This module will provide you with the necessary foundational knowledge, skills and understanding for the more specialised study of religions. It provides basic global history and geography essential for a grasp of the history of religions. The module explores key concepts within the study of religions including: ritual, deities, belief, texts, cosmology, community, religious experience, religious imagination and material culture.  It questions assumptions about the nature and definition of religion, and its relationship with culture and the secular/postsecular. It explores religion through the body, gender, sexuality, art, media and politics. It examines different theories, disciplines and methods that have shaped, and continue to shape, the academic study of religion, including phenomenology, sociology, psychology, anthropology, ethnography, feminism, history and hermeneutics. It raises important controversies and debates in Religious Studies around essentialism, insider/outsider perspectives, critical distance/critical empathy, positionality, (post)colonialism, orientalism and lived religion. You will be able to engage with and assess the significance of the various ‘critical turns’ in the development of the academic study of religions, and to develop your own preferred styles of engagement with the subject matter. 

This module introduces you to some of the central themes and methods in the study of Christian theology. You will explore theological topics which may include, for example, creation, Christology and sin in relation to contemporary issues such as the environmental crisis, gender and sexism, evil and suffering. The module will explore these themes from multiple theological and global perspectives and will engage historical as well as contemporary voices. You will be encouraged to consider how Christian responses to these contemporary issues are informed and shaped by diverse theological positions.  

The module will provide you with a survey and overview of the biblical literature of both testaments and will equip you with a range of exegetical skills. You will be introduced to the literary and theological contours of the Hebrew Bible (including historiographical, prophetic, and wisdom literatures) and the literature, theology, and historical background of the New Testament with a particular focus on the synoptic gospels.

In this module you will explore the big questions in ethics. You will be taught to think critically about ethics and morality itself, introduced to the main theories of normative ethics, and explore contemporary and classic questions in applied ethics.

This module introduces you to the academic study of Islam and Christianity. In the first half, you will focus on Islam, exploring: the historical context for the life of the Prophet Muhammad; the revelation of the Qur'an; Islamic law; the Shi'i tradition; Sufism (Islamic mysticism); and Muslim traditions within the UK. The second half will provide you with an overview of the diverse identities, practices, beliefs, teachings, and institutions that are part of Christianity. It traces the major influences on the emergence of Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy and considers their main characteristics, in a range of contexts.

In this module, you will explore the dharmic tradition of Buddhism together with Rabbinic Judaism as living religious traditions. You will discover different forms of modern Buddhism and their relationship to the history of Buddhism and its traditional teachings and practices. You will also investigate key features of modern Jewish communities and their practices against the background of Jewish history, examining the development of thought and practice in response to modernity and up to the present. 

Chinese: Intermediate Language Development (20 Credits) Option

This module is designed for students who have completed GCSE in Chinese or equivalent. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and learning conventions for spelling and pronunciation. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop oral and written communication skills at an intermediate level.

French: Communication in Practice (20 Credits) Option

This module is designed for students that have completed A-Level or equivalent in French. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and expression and apply these to real world situations. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop your oral and written communication skills at Post-A level.

French: Intermediate Language Development (20 Credits) Option

This module is designed for students who have completed GCSE or equivalent in French. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and learning conventions for spelling and pronunciation. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop oral and written communication skills at an intermediate level.

German: Communication in Practice (20 Credits) Option

This module enables students with A-Level German or equivalent to further develop their grammar, vocabulary and expression and apply these to real world situations. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop your oral and written communication skills at Post-A level.

Spanish: Communication in Practice (20 Credits) Option

This module is designed for students that have completed a A-Level or equivalent in Spanish. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and expression and apply these to real world situations. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop oral and written communication skills at Post-A level.

Spanish: Intermediate Language Development (20 Credits) Option

This module is designed for students that have completed GCSE or equivalent in Spanish. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and learning conventions for spelling and pronunciation. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop oral and written communication skills at an intermediate level.

Subsidiary Language for Beginners (20 Credits) Option

This module provides the opportunity to study a new language from scratch and introduces you to basic grammar, vocabulary and cultural contexts. You will apply the language to practical situations using both oral and written skills.