Religious Studies

Religious beliefs shape the way people think and act, and have been signifi cant infl uences in the
way that politics, cultures and societies are constructed. On the other hand, personal, cultural,
political and societal agendas also infl uence the formation of religious belief and practice.
Religion is a flexible notion, woven into global and local life and thought as well as embodied in
religious institutions, texts, images and bodies. Studying Religious Studies provides students will
skills, knowledge and understanding of the place of religions in a range of contexts.

Religious Studies at Chester provides students with opportunities to engage in the study of a
number of world religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism and
provides students with skills to engage in the study of religions. You will have opportunities to
experience these religions and meet religious followers of these religions through placements
and fieldtrips. You will engage in the study of issues facing religious communities locally, nationally
and globally, through engagement with themes such as secularization, and the experience of
minority faith communities. You will also have opportunities to study philosophy of religion,
religious philosophies, anthropology and ritual.

The theological and religious issues in our programmes are popular with students from a wide range of lifestyles and diverse educational backgrounds. Some have followed GCE A or AS Level programmes in Religious Studies, and others come with little or no background in the subject.

Questions in religion:

• How is the sacred experienced by human beings across cultures?
• How do human beings interpret the world we inhabit?
• How does the past inform the present?
• How do people apply their beliefs in practice?
• How do people deal with the divine?
• How important is spirituality in contemporary society, film and literature?
• How is religion changing as it deals with new ideas arising from political, moral and philosophical thought, and from feminism, the environment and the new genetics?