Program Overview
This program in Religion explores the influence of religious beliefs and practices on contemporary issues, examining the intersection of religion, politics, and social change. Students can specialize in theology, global development, or gender studies while developing critical thinking, research, and communication skills valuable in various careers or further academic pursuits.
Program Outline
On this course, you'll explore how religious traditions facilitate, disrupt, or otherwise influence political and social life. You'll learn about the relevance of theology, sacred scripture, religious ritual, and faith-based organizations to contemporary issues such as climate change, terrorism, global development, gender, sexuality and race discrimination, migration and diaspora. You'll also critically interrogate the concept of ‘religion’ in the context of different theories of politics, policy and social change, engaging with hotly debated and contested topics such as secularisation, religious identity and representation, and religion and the public sphere. You'll have the option of choosing a specialised pathway in one of three areas – theology, global development, or gender. We have active links with charitable, activist, community and faith organisations in the city. This course can be used for preparing for further research or to develop within any sector where religion or theology is relevant (for example the voluntary, advocacy, NGO, or policy sectors), or simply to further your interest in this fascinating area. You can study full-time or part-time, and we also offer postgraduate certificate (PGCert) and postgraduate diploma (PGDip) versions of the course.
Outline:
Modules on this course introduce you to key theories and methods of study and also enable you to focus on specific issues, geographical and historical contexts, or disciplinary approaches. Depending on your choice of pathway through the course, you have the opportunity to take some modules in different Schools:
- The global development and gender pathways will include studying modules from the Schools of Politics and International Studies, and Sociology and Social Policy. This means that you will gain more in-depth knowledge on a particular context of justice, equality, and other facets of ‘social change’.
- The theology pathway enables you to study extra theology modules from the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science. If you choose to take the placement module, you’ll undertake a piece of research for a local charity or organisation. Our wide range of optional modules includes the study of research methods in the study of religion, which will give you the skills to undertake fieldwork as part of your research. At the end of your course, you will submit a dissertation, which is an independently researched piece of work on a topic of your choice, supervised by one of our resident experts in theology or religious studies.
Course Structure:
- Year 1 Compulsory Modules:
- Religion, Politics and Society (30 credits)
- Year 1 Optional Modules (Selection of Typical Options Shown Below):
- Unfinished Business: Trauma, Cultural Memory and the Holocaust (30 credits)
- Global Politics of Health (30 credits)
- Gender, Globalisation and Development (30 credits)
- Inequalities: Exploring causes, Consequences and Interventions (30 credits)
- Sin and Contemporary Public Discourse (30 credits)
- Religions and Global Development (30 credits)
- Religion, Gender and Sexuality (30 credits)
- Muslims, Multiculturalism and the State (30 credits)
- Religion and Society: Research Process and Methods (30 credits)
- Religion, Politics and the Future: From Apocalypse to Utopia (30 credits)
- Theology and Public Life (30 credits)
- Research Project (Theology and Religious Studies) (30 credits)
- Dissertation (60 credits)
- Special Options in Theology and Religious Studies (30 credits) You’ll be assessed using a range of techniques including exams, group projects, written assignments and essays, in-course assessment, group and individual presentations and reports.
Teaching:
We use a variety of different teaching methods such as lectures, seminars, tutorials, work-based learning, fieldwork and workshops. Independent study is also vital to this course, allowing you to develop your skills and prepare for taught sessions and assessments. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.
Careers:
This course will equip you with a range of in-depth subject knowledge, but it will allow you to develop high-level skills in research, analysis, interpretation and communication. All of these qualities are valuable to a range of employers across sectors and industries, and we’re proud of our record in preparing postgraduates for their careers after graduation. They’ve gone into roles such as teaching, consultancy, business management, administration, accountancy, law, journalism and the civil service among others.
UK fees: £11,500 (Total) International fees: £24,500 (Total)
