Name

Kendall Marchman

School

University of Florida

Degree Program

Fourth year PhD student in Religious Studies with a specialization in Chinese Buddhism

Previous Degrees

Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt University, 2007; Bachelor of Arts in Music from Mercer University, 2004

Dissertation Topic

Chinese Pure Land Buddhism During the Tang Dynasty

Research Interests

Asian religions; popular religions

Advisor

Mario Poceski

Advisor’s Research Focus

Chan Buddhism in Medieval China

Hobbies

Reading comic books

Graduate School – Application Process

How did you select your graduate school and program?

I chose University of Florida for my PhD in religious studies because the program had a specialization in Chinese Buddhism, which is my main interest. Beyond that, I wanted to be able to work with other disciplines and have the opportunity to construct a committee for my dissertation that included people outside of the religious studies department. I also liked that University of Florida’s religious studies program offered the chance to take classes at other universities that will still count toward my degree.

I advise other students that if you have a secondary interest, make sure that it is covered in the department. For example, I am interested in many Asian religions, including Chinese Buddhism and Hinduism. I wanted to be sure that wherever I went, I wasn’t only going to specialize in Buddhism. I looked for a program that had faculty strengths in both Hinduism and Buddhism.

What did you do to prepare yourself for graduate school?

I knew I wanted to go to graduate school for Asian studies, so to prepare for that I took some time between my masters and PhD programs to live in China for an extended amount of time. I would highly recommend that prospective graduate students who are interested in a specific culture do the same. It makes PhD departments and search committees notice that you have spent time learning the culture. Living abroad also shows that you can negotiate the language and that you will bring first-hand experience to your studies.

Did your application requirements include standardized test scores?

Yes, the University of Florida requires applicants to submit GRE scores. I took the GRE very seriously, to the point of memorizing suggested vocabulary lists in GRE study books. For the social sciences, the verbal section of the test is very important. Sometimes schools will publish the range of GRE scores that they are looking for, and that can be a helpful way to guide your study process.

What kind of information did you include in your personal statement?

I tried to tailor my personal statement to specific faculty members with whom I wanted to work as a PhD student. I advise others to do the same, rather than writing a blanket personal statement to every university. The personal statement is your opportunity to help the admissions committee imagine how you will fit into the departmental culture. They need to know what you can contribute and how you plan to do so.

How did you choose faculty to approach for letters of recommendation?

I knew that recommendation letters play a huge part in gaining entrance to a program, so I asked professors who knew what kind of student I was so that they could make a wholehearted recommendation to the PhD faculty. To that end, I encourage both undergraduate and masters students to get to know their professors well. Getting letters of recommendation from senior faculty who are already known in your discipline is very important.

Do you have any other tips for a student who is considering applying to graduate school in religious studies?

I encourage anyone who is considering a graduate degree in religious studies to start learning other languages as early as possible. Religious studies programs have language qualifications, which might be a certain number of undergraduate courses or a language entrance exam that the program administers. Sometimes the language you'll be working with for your research will not be offered in your PhD program. You may have to gain language skills outside of school, and starting them before you even begin your application is ideal.

Graduate School – The Program

How long is your program and how is the curriculum distributed?

In our program, the first 2 years are spent on coursework. Coursework gives students in the religious studies program a foundation for their own research and an understanding of a wide body of knowledge. It is best to be solely dedicated to coursework in the first year in order to explore and find an area of interest. Once you find that interest, your reading and any remaining coursework should start to fall in line.

The third year is spent mainly doing research for exams, which are taken at the end of the year. After you pass, you are solely focused on research for the dissertation. Even before we take our exams, we act as teaching assistants, which takes up a large part of our time. We begin to teach our own courses after passing our exams, which means that we can start to develop our teaching around our research, which is great.

What is the focus of your dissertation research?

My dissertation research focuses on Huaigan, a Buddhist monk who lived during the Tang Dynasty, which thrived in China from 618 to 907 C.E. Huaigan was an advocate of Pure Land Buddhist practice and wrote a text which defends those practices against other Buddhist critics. In my dissertation, I will be reconstructing the life of Huaigan through various biographical accounts. Additionally, I will be analyzing his text and discussing what it tells us about how Pure Land Buddhism was conceived of and practiced during the Tang Dynasty.

Can you describe the process of researching for and writing your dissertation?

The first step in my dissertation process was to uncover all of the past scholarship on Huaigan and his work.  That meant scouring through various bibliographies and footnotes to get an idea about the research that other scholars had already done. Thankfully, Huaigan has really been neglected in Western scholarship, so I have a lot of room to write and make insights about Huaigan’s text.

The next step, which I am currently working on, is to translate, read and analyze the primary sources that discuss Huaigan. Once this step is complete, I will start the writing process according to a chapter-by-chapter outline laid out in my dissertation prospectus.

Does your doctoral program require comprehensive exams prior to graduation?

Yes, in my PhD program for religious studies we have to take comprehensive exams before we are allowed to teach our own courses. We take those exams at the end of our third year.

Graduate School – Paying for It

How much does your PhD program cost?

I’m not sure, since I receive financial assistance from University of Florida. But even though I’m not responsible for my tuition, I’m still responsible for paying my student fees. That's a significant out-of-pocket expense that even students who receive financial assistance need to be aware of. Some graduate programs will cover those costs for their students, but others will not.

How are you funding your education?

The University of Florida is funding my education with a teaching assistantship that is accompanied by a stipend. Right now I am teaching 2 courses. The first is at University of Florida and the second is at a community college nearby, in Gainesville. Teaching a couple of courses per year is standard for PhD students in my department. We begin to teach our own courses after advancing to candidacy, which means having passed our qualifying exams and submitted a dissertation prospectus.

Graduate School – Living Life

What are the time commitments for a PhD in religious studies?

To get a PhD in any subject, students must be willing to put in at least as many hours as a full-time job would require. For example, in a typical day, I spend my morning working on translations of different texts and sending out emails to my students and my professors. Then I prepare my lecture for class and teach. I grade papers and consult with students during office hours, and then try to work on my own research. Before I know it, I have to go home again.

How has graduate school affected your personal life?

Graduate school affects my personal life because it feels like the work is never going to dissipate. You are always going to feel like you need to do more, even if you have been working all day. If you are spending the night watching a movie or out with friends, you feel like you ought to be doing something in that moment. It is like a perpetual feeling of guilt, which is something to watch out for. Some students get depressed when they start PhD work because of that feeling of never fully completing a task or working hard enough. They are always in the mode of studying to keep that feeling at bay.

Time management becomes a really important skill for graduate students, especially for those of us who are married or in serious relationships. I’ve seen statistics that suggest that marriages have a rough time when 1 partner is in graduate school, and if both partners are in school, the challenges are even greater. The risk is that you become consumed by your studies and end up in something like a separate world.

To keep my program from taking over my life, I try to treat it like a day job. I try to get my work done so that I can spend evenings and weekends with my wife or with friends. This doesn't work perfectly though. As a student it can be easy to procrastinate, simply because you can. Other times, you might spend multiple days or even weeks working with few breaks. This can be hard for both spouses.

Graduate School – After Graduation

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

It has always been my goal to teach at the university level, so in 5 years, I hope to be employed as a professor at a small school. There is not much job security in academia, but that lifestyle appeals to me because I want to be able to conduct my own research in addition to teaching.

Graduate School - Advice

What insights can you offer a student who is interested in pursuing a PhD in religious studies?

Many of the students who gain admission to PhD programs have a good idea of the amount of work that will be required. They often already know the faculty and current research that they like to read. No matter how prepared you are, though, the first and second semesters can be overwhelming, largely because of your confidence level. When I began coursework, I felt intellectually inferior to students in the classes who were 2 or 3 years ahead of me. Your success as a graduate student depends on the confidence factor. You have to remind yourself that you’re there for a reason and that you’re just as good as the next person in the room as long as you do the work and don't fall behind.