This programme explores the nature of religious experience, looking at the ways in which it is important for understanding religion itself. It raises questions about the nature of religious experience and past attempts to bring subjective reality under the lens of academic analysis. It goes on to explore a range of approaches, including classic theories of mysticism, and also contemporary views of religious experience in relation to psychology, emotions, practice, aesthetics, bodily sensation, and ethics. It involves subjects as diverse as philosophy, theology, psychology, parapsychology, anthropology, sociology, classics, history, literature, art history, medicine and psychiatry. Models of experience from both Eastern and Western religious traditions are explored, giving students the opportunity to focus on particular case studies in their own research.

For further information visit the SECL website.

Course content

• Methods and Theories in the Study of Religious Experience
• Mysticism and Religious Experience: Contemporary Issues
• Mystical Traditions: East and West
• Spirituality and Popular Culture
• Dissertation

Assessment

By coursework and the dissertation.

T: +44 (0)1227 827272
E: information@kent.ac.uk

Professor Jeremy Carrette
Religious Studies,
School of European Culture and Languages, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NF, UK
T: +44 (0)1227 823145
E: j.r.carrette@kent.ac.uk

Before applying, please read our ‘How to apply’ section.

You can then go straight to the online application form by clicking the programme below:

• MA

• School website
• Staff profiles
• Graduate School
• Open Days
• Order or download a prospectus