Divinity and Religious Studies

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

John Swinton

Pre-requisites

Current participation in MTH programme. Open to other level 5 students by permission

Overview

An exploration of Christian theology and spirituality as it relates to medicine and health.
An exploration of Biblical and theological perspectives on health healing in the Old and New Testaments.
An examination of Christian healing today.
Critical reflection on healing and disability.
Critical reflection on contemporary understandings of spirituality without God Vocational issues around ministry, chaplaincy, medicine and psychiatry. Practical issues around mental health, dementia, cancer, death and dying and the relationship between spirituality and medicine.

Structure

One 2-hour lecture and One 1-hour seminar

Assessment

1 x 3000 word essay and 1 x 3-hour exam.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms J Heath

Pre-requisites

Facility in read, translating and analysing Greek. Usually this would mean at least two years study of Greek.

Notes

Overview

This course is designed to be flexible, and will be tailored to the needs and linguistic abilities of individual students. The emphasis will be on the development of analytic skills, not just on the acquisition of further knowledge. The course will be divided into two parts, which reflect the two main course aims, and texts will be selected accordingly. The study of the Old Testament in the New could be built around a specific New Testament passage, e.g. the Matthean birth narratives or 2 Corinthians 3, or a specific Old Testament text in a range of New Testament passages, e.g. Isaiah 53 in the New Testament. The study of the Septuagint could draw on parts of the Septuagint that exist only in Greek, e.g. 4 Maccabees or Wisdom; or it may focus on Greek versions of Hebrew texts. Students are warmly encouraged to get in touch with the course co-ordinator well in advance if they would like to influence the choice of text and approach.

Structure

One two hour seminar per week.

Assessment

One 3000 word essay (80%); one 1000 word written assignment (20%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Christopher Brittain

Pre-requisites

N/A

Notes

Overview

The course consists of one-to-one supervision with a member of staff. Students will be expected to produce an essay of ca. 4000-5000 words.

Structure

8 hours of supervision. This may be reduced to 4 hours if a student project involves attendance at one of the DRS research seminars (when appropriate to the research topic).

Assessment

The essay (ca. 4000-5000 words) will be assessed by submission.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Prof Joachim Schaper

Pre-requisites

Available only to students on Postgraduate level 5

Overview

Key topics in Jewish history in the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Mediaeval and modern periods.
Selected aspects of Jewish culture through the ages, concentrating on religion and ritual.

Structure

1 one hour lecture and 1 one hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Written examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%: 10% for oral presentation and 30% for a 2,000 word paper developed from that presentation).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

The class hours comprise a variety of integrated learning activities and exercises including grammar practice, reading comprehension, vocabulary building, productive writing, translation and listening comprehension.

Structure

2 one hour classes per week (times to be arranged)

Assessment

Examination (50%) and continuous assessment (50%). The continuous assessment includes homework assignment (10%), class participation (10%), quizzes (20%) and an oral presentation (10%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Prof Joachim Schaper

Pre-requisites

Available only to students on Postgraduate level 5

Overview

The subjects covered are those which are currently of special importance to the development of Hebrew Bible Studies, namely the history of ancient Israel, Pentateuch Studies and exegetical methodology, anthropology and its use in Hebrew Bible research, and the history and theology of the Septuagint (inasmuch as it pertains to the understanding of the Hebrew Bible).

Structure

2 one hour lectures per week and 1 one-hour seminar per fortnight

Assessment

Written examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%): 10% for oral presentation and 30% for a 2,000 word paper developed from that presentation.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Steve Mason

Pre-requisites

Facility in reading, translating and analysing Greek. Usually this would mean at least two years’ study of Greek.

Overview

This course is designed to be flexible, and will be tailored to the needs and linguistic abilities of individual students. The course will be divided into two parts, which reflect the two main course aims, and texts will be selected accordingly. Possible texts, authors and text corpora for study would include Justin Martyr, Heracleon or Clement of Alexandria as responses to the Bible in Greek; Philo, Josephus or Plutarch as non-biblical Greek texts relevant to the Greek Bible. We will normally take selections from only one non-biblical text for each part of the course, so as to have the chance to study it in greater depth. The emphasis will be on the development of analytic skills, not just on the acquisition of further knowledge. Students are warmly encouraged to get in touch with the course co-ordinator well in advance if they would like to influence the choice of text and approach.

Structure

8 two-hour seminars.

Assessment

One 3000 word essay (80%); one 1000 word written assignment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Christopher Brittain

Pre-requisites

Only available to students in Year 5 programme

Co-requisites

None

Overview

The course will comprise four sections:
Old Testament
New Testament
Practical Theology
Christian Ethics

Each of these disciplines/sections will offer a vital and unique perspective on the Bible in ministry. Taken together they present a full, multidisciplinary approach which should be both interesting and educationally vital.

Structure

1 2hour session per week

Assessment

one 5000 word essay (90%), participation (10%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Ehrenschwendtner

Pre-requisites

Available to level 5 students

Co-requisites

None

Overview

‘St Francis called himself and his followers Friars Minor. It was a new name, to signify, he once said, a company of people differing in humility and in poverty from all who had gone before, and content to possess Christ alone.’
(Rosalind B Brooke, The Coming of the Friars, 1975, p. 2)

The aim of the course is to equip students with a thorough understanding of the nature of the Franciscan movement and its reverberations in European religious lifestyle, spirituality, theology, literature and art. It also will familiarise students with appropriate historical sources and methodologies and will provide students with an insight into religious and theological developments during the medieval period.

Structure

12 two hour seminars.
Required reading will be enhanced by the course coordinator.
The class presentation will take the form of a research project.

Assessment

1. a class presentation (30%);


2. an essay, 3000-3500 words (50%);


3. a book review, 1500 words (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Lukas Pokorny

Pre-requisites

None. Available to RS-students at level 5 only

Overview

This course will focus on the history and key doctrines of Confucianism in East Asia from Kongzi to contemporary phenomena. A thorough discussion of the Confucian Diaspora in Southeast Asia may be included.

Structure

One two hour seminar per week.
One one hour lecture per week.

Assessment

One three hour written examination (50%)
One 4500 word essay (40%)
One class presentation and one handout (40%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor Bernd Wannenwetsch

Pre-requisites

For PG students only. DRS honours students and PG students from outside DRS are required to get permission from the course coordinator prior to admission.

Co-requisites

None

Overview

The list of thinkers past and present, whose work will be read and analysed, comprises names such as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Stanley Hauerwas and Oliver O'Donovan.

Each time the course will run, it will focus on one or two of those more specifically. Texts will be studied in English, but where appropriate, comparison with the original language versions will be encouraged.

Structure

Two seminar sessions of 1 hour per week

Assessment

One essay of 5000 words (90%), one oral presentation (10%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Lukas Pokorny

Pre-requisites

None. Available to RS-students at level 5 only

Overview

Critical reading of Confucian, Daoist and/or Buddhist source texts in Middle Korean and/or Classical Chinese.

Structure

One two-hour seminar and one one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

One two-hour written examination (50%)
Four in class tests each 10% (40%)
Two brief take home examinations (10%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

C. Brittain

Pre-requisites

Available to students in level 5 DHP programmes and to other level 5 Students by permission

Overview

The place of religion in contemporary pluralistic societies is a pressing and open question. This course explores tensions between the traditional secular state, and an emerging emphasis on particular voices of cultural minorities and religious communities. Particular attention will be given to contemporary criticism of the concept of secularism, as well as to the question of what place theological discourse has in the public sphere. The impact these contemporary forces on the life of the church will receive particular analysis.

Structure

One two-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

One 5000 word essay (70%); one seiminar presentation (10%); one book review (20%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Anja Finger

Pre-requisites

Available to students on the MLitt Religious Studies Programme

Overview

In this course we will explore what the authors of the so-called 'Frankfurt School' have had to say about religion: Theodor W Adorno and Max Horkheimer most prominently at the centre of the Institute for Social Research, but also extending to e.g. Walter Benjamin, Erich Fromm and possibly to Jurgen Habermas. We shall ask in what ways critical theory is different from traditional theory and what the socio-cultural contexts were in which this re-definition of intellectual work took place. In the process, we will discover a type of thought that is sensitive for suffering and unwilling to simply abandon Utopian and Messianic hopes, but one that is also radical in its diagnosis of contemporary capitalist society and those religious phenomena conforming to and even expressive of it. Differences between authors and dicontinuities within individual lifeworks will be assessed. Finally, we will discuss which of the intuitions of this way or these ways of theorising should and can be preserved in the academic study of religion/s.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 two-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

One presentation (10%), one 5000 word essay (40%), one 3-hour exam (50%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

John Webster

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 5 or by special permission of the instructor

Overview

The course provides advanced seminar study of major texts and themes in the theology of Karl Barth. Particular attention will be devoted to Barth's earlier writings in biblical interpretation, his work on the historical theology of the Reformed tradiiton, and the developemnt of his dogmatic thought from the mid-1920s to the Church Dogmatics.

Structure

A weekly 2 hour seminar

Assessment

Seminar participation (10%)
5000 word research essay (50%)
Final three-hour examination (40%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Prof. T Greggs

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

We study the development of the Christian doctrine of God and related themes from Scripture to the 20th century. We pay close attention to significant texts in the Christian tradition (including creedal statements, and the writings of Origen, Augustine, Barth, and others), and to discussions of the doctrine of the trinity. The course requires careful reading of key primary texts.

Structure

Regular weekly seminars of 2 hours throughout the half-session (24 hours in total)

Assessment

Seminar participation (10%), a 5000 word research essay (50%)and final three-hour examination (40%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Prof. John Webster

Pre-requisites

N/A

Co-requisites

None

Overview

Key topics in systematic theology, including: the methods, norms and sources of Christian doctrine; the doctrine of the Trinity; creation, nature, history and providence; the human creature; covenant and election; sin; the person and work of Christ; the Christian life; eschatology.

Structure

Regular weekly seminars of 2 hours throughout the half-session (24 hours in total)

Assessment

Seminar participation (10%), a 5000 word research essay (50%) and final three hour examination (40%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Philip Ziegler

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

Key topics in the development of modern theology in the West from the Enlightenment to the end of the 20th Century. Themes will include doctrines of God, revelation, anthropology, salvation, history, the idea of 'religion', the nature of the Christian Scriptures and their interpretation, theological method and the nature of Christian doctrine. The work of the seminar will centre on critical examination of the primary and 'agenda setting' texts by leading Protestant and Catholic figures from across the period.

Structure

Regular weekly seminars of 2 hours throughout the half-session (24 hours in total)

Assessment

Seminar participation (10%), a 5000 word research essay (50%) and final three-hour examination (40%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Jane Heath

Pre-requisites

Undergraduate degree or equivalent in any area.

Overview

This course explores the character of theology as a scholarly discipline, particularly its task and method, the relationships between its subdisciplines and its vocation within the university.

Structure

Students will take part in 1 two-hour class session (week 1 of the half-session). In addition, students are to select one of the postgraduate research seimiars within DHP (as agreed with their programme coordinator) and participate fully in the reading and discussions of that seminar.

Assessment

2000 word essay (30%); one 3500 word essay relating to the relevant research seminar(70%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Donald Wood

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

12 1.5 hour seminars.

Structure

Regualr weekly seminars of 2 hours throughout the half-session (24 hours in total)

Assessment

Seminar participation (10%), a 5000 word research essay (50%) and final three-hour examination (40%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

John Swinton

Pre-requisites

Available to level 5 students in appropriate degree programmes

Co-requisites

None

Overview

The course aims to introduce students to the theology and practice of ministry with people who are considered or consider themselves to be marginalised. It will develop a multidisciplinary approach which will enable students to reflect critically and theologically on the care of people considered ‘outsiders,’ and will develop rigorous practical theological responses to issues of marginalisation. Areas explored will include the theology of disability, mental illness, homelessness, children and disaffection, ministry with people who have HIV and AIDS.

Structure

One two hour seminar once per week.

Assessment

40% 1500-2000 word essay, 60% 3h exam

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

John Swinton

Pre-requisites

Available to level 5 students in appropriate degree programmes

Co-requisites

none

Overview

This course offers vital practical theological insights and perspectives on the practice of pastoral care and counselling. The course provides skills for practising and thinking critically and theologically about pastoral care. Issues explored include the relationship of Christian practices to issues relating to hospitality, the use of the bible in care and counselling, the theology and spirituality of care and counselling, forgiveness and lament, disability, death and dying, community building and the nature of evil and suffering as they relate to pastoral encounters. The course is suitable as an introduction to advanced studies in practical theology and pastoral care and as a rigorous foundation for further research.

Structure

1 2hr seminar per week

Assessment

Written examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%):
10% for oral presentation and 30% for a 3000 essay.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A Denlinger

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 5

Co-requisites

None

Overview

This course examines the radical changes, as well as the continuities in Scottish religious life and thought between c1450 and the revolutions of the 17th century. Students will be introduced to a range of primary sources relating to the following topics: Scottish religious life and thought on the eve of the Reformation, Christian Humanism in Scotland, martyrdom and the privy kirks, poetry and drama in the service of reform, Catholic reformers and controversialists, the Reformed confessions of faith, fasting and communion seasons, discipline and repentance, recusancy and exile, Episcopacy and Presbyterianism, theologies of resistance and obedience, the National Covenant and the Covenanting revolution, the 'Sectaries' (e.g. Society of Friends).

Structure

12 two-hour seminars.
Required reading will be enhanced by the course coordinator.
The class presentaion will take the form of a research project.

Assessment

1. A class presentation (30%)


2. an essay, 3000-5000 words (50%)


3. a book review, 1500 words (20%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Donald Wood

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 5 or by special permission of the instructor.

Overview

Topics covered in the course will include, the confessional consolidation of the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, the emergence of Federal Theology, the history, substance and legacy of the Westminster Confession, the Marrow Controversy, 18th and 19th debates between Moderates and Evangelicals, the Great Disruption, the theological work of John McLeod Campbell, H.R. Mackintosh, P.T. Forsyth, John and Donald Baillie, and T.F. Torrance.

Structure

A weekly 2 hour seminar.

Assessment

Seminar participation (10%)
6000 word research essay (50%)
Final three-hour examination (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Donald Wood

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

This course examines historically, from the Patristic period to the present, the ways in which the Bible has been employed in theological discourse.

Structure

12 two-hour seminars.

Assessment

Seminar participation (10%), a 6000 word research essay (50%) and final three-hour examination (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Thomas Bokedal

Pre-requisites

2 years Greek (normally).

Co-requisites

none

Overview

This course gives an overview of attempts, from the nineteenth century to the present, to synthesize the theology of the New Testament. Theologians such as Wrede, Schlatter and Bultmann will be investigated, in addition to issues such as the canon and theological consistency of the New Testament.

Structure

12 two-hour sessions.

Assessment

5000 word essay 30%; exam (40%); presentation + 2000 word paper (20%); participation (10%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Tomas Bokedal

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

Structure

4 two-hour class room sessions, plus 2 - 3 individual meetings with an anticipated supervisor.

Assessment

20% Bibliographic Paper 1000-1200 words

35% 2000 word dissertation proposal

35% 2000 word essay

10% Participation

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Zohar Hadromi-Allouche

Pre-requisites

Available to level 5 students in DHP MTh and MLitt programmes. Students of non-DRS subjects are required to get permission from the course co-ordinator prior to admission.

Overview

An introduction to the Qur'an:
1. In terms of content - structure, style and main themes
2. In terms of context - commentaries; the Qur'an's place in Islamic life; scholarly approaches to the Qur'an and their implications.

Structure

One two hour seminar per week.
One one hour lecture per week.

Assessment

1 three hour written examination (50%)
1 essay of 3,000 words (50%)

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Various

Pre-requisites

Available to students in a taught Masters level 5 programme. It requires the permission of the coordinator of the student’s programme.

Overview

This course allows a student to do in-depth study in a specific area in Divinity or Religious Studies agreed upon with his or her supervisor and approved by the Head of School. It may be offered in conjunction with the student sitting in on level 4 lectures relating to the subject material.

Structure

Assessment

TBC

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Prof. Segal

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

A survey of eight leading theories of myth from the fields of anthropology, sociology, psychology, and religious studies. The focus will be on the differing answers the theories give to the questions of the origin, the function, and the subject matter of myth. Each theory will be applied to a familiar myth.

Structure

1 x 2 hour seminar plus 1 x 1 hour seminar plus 1 x 1 tutorial per week

Assessment

100% continuous assessment - 6,000 word essay

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor Phillip Ziegler

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

Students will study a range of classic texts on the doctrine of the Trinity drawn from across the long history of the Christian theological tradition. Discussion of these texts will be informed by historical and theological analysis of the context of their writing and their place in the development of the doctrine. The following texts are representative of those to be considered in any given iteration of the course:
• Augustine, De Trinitate
• Anselm, On the Trinity
• Selections from Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae
• Selections from John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
• Selections, G.W.F. Hegel, Lectures in the Philosophy of Religion
• Selections, Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics I.1
• Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom of God
• Selections, Hans U. Von Balthasar, Theo-Drama

Structure

11 1.5h hour seminars

Assessment

6000 word essay 90%, seminar presentation 10%

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Christopher Brittain

Pre-requisites

N/A

Notes

Overview

The course consists of one-to-one supervision with a member of staff. Students will be expected to produce an essay of ca. 4000-5000 words.

Structure

8 hours of supervision. This may be reduced to 4 hours if a student project involves attendance at one of the DRS research seminars (when appropriate to the research topic).

Assessment

The essay (ca. 4000-5000 words) will be assessed by submission.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Pre-requisites

Introductory Modern Hebrew (DR501F) or equivalent

Overview

The class hours comprise a variety of integrated learning activities and exercises including grammar practice, reading comprehension, vocabulary building, productive writing, translation and listening comprehension.

Structure

2 one hour classes per week (times to be arranged)

Assessment

Examination (50%) and continuous assessment (50%). The continuous assessment includes homework assignment (10%), recorded class participation (10%), quizzes (20%), and an oral presentation (10%)

Credit Points

60

Course Coordinator

Various

Pre-requisites

Satisfactory progress in Diploma/Master's programme

Overview

10-15,000 word dissertation written on a topic related to the student's taught Master's programme and agreed to by the supervisor and the programme co-ordinator

Structure

Students will normally have passed the course DR5063 (Dissertation Colloquium), in which they will have been assigned a dissertation supervisor and will have developed a dissertation proposal in consultation with the supervisor. During the second half-session and summer months students will meet and consult with their supervisors regularly as they continue their research and bring their project to completion.

Assessment

The dissertation (20,000 words) is to be submitted by the due date (normally 31 August) and is marked by two examiners.

Credit Points

40

Course Coordinator

Dr Brian Brock

Pre-requisites

This course is only available for students doing the Diploma in Pastoral Studies.

Overview

The module comprises of a supervised fieldwork project which will last for a minimum of four weeks. This practical work will be done under arrangements to be approved by the course co-ordinator.

Structure

The student will receive guidance in praxis-reflection from her practice supervisor and from her course co-ordinator. This will comprise of the following elements:

1.The student placement will be designed so that there are specific tasks and areas which it has been determined are suitable to the vocational needs of the individual student. These pastoral goals will be worked out prior to the placement in discussion with the placement supervisor and the course co-ordinator.
2.The student will have regular meetings with the practice supervisor during which the pastoral work that has been done will be reflected on critically and theologically in the light of the previously determined goals. In this the guided learning experience can be maximised.
3.The student will meet fortnightly with the course co-ordinator to discuss their progress, assess the experience and work through issues which emerge from their reflective journal. Advice and guidance will also be given with regard to suitable reading material which will help with the development of their self-directed learning.

Assessment

The student will produce a detailed reflective journal of his or her experience on the placement.

Credit Points

80

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

Satisfactory progress in Diploma/Master's programme

Overview

15-20,000 word dissertation written on a topic related to the student's taught Master's programme and agreed to by the supervisor and the programme co-ordinator

Structure

Students will normally have passed the course DR5063 (Dissertation Colloquium) or DR5064 (Research Methodologies) as appropriate to their masters programme, in which they will have been assigned a dissertation supervisor and will have developed a dissertation proposal in consultation with the supervisor. During the second half-session and summer months students will meet and consult with their supervisors regularly as they continue their research bring their project to completion.

Assessment

The dissertation is to be submitted by the due date (normally 31 August) and is marked by two examiners.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Tomas Bokedal

Pre-requisites

N/A

Notes

Overview

1) History of the discipline (including the Biblical Theology movement)
2) Canon
3) Biblical themes
4) Relation to other theological disciplines

Structure

8 two-hour sessions.

Assessment

Continuous assessment – presentation (including a 1500 words paper) and written assignment (ca. 3000 words) (60%); 1 three hour written examination (40%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Sarah Thomas

Pre-requisites

Programme year 5 or above.

Overview

This course will study the Christianisation of Norway, Sweden and Denmark from the ninth and tenth centuries to the eleventh century. It will examine whether the Christianisation and conversion of Scandinavia was primarily a political move by the ruling elites or whether there were more widespread social and religious factors which brought about the change of religion. It will encourage students to critically analyse the historical sources in the light of the archaeological and runic material. It will examine the definitions of Christianisation and conversion and thus what the change of religion meant for Scandinavian society. Students will examine to what extent Scandinavian society adapted Christianity and incorporated elements of their pre-Christian beliefs into the new religion.

Structure

8 two-hour seminars.

Assessment

Continuous assessment: 4000 word paper - 60 per cent, presentation with powerpoint – 10%, 1000 word report on presentation topic with powerpoint slides – 30%.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Various

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

Details of Content will vary depending on which member of staff teaches his/her research area in this slot.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week and 1 one-hour tutorial per fortnight (as with all other current level 3 philosophy courses).

Assessment

One 2500-3000 word essay (50%) plus one 2 hour written exam (50%).