PRTH 990 Dissertation Defense for Practical Theology

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

PRTH 990 is the culmination of the PhD experience, allowing the PhD student to defend his or her dissertation’s thesis and argument through an oral defense made to the dissertation committee. A successful dissertation defense is required to complete the PhD program and to qualify for graduation.

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Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview. 

Defense-Ready Dissertation Submission Assignments (2)

Defense-Ready Dissertation Submission Approval (Supervisor and Reader)

Oral Dissertation Defense Hearing Assignment

The candidate will defend his or her dissertation in an oral defense format (video conference using a PowerPoint presentation, and with ensuing dialogue with supervisor and reader). Once a passing grade has been received for the two Defense-Ready Dissertation Submission Assignments (Supervisor and Reader), the candidate will contact the dissertation supervisor to schedule the oral defense hearing. The hearing will be a recorded, video conference event using the record feature of the video conferencing platform determined by the dissertation supervisor (e.g., WebEx, Zoom, Teams). Once the hearing date, time, and venue are established, the candidate will prepare a PowerPoint presentation for the defense hearing. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

Quiz: Graduation Application Report

The candidate will take a quiz verifying that he or she has applied for graduation. The candidate must complete all requirements and paperwork necessary for graduation and report his/her submission and plans to the PhD in Practical Theology program director. This can be done by simply emailing the director. Once the candidate has completed the graduation application, the candidate must complete the quiz to confirm these steps have been taken. The quiz will contain 1 short answer question, have no time limit, and allow for unlimited attempts, with the latest attempt counting towards the grade. (CLO: E)

Quiz: Defense-Ready Dissertation Request for Review and Affirmations

By completing this quiz, the candidate is requesting that his or her dissertation supervisor and reader officially review his or her dissertation defense-ready draft. As a defense-ready draft, it should meet Turabian/SBL style requirements and be free of spelling and grammar errors. This quiz will be graded as an acknowledgment of your submission. The quiz will contain 5 short answer questions, have no time limit, and allow for one attempt. (CLO: C, D, E)

Quiz: Signed Dissertation Submission Report

The candidate, through a verifying quiz, will affirm that he or she has successfully defended his or her dissertation and secured the necessary signatures. To complete this quiz, the candidate must submit his/her unsigned copy to the dissertation supervisor and reader via email in order to obtain the needed signatures. Once signed, the candidate must create and submit a signed copy of the dissertation to the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity by submitting a copy of the signed document as an email attachment to the PhD in Practical Theology program director. The candidate must then complete the quiz by indicating that he/she has submitted the archival copy of the dissertation. This quiz contains 2 yes/no questions and 1 file upload question, has no time limit, and allows for unlimited attempts, with the latest counting towards the grade. (CLO: D, E)

Quiz: Publication and Binding Submission Report

The candidate, through a verifying quiz, will affirm that he or she has followed JFL requirements for electronic publication of his or her dissertation. The purpose of this research task is to submit the publication-ready version of the dissertation to the Jerry Falwell Library, submit an optional copy for physical binding if desired by the student or if requested by the committee, and complete the report of these actions by completing the assigned quiz. The quiz will contain 1 yes/no question, have no time limit, and allow for unlimited attempts, with the highest score counting towards the grade. (CLO: E)