There are two notably different images of ‘religion’ in public discourse. One is that religion is essentially peace-loving, non-violent, non-political, non-profitmaking, concerned with the inner spiritual life and the other world. Religion has nothing to do with power. Religion is benign and gentle. Religion is a matter of personal faith and piety, essentially separated from the everyday profanities of this world.
The other image of religion is that it is essentially barbarous, violent and irrational, causing conflict and mayhem wherever it raises its ugly head. The irrational violence of ‘religious’ terrorists and ‘religious’ nationalists around the world threatens the essentially peace-loving and reasonable nature of the non-religious secular state. Where have these contradictory images of ‘religion’ come from? Is the ‘religious’ investment in heaven essentially different from faith in markets? Could it be argued that ‘religion’ – perhaps like the Nation State – is the invention of modern male elites? Or was ‘religion’ invented on colonial frontiers as an instrument for the classification of colonised peoples?
At Stirling we aim to raise [and perhaps answer] such questions in our courses in the modern history of India, Japan, the Middle East and other regions; in Gender Studies and Christianity; in European philosophy (Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, Nietszche, Gramsci, the Frankfurt School, Foucault and Chomsky); and in theory and method in the study of religion.
Entrance requirements
Year 1
Highers BBBB.
A-levels BBC.
IB Diploma with a total of 32 points.
HNC or HND with Bs in graded units.
Access courses and other UK/EU and international qualifications are also welcomed.
Other information
If examinations are taken over two sittings, or there are repeats or upgrades, the entrance requirements may be higher.
Required subjects
English Standard Grade (2), Intermediate 2 (C), GCSE (C) or equivalent.
Applicants with English Standard Grade (3) will also be considered. Please note alternative entry conditions may be made.
Funding
Modes of study
Full-time (three modules per semester).
Part-time (one or two modules per semester).
Course Director
Alternative routes
We are keen to accept all interested students, including those who have already spent a few – or many – years away from school. For Alternative Routes to degree course entry onto the Religion course, please consult the prospectus or website for information on the subject you intend to study alongside Religion.
Find out more
http://www.stir.ac.uk/arts-humanities
Degree course
Please note that Religion is studied as a Combined degree. You will take Religion plus two other subjects in Year 1.
Semesters 1 - 4
You are required to take the following core modules:
- Religion, Ethics and Society: An introduction to the history, anthropology and psychology of religion
- Religion, Nationalism and Colonialism: This module studies the impact of western colonialism on non-western understandings of religions and cultures
- Religion in Culture: Problems of Representation: This module reflects on what happens when people – e.g. scholars, journalists, politicians, adherents – try to represent the truth about religious traditions as they see them
- Theory and Method: An introduction to the history of the study of religion, its major founders, theories, methodologies and critics
Semesters 5 - 8
You will take core advanced (Level 10) modules: Religion and Postcolonialism, Religion and Theory and, in most cases, Dissertation Preparation. You may also choose advanced modules such as:
- Anthropology of Religion
- Islam
- Buddhism
- Religion and Philosophy: Ancient
- Religion and Philosophy: Modern
- Religion as Ritual in Japan
- Christianity
- Gender and Religion
- Reading the Bible
- Christianity Missions and Colonialism
- Religion and Literature
Semester 8
Honours students in their final semester will write a dissertation on a topic chosen in consultation with an individual supervisor.
Module titles
Autumn Semester 2011
- REL911 (level 8) – Religion Ethics and Society: Progress and Conflict
- REL913 (level 8) – Religion in Culture: Problems of Representation
- REL9C5 (level 10) – Religion and Postcolonialism
- REL9MQ (level 10) – Religion and Philosophy (Modern)
- REL9AB (level 10) – Reading the Bible
Spring Semester 2012
- REL912 (level 8) – Religion, Nationalism and Postcolonialism
- REL914 (level 9) – Religion: Theory and Method
- REL9C6 (level 10) – Religion and Critical Theory
- REL9JA (level 10) – Religion as Ritual in Japan
- REL9MO (level 10) – Minortities in the Middle East
- REL9ZX (level 10) – Honours Dissertation
Teaching and assessment
Most teaching takes place through a mixture of formal lectures and smaller, more informal, seminar groups. When writing your dissertation you will meet your supervisor on a one-to-one basis regularly throughout the final semester. A variety of assessment methods are used, including essays, reports, class tests, reviews and oral presentations.
Reading list
Some suggested texts:
- Religion: the Basics. Malory Nye, Routledge, 2003.
- Thinking about Religion: an historical introduction to theories of religion. Ivan Strenski, Blackwell, 2006.
- Thinking about Religion: A reader. Ivan Strenski, Blackwell, 2006.
- Critical Terms for Religious Studies. Mark C. Taylor, University of Chicago Press, 1998.
- Guide to the Study of Religion. Willi Braun & Russell McCutcheon (eds.), Continuum Press, 2000.
- Religions in the Modern World. Linda Woodhead et al., Routledge, 2002.
Combined degrees
Religion can be studied with:
| Course | UCAS Code |
|---|
| English Studies |
QV36 |
| Film and Media |
VP63 |
| French |
RV16 |
| History |
VV16 |
| Philosophy |
VV56 |
| Philosophy/Professional Education |
VX53 |
| Professional Education |
VX61 |
| Professional Education/English Studies |
QXJ1 |
| Professional Education/History |
VXC1 |
| Sociology |
LV36 |
(For a Combined Honours degree the higher entrance requirements of the subjects usually apply.)
Religion at Stirling is distinguished by its critical approach.
It is critical because it questions the fundamental category of ‘religion’. It is sometimes assumed to be a ‘thing’ that simply exists, and this is where, in part, the idea that we can study ‘religions‘ as entities in any society or context comes from. This, of course, implies that what ‘religion’ actually is, is common knowledge and applies to all contexts, geographic and ideational (in Scotland, the Middle East, Asia, or in power and gender structures etc.). It assumes that ‘we will know it when we see it’. Arguably, however, it is a much less innocent concept, encompassing some very culturally specific notions of value and power.
It is critical because we aim to problematise the idea of religion we engage in our work with a view to showing how open to re-interpretation or re-conceptualisation the term ‘religion’ is today in our intellectual, social, and cultural spheres. So not only do we find engagement with the idea of ‘religion’ in the contexts of religious institutions, and conventional educational spaces such as ‘Religion’ classes and lectures, we also aim to engage with it in the fields of hermeneutics, visual art, literature, history, gender studies, anthropology, politics, philosophy and so on.
We expect a lot of our students in terms of the grasp of different subjects, methods and approaches that is required in order to maintain this kind of critical approach to the relevant range of discourses.
The course is rigorous and intellectually demanding.
Study abroad
Students of Religion can apply to spend a year of their studies abroad at a university in the United States. Modules taken during this time will constitute part of your final degree.
Rating
Teaching provision in Religion has been assessed by the Scottish Funding Council and rated as ‘excellent’.
Strengths
The Religion course is delivered by a dedicated research team committed to widening interests through teaching, academic research and other forms of knowledge exchange including a web presence maintained in collaboration with Ekklesia, an independent, not-for-profit think-tank:
Critical Religion at Stirling
http://www.criticalreligion.stir.ac.uk/
Twitter: @StirCritRel
Academic strengths
Academic Staff in Religion regularly publish books and academic papers and are involved in a range of academic- related projects such as:
The Journal of Literature & Theology http://litthe.oxfordjournals.org/content/current
Christians in the Middle East Research Network:
http://www.cme.stir.ac.uk
Our students
…the degree in Religion brought me to critically examine my many cultural presumptions. The balance between modules on theory and method, and topical foci opened up great opportunities to engage my learning from religious studies classes with my other subjects from the very start. Both academic and administrative staff responsible for Religion are fabulous: approachable, motivating and above all, concerned for your well-being as a student, individually as much as in your peer groups.
Kat Neumann Religion and English Studies, graduated 2009.
The breadth of the undergraduate course ensures that you are never bored, with everything from Political Islam to Reading the Bible being covered in such a way that it is both relevant and understandable in the contemporary world. What makes the course even more intellectually stimulating is the ethos within the department that encourages you to ask questions of the material, others and yourself … when you do stumble across something puzzling the lecturers are always willing to answer any questions you may have.
Gemma Carroll Religion and Education, graduated 2010
My four years as a Religious Studies student at the University of Stirling have impacted on me greatly. I have fond memories of exceptionally interesting courses that, to this day, are providing a strong foundation for my academic interests. Upon graduating, I carried on with my studies, taking Anthropology (MSc) at Edinburgh University, and continued developing my research ideas. I was able to get involved with a higher education fellowship, on behalf of the Scotland Malawi Partnership, and I was sent to Malawi to teach and learn at the University of Malawi, Chancellor College. These wonderful opportunities, were made possible with the help and support of my academic mentors in Religion (School of Arts and Humanities). I have now returned as a PhD hopeful and I am looking forward to expanding reflections on these wonderful experiences in order to provide my own epistemological contribution.’
Shani Zour BA Religious Studies, graduated 2006.
Our Staff
Dr. Timothy Fitzgerald: teaches undergraduate courses on India, Japan, colonial history, anthropology, and history of theory. Supervision of postgraduates. Forthcoming publications include Religion and Politics in International Relations: the Modern Myth (Continuum).
Dr Alison Jasper: teaches undergraduate modules related to Christianity, gender and theory and supervises postgraduates in these areas. Forthcoming publications include Female Genius: Women & Christianity.
Dr Andrew Hass: teaches undergraduate modules in religion’s intersection with literature, philosophy and critical theory, and postgraduate degrees in Hermeneutics, among other interdisciplinary approaches. He is currently writing a book on Hegel.
Dr Michael Marten: teaches undergraduate modules in colonialism, Middle East, gender and missionary studies, and supervises postgraduate students working in these fields. He has published on Scottish missions, and is currently working on a book on gender and modernity in Palestine.
Career opportunities
A degree in Religion develops key transferable skills, for example, the ability to:
- communicate fluently and effectively
- think critically and imaginatively
- research efficiently
- balance competing commitments
- meet deadlines and work without the need for close supervision
- develop knowledge and understanding of specific and competing ways of seeing the world and its possibilities
- develop a keen awareness of constantly balancing sets of very different values
- understand distinctive and traditional differences, establishing workable and effective practices or solutions in business, political advocacy, the arts and beyond
The skills above make graduates in Religion an invaluable resource in whatever career route they choose: the police, armed services, hospital and prison management, social work, banking, commerce, the civil service, publishing and the media to the perhaps more traditional career pathway of teaching and academic research.
Recent graduates have found work in insurance, music production, diamonds, commercial research and publishing to name but a few.
