As many of you know, I earned my PhD in New Testament from the University of Wales under the supervision of Drs. William S. Campbell and Kathy Ehrensperger.
Recently I was asked why I chose Wales. My reply was
straight forward. I wanted to experience the rigors of a UK postgraduate
education, which is based 100% on original research and the writing of a
thesis. I was accepted at the Universities of Sheffield and the Manchester,
respectively, but chose Wales because of my Welsh heritage. My maternal
Grandfather Edward J. Richards was born and reared in Swansea South Wales
before migrating to the United States. That makes me one quarter Welsh. I
wanted to get back to my roots.
I had never been so stretched academically. My supervisors challenged
me to read primary sources, the best contemporary scholarly works and journal
articles, and to think outside my theological comfort zone. I entered the
program as an informed evangelical and emerged as critical scholar. Dr David
Cook (Oxford) once explained to the Criswell College faculty that the
difference between an American and UK doctorate is that “the former is a mile
wide and an inch deep, while the latter is an inch wide and a mile deep.”
I had already earned American degrees and was indeed a
generalist, having taken in 48 hours of seminars. The Wales degree turned me
into a specialist.
Additionally, I chose the University of Wales because the
supervisor for my American-earned PhD was I.D.E. Thomas, a native-born Welshman,
who had a profound influence on me. He was a Baptist, Calvinist, and pietist.
Dr. Thomas was named an Honorary Fellow in 2009 at the University of Wales,
Lampeter. He died in 2013 at the age of
92.
If you are serious about scholarship, I heartedly recommend
to you a UK degree.
