A collection of essays written specifically to help graduate students of Religious Studies and Theology in their quest to become professional scholars and professors: this candid and yet practical guide is indispensable reading for graduate students of religion (and cognate fields). Contributions aim to encapsulate the ‘pearls of wisdom" that each contributor feels would have assisted them when they themselves were graduate students. Many of the problematic themes of studying religion or religions emerge, but they do so concretely, that is, within the narratives of the lives of experienced professors. These problems are therefore not simply or predominantly dealt with as mere intellectual abstractions. The biographical flavour of many of the essays will help the graduate student reader relate to the work of more experienced students of Religious Studies and Theology and may even constitute important reading for scholars who are dealing with the oeuvre of contributors. Contains more than a dozen essays written by a mix of well established and younger scholars including: David Chidester, Harold Coward, Donald A. Crosby, Michel Desjardins, Marc H. Ellis, Darlene Jushka, Klaus Klostermaier, Kay Koppendrayer, Charles H. Long, Larry Patriquin, Vern Neufeld Redekop, Carolyn Sharpe, Jon R. Stone, Russell T. McCutcheon.