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Theology and Religion

Entry requirements


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About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Theology and religious studies

**What do people believe about the world and their place in it? How do those beliefs shape society and culture? Can those beliefs be critically examined, scrutinised and tested?**

BA Theology and Religion will teach you how to use the tools of philosophy, social science, history, literature and language to understand human beliefs and world views, past and present. We do this both from within, seeking to test our own beliefs, and from without, as critical observers. We have a historic strength in the study of Christian thought, history, theology, practice and texts, while offering strong provision in politics, ethics, non-Christian faith traditions, humanism and atheism.

In addition to academic learning, we have an extensive series of research-related activities which you are warmly encouraged to attend. These include several research seminars and public lectures from high-profile guest speakers and visiting scholars; the University also frequently hosts eminent and well-known visiting speakers. You also have the choice of applying to add a placement year or a year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.

In the first year, modules are intended to provide the foundational understanding and skills necessary for work in theology and the study of religion.

In the second year, there is a much greater choice of modules to allow you to pursue your own interests within theology and religion by building on the understanding and abilities you have begun to develop in the first year.

The third year includes a dissertation that allows a deep, independently driven, exploration of a topic of your choice.

For more information on this course, please see our website.

Modules

Year 1
Core modules:
Worldview, Faith and Identity outlines established approaches to the study of religion. The module introduces ideas of identity, faith and worldview as foundations for religious thought and practice.

Introduction to the History of Christianity provides an introduction to the history of Christianity and to its relationships with its social and cultural contexts including the representation of different periods, different regions, different social groups such as historically marginalised groups, and different methodologies.

Introduction to Christian Theology (philosophical studies) will equip you with a grasp of the history of Christian theology and provide a comprehensive map of the major figures, ideas and debates which function as a minimal context for intelligent work in Christian theology. The module will introduce the method of thinking theologically, by habituating you in the thoughts of leading theologians.

Introduction to Bible: Texts, History, Culture (scriptural studies) introduces important passages and themes in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament, and explains some of the ways in which biblical scholars approach texts.

Examples of optional modules:
Biblical Hebrew
New Testament Greek
God and Evil
God and the Good: Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
Islam Observed: Ethnographic Accounts of Muslim Practice.
Year 2
Examples of optional modules:
Literature and Theology of the Old Testament
New Testament Theology
Decolonising the Bible
Death, Ritual and Belief
Creation and New Creation: Imaging God
Atheism, Belief and the Edge of Reason
Topics in Christian Ethics
Christ and the Human Mystery: Imaging God
Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement year or year abroad)
Core module:
In your final year, you will submit a dissertation on a related topic of your choice, approved by an academic advisor. The dissertation allows you to explore in depth a topic of special interest to you.

Examples of optional modules:
Aramaic
Advanced Greek Texts
Issues in Old Testament Studies
The New Testament and Christian Ethics
Religion and Film
Emotion and Identity in Religion
Christian Fundamentalism and the Modern World.

Assessment methods

Modules are assessed by essays and end-of-year examinations, some by a combination of the two. Forty per cent of your degree will be assessed by coursework. In your final year, you will submit a dissertation, which allows you to explore in depth a topic of your choice.

The Uni


Course locations:

College allocation pending

Durham City

Department:

Theology and Religion

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What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

84%
Theology and religious studies

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Theology and religious studies

Teaching and learning

87%
Staff make the subject interesting
91%
Staff are good at explaining things
96%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
77%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

90%
Library resources
95%
IT resources
87%
Course specific equipment and facilities
74%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

95%
UK students
5%
International students
41%
Male students
59%
Female students
94%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Theology and religious studies

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
98%
high
Employed or in further education
69%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

32%
Welfare professionals
13%
Teaching and educational professionals
10%
Business, research and administrative professionals

Theology can actually be a very vocational subject —by far the most common move for theology graduates is to go into the clergy and at the moment we have a serious shortage of people willing to go into what is one of the oldest graduate careers. If you want to study theology but don't want to follow a religious career, then there are plenty of options available. 2015 graduates went into all sorts of jobs requiring a degree, from education and community work, to marketing, HR and financial analysis. Postgraduate study is also popular — a lot of theology graduates train as teachers, or go into Masters or even doctoral study - where philosophy and law are very popular postgraduate subjects of study.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Theology and religious studies

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£24k

£24k

£31k

£31k

£34k

£34k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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Lower entry requirements
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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