Religious Legal Studies (E.J.D.)

Program Overview

The Executive Juris Doctor (E.J.D.) in Religious Legal Studies equips leaders to work with religious law as it operates in communities, markets, and institutions. Executives in interfaith organizations, international agencies, hospitals, schools, and businesses increasingly meet religious legal requirements — dietary law, Islamic finance, religious marriage and divorce, Sabbath observance — and they need to understand those requirements accurately without becoming religious jurists themselves. After the foundations in legal systems, contracts and liability, and regulation and governance, students study the structure of Jewish law and Islamic jurisprudence, Catholic and Orthodox canon law, and the Hindu and Buddhist legal traditions; how religious courts and arbitration bodies operate and how state courts treat their decisions; religious requirements in commerce, including kosher and halal certification and the principles of Islamic finance; and the accommodation of religious observance by employers, schools, and public services. Graduates lead interfaith programs, advise organizations that operate across cultures, manage certification and compliance in religious markets, and serve in policy roles. The executive capstone produces a practical guide to the religious legal requirements an organization actually meets. The E.J.D. is a professional credential for leaders.

Core Courses

• EJD 501 — Legal Systems and Legal Reasoning for Executives (6 credits)
• EJD 510 — Contracts, Liability, and Risk (6 credits)
• EJD 520 — Regulation, Compliance, and Governance (6 credits)
• EJD 614 — Religious Legal Traditions for Leaders (6 credits)
• EJD 624 — Religious Courts, Arbitration, and the State (6 credits)
• EJD 634 — Religious Requirements in Commerce (6 credits)
• EJD 690 — Executive Legal Capstone in Religious Legal Studies (12 credits)
• EJD 870 — Comparative Religious Law for Institutional Decisions (3 credits)

Credit requirements

• Core courses: 51 credits
• Required elective credits: 9 credits

Total required: 60 credits

Elective Courses

Complete 9 credits from the options below (18 credits offered).

• EJD 714 — Religious Observance in the Workplace (3 credits)
• EJD 724 — Family Law and Religious Communities (3 credits)
• EJD 734 — Religion in International Development (3 credits)
• EJD 744 — Interfaith Negotiation and Mediation (3 credits)
• EJD 950 — Religious Authority and Organizational Consultation (3 credits)
• EJD 951 — Cross-Cultural Dispute Systems (3 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Bachelor's degree from a recognized institution
• At least five years of professional, executive, or ministry leadership experience
• Statement describing the legal questions the applicant’s work regularly raises
• Current résumé or ministry profile
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available