© University of Kent - Contact | Feedback | Legal | Cookies
The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NZ, T +44 (0)1227 764000
BA in Religious Studies (single honours and joint honours)
This degree programme is designed to combine a core training in concepts and issues in the study of religion with a high degree of flexibility to allow you to pursue the modules that you find most interesting or relevant.
Our modules cover three key areas:
- different approaches to the study of religion (e.g. religious studies, psychology of religion, sociology of religion, philosophy of religion)
- world religions (including Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam)
- religion and the contemporary world (e.g. globalization, film, contemporary forms of the sacred beyond traditional religion).
Our students rate our programme highly. We consistently score well in the National Student Survey, and were ranked 5th nationally for Religious Studies in the 2011 survey. We are a friendly Department – large enough to provide you with a wide range of courses to choose from, but not so large that you won’t get to know our staff and students well whilst you’re studying here. We are committed to providing a good learning environment for you. For each of our modules, we offer individual feedback tutorials on your assessed work to give you individually-tailored advice about strengths and areas to develop in your work. We also cap student numbers on modules that count towards your final degree mark to ensure you can easily participate in classroom activities and have plenty of opportunities to interact with your lecturers. More information on the programme is provided below and we are also very happy to talk more to you about what we offer during open days and UCAS visit days.
Show all
|Programme overview
In each year, or stage, of your degree, you will take a total of 120 credits of study, made up of core modules (which are compulsory) and optional modules. There is a minimum amount of credits of Religious Studies modules that you need to take in each stage (listed below). In addition to these you can either take more Religious Studies modules or ‘wild’ modules from a wide range of other humanities and social science degrees across the university.
BA Religious Studies: Single Honours
In stage 1, you would be required to take at least 60 credits of modules in Religious Studies (including the 30 credit core module What is Religion?). The remaining 60 credits can either be taken from modules in Religious Studies or ‘wild’ modules from other degree programmes (see stage 1 Religious Studies modules listed below).
BA Religious Studies: Joint Honours
In stage 1, you are required to take a minimum of 45 credits of modules from Religious Studies (see stage 1 modules listed below). The remaining 15 credits can be taken from a Religious Studies module or a ‘wild’ module offered on another degree programme.
In stage 2 and 3, you are required to take a minimum of 45 credits of modules from Religious Studies each year (see stage 2 and 3 modules listed below). Again you may take the remaining 15 credits from a module in Religious Studies or a ‘wild’ module offered on another degree programme.Programme pathways
There is considerable flexibility for you to choose the combination of modules that particular interests you. The programme offers three different pathways of modules and you can choose to concentrate your modules from one of these pathways or choose the modules that interest you most from all of them.
Approaches to the Study of Religion
- TH341 What is Religion?
- TH553/598 Issues in Religious Studies
- TH558 Sociology of Religion
- TH578/600 Psychology and Religion
- TH579/595 Science and Religion
- TH580/596 Religion and Story
- TH606/TH607 William James: Philosopher, Psychologist and Scholar of Religion
World Religions
- TH331 Introduction to Hinduism and Buddhism
- TH340 Gods of the Desert: Judaism and Islam
- TH343 What is Christian Theology?
- TH344 Christianity through 2000 years
- TH555/601 Hindu Religious Thought
- TH556/597 Buddhism: Its Essence and Development
- TH577/594 Christianity and Ethics
- TH581/599 Gurus and Disciples
- TH615/TH616 Modern Islam: Liberal and Fundamentalist Thought
Religion in the Contemporary World
- TH342 Religion in the Contemporary World
- TH334 Religion and Sex
- TH547/593 Religion and Globalization
- TH570/574 Religion and Film
- TH571/575 Death of God?: Christianity and the Modern World
- TH572/576 Theology and Economics
- TH609/610: Philosophy, Religion and Political Economy
- TH611/TH612 The Sacred and Contemporary Society
Stage 2 and 3 modules
- TH515 Theology and Religious Studies Dissertation
- TH530/591 History and Literature in early Christianity: A Study of Luke-Acts
- TH547/593 Religion and Globalization
- TH553/598 Issues in Religious Studies
- TH555/601 Hindu Religious Thought
- TH556/597 Buddhism: Its Essence and Development
- TH558/608 Sociology of Religion
- TH570/574 Religion and Film
- TH571/575 Death of God?: Christianity and the Modern World
- TH572/576 Theology and Economics
- TH609/610: Philosophy, Religion and Political Economy
- TH577/594 Christianity and Ethics
- TH578/600 Psychology and Religion
- TH579/595 Science and Religion
- TH580/596 Religion and Story
- TH581/599 Gurus and Disciples
- TH606/TH607 William James: Philosopher, Psychologist and Scholar of Religion
- TH609/610 Philosophy, Religion and Political Economy
- TH611/TH612 The Sacred and Contemporary Society
- TH615/TH616 Modern Islam: Liberal and Fundamentalist Thought
Joint Honours degrees
Religious Studies is also available as a joint honours degree with Classical and Archaeological Studies, Comparative Literature, Drama, English and American Literature, Film Studies, French, German, History and Philosophy.
Careers and Employability
Our graduates have gone on to have successful careers in fields including teaching, social work and the voluntary sector, journalism and the media, the commercial sector and international non-Governmental organizations. Students on the programme also benefit from the wide range of opportunities and resources at the university, including its ground-breaking employability programme.
The Higher Education Academy has also produced a useful guide on the value of religious studies degrees for future employment which can be downloaded from here.Language training/Study Abroad
The university offers excellent opportunities for broadening your skills and developing your experience of life beyond the UK. A wide range of courses in modern languages is available which you can either take for credit as part of your degree or as an additional course which is non-assessed. These range from beginners, through intermediate to advanced level, with courses particularly relevant to Religious Studies including Arabic, French and German.
The university also offers a well-run and extensive study abroad programme which provides opportunities for studying part of your degree programme at a wide range of leading universities across Europe, America and Asia from one term to a whole year.