Religion, Philosophy & Ethics

Course detail Description

This course, taught entirely within the Department, combines the study of religion with work on ethics and philosophy. You will also have the opportunity to study ethical and religious concepts philosophically in the context of literature, film and history.

Teaching

We strongly believe that teaching and research should be closely related. All our teaching staff are research-active, many enjoying international reputations as leaders in their fields. Our commitment to original research means that we can introduce students to advances and emerging ideas across a diverse range of fields being explored by our staff. Our Religion, Philosophy & Ethics BA is taught using a combination of lectures, seminars and more intimate tutorials. We also expect a significant amount of independent study.

Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of teaching.

Assessment

Your performance will be assessed through a combination of coursework and written/practical examinations. Forms of assessment may typically include written examinations and essays.

Location

As a capital city, home to a mix of people of hugely diverse backgrounds, London offers tremendous opportunities for students of religion.

Many religious groups with very different beliefs, rituals and art are within easy reach of the department located on the King’s College London Strand Campus, while our central location gives us access to the unrivalled resources of the National Archives, the British Library, the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Lambeth Palace Library.

Please note that locations are determined by where each module is taught and may vary depending on the optional modules you select.

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Structure

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3

Year 1

Courses are divided into modules. Each year you will normally take modules totalling 120 credits.

Required Modules

You are required to take the following module:

• Academic Methods in Theology and Religious Studies (15 credits)

You are also required to choose four modules (totaling 60 credits) from a list that may typically include:

• Elements of Ethics (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (15 credits)
• From Machiavelli to Bodin: Renaissance & Reformation Political Thought (15 credits)
• Thinking about Evil (15 credits)
• Introduction to Islam (15 credits)
• Introduction to Buddhism (15 credits)

Optional Modules

You are also required to take a further 45 credits from either the above or below list that may typically include:

• Introduction to the Sociology of Religion (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (15 credits)
• The New Testament: Gospels & Letters (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Anthropology of Religion (15 credits)
• Introduction to Jewish Thought & Practice (15 credits)
• Turning Points: An Introduction to the History of Christianity in England 1500–1900 (15 credits)
• Introduction to Early & Medieval Christianity and Culture (15 credits)
• Introduction to Religion & Politics (15 credits)
• How Christians Argue (15 credits)
• Introduction to Modern Christianity & Culture (15 credits)
• Introductory New Testament Greek with Texts (30 credits)

Year 2

You must take three core modules and choose your remaining modules from a range of options.

Required Modules

You are required to take three modules (totalling 45 credits) from a list that may typically include:

• Philosophy & Film (15 credits)
• Ethics, Philosophy & Literature (15 credits)
• Applied Ethics (15 credits)
• Religious Difference: Jewish, Christian & Other Perspectives (15 credits)
• Modern Islam I: History & Politics (15 credits)
• Buddhist Ethics (15 credits)
• Faith & Enlightenment: Philosophies of Religion from Anselm to Kant (15 credits)
• Themes in Sufism & Islamic Philosophy (15 credits)

Optional Modules

You are also required to take a further 75 credits from an extensive list of optional 15 and 30-credit modules on topics that may typically include:

• Paul in Context (15 credits)
• Religion in Ethnographic Perspective (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Doctrine of the Person of Christ (15 credits)
• Religion, Culture & Society in Reformation Europe (15 credits)
• Religion & Politics in International & Transnational Contexts (15 credits)
• Ritual in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (15 credits)
• Salvation & the City: Christian Faith & the Arts (15 credits)
• The Bible in the Modern Imagination (15 credits)
• Theological Themes of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (15 credits)
• ‘What is Christianity?’: Patristic Perspectives (15 credits)
• Between Revolutions: British Christianity 1689–1860 (15 credits)
• Intermediate Greek with Texts (15 credits)
• Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (30 credits)

In addition, full-time students have the opportunity to study abroad at one of our partner universities around the world in your second year. The list of partner universities (subject to change) currently includes:

• University of Helsinki
• National University of Singapore
• University of Toronto (semester one or full year only)
• University of North Carolina
• University of Sydney
• George Washington University
• University of Auckland

Year 3

You must take four core modules and choose your remaining modules from a range of options. You also have the opportunity to write a dissertation, for which you will receive one-to-one supervision with a member of staff.

Required Modules

You are required to take four modules (totalling 60 credits) from a list that may typically include:

• Special Questions in Social Ethics (15 credits)
• The Search for Meaning (15 credits)
• Contemporary Thought in the Muslim World (15 credits)
• Philosophy of Religious Life (15 credits)
• Theravada Buddhism (15 credits)

Optional Modules

You are required to take a further 60 credits from an extensive list of optional 15 and 30-credit modules on topics which may typically include:

• Independent Study Project (30 credits)
• The English Reformation (15 credits)
• Exploring New Testament Theology I (15 credits)
• Hebrew Texts: Prose (15 credits)
• European Jews & the Orient (15 credits)
• Contemporary Theology & Philosophy (15 credits)
• Hebrew Texts: Poetry (15 credits)
• Principles of Systematic Theology (15 credits)
• Women & Gender in the Bible (15 credits)
• Varieties of Religious Experience: Christianity in Britain 1850–1970 (15 credits)
• Anthropological Approaches to Religious Innovation & Questions of Being (15 credits)
• Religion, Politics & Global Media (15 credits)

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change.