MA Theology & Religious Studies

About this course

Theology and religious studies is a discipline that takes religion and religious experience seriously as objects of scholarly inquiry, rather than as matters of private faith alone. It examines the texts, doctrines, practices, histories and cultural expressions of religious traditions from around the world, and asks how religion relates to politics, history, literature, philosophy, art and culture as well as to personal belief and practice. This breadth of engagement makes it one of the most genuinely interdisciplinary degrees available. At the University of Glasgow, the programme encompasses the study of religion, religions, the Bible and theology across a wide range of approaches and traditions. You will engage with Christian theology in its historical and contemporary forms, with the world's other major religious traditions including Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism, with the critical theory and methodology of religious studies as an academic discipline, and with the ethical, political and cultural dimensions of religious belief and practice. The degree includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study theology and religion in a different cultural and religious context, which is a particularly valuable experience in a discipline concerned with how different communities understand the sacred and the human. The part-time mode of delivery makes the programme accessible to students who cannot commit to full-time study. Graduates of theology and religious studies degrees work in religious organisations, education, the civil service, journalism, interfaith dialogue, humanitarian aid, the third sector, hospital and prison chaplaincy, and academic research. The ethical reasoning, textual analysis and cultural understanding the degree develops are broadly transferable. Postgraduate study in theology, religious studies, ethics, philosophy or a related field is a natural continuation.

Student Satisfaction