaps most important) questions is, What are your career goals? Preaching? Missions? Academia? If teaching, where? Undergraduate college, university, Bible college, seminary? Also, what do you want to teach? Philosophy, Bible, theology, languages (you mentioned in your email that you emphasized biblical languages in seminary), or something else? Your answer to these basic questions will help narrow down our answers considerably. (For example: if you want to teach in a university, then I don’t think another seminary degree would be wise).

    Best wishes,
    Keith

  7. Tim Says:
    April 29, 2008 at 9:41 am | Reply

    Keith, thanks for responding! My career goals are in the academy, teaching most likely in a undergraduate evangelical liberal arts college/university or seminary. My background is in Greek and Hebrew, but over the last two years my interests have shifted considerable to philosophy of language/continental philosophy and hermeneutics/literary theory. I think if I put the work in, I can cover alot of this in a seminary PhD program. And to be honest, my philsophy/theology prof, Bob Stewart, interests here at New Orleans Seminary are in the those areas. One “con” for here is we are not known, even in the evangelical circles, for our academics. What are the most important aspects of all this? one’s personal scholarly work, who one studies with, or where one studies? Or a combination of all, if so, where does the emphasis lie?

  8. Clinton Says:
    April 30, 2008 at 7:55 pm | Reply

    Hey Tim,

    A good area for you to focus on which would satisfy a wide range of your interests would be philosophical/theological hermeneutics. I can think of no one better to study with right now than Kevin VanHoozer at TEDS (unless Anthony C. Thiselton at U. of Nottingham in the UK is still teaching…he would be the BEST in this area).

    It might be wise, however, to pursue doctoral studies at a non-evangelical or even non-xtian school. This would broaden your perspective and open you up to new and foreign methodologies, beliefs and scholarship in general, which is good. On the other hand, there are plenty of seminaries that hire graduates from their own PhD programs to stay on and teach. If you want to teach at an Evangelical institution, then a PhD from an Evangelical seminary would work fine. However, know that you will be competing with guys for jobs with PhD’s from Cambridge, Durham, St. Andrews, Aberdeen, etc. If you have the money, the UK is a good option.

    For some detailed advice see the following links:

    Below is a great link with some great info to help you in your journey.
    http://dunelm.wordpress.com/phd-pointers/

    Here is to the SBL site. This is a great article comparing UK & US PhD progams
    http://www.sbl-site.org/publications/article.aspx?articleId=723

    Fides Quaerens Intellectum
    Clinton

  9. Tim Says:
    May 1, 2008 at 8:22 am | Reply

    Clinton, thanks so much for the advice. It confirms much of what I already thought. I actually have considered both TEDS with Vanhoozer and UofNottingham with Thiselton. I am reading through his Two Horizons right now. Thanks also for the links. I will let you know in the future what I do.

    Tim

  10. Clinton Says:
    May 1, 2008 at 11:11 am | Reply

    Great! Keep us updated! By the way, did you happen to make it to this years Greer-Heard Forum?

Leave a Reply