Bible and the Contemporary World - Distance Learning PGDip/MLitt

Each module typically comprises:

• online lectures and seminars.
• 100% coursework assessment.

Students will take the modules in different orders depending on their point of entry.

For more details of each module, including weekly contact hours, teaching methods and assessment, please see the latest module catalogue which is for the 2017–2018 academic year; some elements may be subject to change for 2018/2019 entry.

September 2018 Entry

Semester 1

Residential study week in St Andrews: Monday 3 to Friday 7 September 2018

• Theology and the Arts: its relationship with a broad range of different art forms (such as literature, music and the visual arts).

Semester 2

Residential study week in St Andrews: Monday 21 to Friday 25 January 2019

• The Bible and Contemporary Issues: explores a variety of hermeneutical approaches that have been proposed to make intelligent connections between the Christian scriptures, events, trends and cultural assumptions.

Semester 3

Residential study week in St Andrews: Monday 2 to Friday 6 September 2019

• Theological Issues in Medical Ethics: considers contemporary debates in medical ethics, e.g., euthanasia, abortion, the idea of ‘physician’ as a religious vocation, human enhancement technologies, conscientious objection to performing certain procedures, and healthcare policy.

Semester 1

Residential study week in St Andrews: Monday 21 to Friday 25 January 2019

• The Bible and Contemporary Issues: explores a variety of hermeneutical approaches that have been proposed to make intelligent connections between the Christian scriptures, events, trends and cultural assumptions.

Semester 2

Residential study week in St Andrews: Monday 2 to Friday 6 September 2019

• Theological Issues in Medical Ethics: considers contemporary debates in medical ethics, e.g., euthanasia, abortion, the idea of ‘physician’ as a religious vocation, human enhancement technologies, conscientious objection to performing certain procedures, and healthcare policy.

Semester 3

Residential study week in St Andrews: Monday 20 to Friday 24 January 2020

• Surveillance, Theology and the Bible: thinking critically about multiple forms of 21st-century surveillance (such as Big Data in online advertising and policing, CCTV in shops and churches, and our mutual watching through social media).

MLitt students take a fourth module for their dissertation, and attend its associated study week in St Andrews. Dissertations will be supervised by members of the teaching staff who will advise on the choice of subject and provide guidance throughout the research process. The completed dissertation of 15,000 words must be submitted at the end of the course.

Those on the PGDip programme will finish their studies after the third semester, and suitably qualified candidates will be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma.