2026

2. Essay

When I decided to double-major in religion and computer science at Amherst College, I did not notice any
significant overlap between the disciplines. This changed when I took a course on transhumanism. After listening to
futurists like Ray Kurzweil lament the fragility of the human body, I became fascinated with techno-optimist
movements and their vision of attaining immortality through mind uploading and virtual reality. Other classroom
experiences deepened this fascination. As a computer science major, I was immersed in an environment in which
technology's positive transformative power was often taken for granted. Courses like The Book of Job & Joban
Literature and Zen & American Literature intersected with my reflections on this environment in an unexpected
way: after studying literary expressions of the desire to transcend the physical world, I wondered how those
expressions might change when technology, not faith or contemplative practice, is the vehicle for transcendence.

Transhumanists discuss the promised technological singularity as utterly new and unimaginable for pre-digital
minds, but I have come to suspect that this is not the case. Visions of technological transcendence have significant
resonances with Christian ideas about martyrdom, the apocalypse, and heaven. Several prominent scholars have
examined Christianity's influence on transhumanist apologetics, but few have focused on transhumanist fiction. I
am interested in fundamental questions about the relationship between spiritual and technological transcendence
in literature: how do the biblical reference points for the literature of spiritual transcendence apply to works in
which our salvation is material in origin? How does literature's conception of its own immortalizing power change
when it portrays transcendence as an engineering challenge rather than as a product of faith? Most importantly,
how have Christian depictions of the afterlife set the boundaries that contain visions of technological
transcendence?

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I hope to study these questions by pursuing a PhD in religion, and Harvard Divinity School's MTS program would
provide the ideal preparation for this path. In addition to my undergraduate coursework, my research and work
experiences have prepared me to succeed at HDS. In working on a Faith and Social Action oral history project, I
conducted interviews and archival research in order to understand the motivations for activism among religious
sisters, clergy, and lay practitioners. This opportunity enabled me to work with a wide variety of sources and draw
connections across disciplinary lines, preparing me to develop an extended research project on James Frazer and
folk horror cinema for a senior seminar in religion. The analytical skills I have developed through my academic
experiences would serve me well in the rigorous and interdisciplinary classes available at HDS. I also believe that
my experience in discussion-based seminars, both as a student at Amherst and as a high school teacher, will enable
me to make the most of my time within HDS's vibrant intellectual community.

In order to explore the religious underpinnings of recent literature about technological transcendence, I first need
to deepen my understanding of the New Testament sources that have informed texts about spiritual
transcendence. HDS provides the ideal environment for building this foundational knowledge. I am particularly
interested in studying Greek through HDS's robust language coursework and the Summer Language Program. This
would open the door to classes deeply intertwined with my interest in depictions of heaven and the apocalypse,
such as advanced seminars on Revelation and apocalyptic literature. I also look forward to engaging with faculty
whose expertise in New Testament studies from a variety of critical lenses would prove invaluable as I work to build
a foundation for my own research.

My questions of interest put religion in conversation with science and technology studies, literary studies, and
more. The Religion, Literature, and Culture area of focus will enable me to examine the interdisciplinary connections
most relevant to my proposed research area. This concentration offers a range of courses that connect religious
traditions with contemporary literature, such as Decolonial Materialisms and Disobedience: The Defiance of Genre
in Contemporary English Language Poetry. I will be able to broaden my interdisciplinary experience even further by
taking some courses in other schools at Harvard University and through the Boston Theological Interreligious
Consortium. I also look forward to getting involved with Religion and Public Life in order to connect my study of
religion not just to other academic disciplines, but also to social issues and political institutions.

These diverse experiences would prove particularly useful as I begin conducting my own study of Christianity's
influence on recent fiction. HDS offers ample opportunity to develop the skills that I will need to perform original
research. I am especially interested in the possibility of taking a Reading and Research course, as collaborating with
a professor to design an independent study and develop an extended research project would provide excellent
preparation for further work at the doctoral level. The MTS program at Harvard Divinity School will enable me to
deepen my knowledge of Christian thought, explore its connections with a wide variety of academic disciplines, and
continue developing the skills necessary for success at the PhD level.

Professional Review by Prepory 

This essay succeeds by treating intellectual curiosity as a coherent journey rather than a list of interests. Michael
traces how two seemingly disparate disciplines, converging religion and computer science into a unified research
vision, and demonstrating precisely the kind of synthetic thinking that graduate programs seek. The essay's greatest
strength is its intellectual specificity: rather than broadly stating an interest in "religion and technology," Michael
articulates a scholarly question about how Christian theological concepts shape contemporary visions of
technological transcendence, identifying a genuine gap in the literature worth filling. This granularity signals that he
is prepared for the level of intellectual engagement required by advanced degree programs.

What further distinguishes this statement is its grounding in concrete research experience and clear familiarity with
the MTS program at Harvard Divinity School. Michael doesn't offer generic praise but instead explains precisely
how specific offerings, such as the Religion, Literature, and Culture concentration, the Boston Theological
Interreligious Consortium, the Reading and Research course, connect to their trajectory. The essay also strikes a
crucial balance between intellectual confidence and humility: Michael boldly claims their research questions matter
while simultaneously acknowledging what they still need to learn. The combination of genuine scholarly questions,
a foundation of methodological training, institutional knowledge, and honest self-awareness is what graduate
programs look for in ideal applicants.