Postgraduate open day: Saturday 10 February 2024
Join our on-campus open day this February to talk to students and lecturers and find out how and when to apply.
Book my placeThis cross-disciplinary programme provides you with the opportunity to pursue and develop your interests in philosophy and religious studies, and to focus on the interface between the two. It builds on core modules, which aim to introduce you to central disciplinary skills and knowledge, with choice from a range of optional modules across both disciplines. You will take five taught modules, each assessed by a 5,000 word essay. The programme culminates in the writing of a 20,000-word dissertation, on a topic that brings the two disciplines together.
The advanced research skills, developed through the programme, can be relevant to a range of professions. Equally, if you intend to go on to a PhD, this programme provides an opportunity to deepen your knowledge of the two disciplines.
2:1 degree in a related subject is normally required. We will also consider applications where you have a degree in other subjects, have a 2:2 or equivalent result and/or extensive relevant experience. In these cases, you should clearly demonstrate how your experience and skills have prepared you for postgraduate study.
If you have studied outside of the UK, we would advise you to check our list of international qualifications before submitting your application.
We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.
We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 5.5 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.
If your score is below our requirements, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language programmes.
Contact: Admissions Team +44 (0) 1524 592032 or email pgadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk
You will study a range of modules as part of your course, some examples of which are listed below.
Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.
The module involves the negotiation, design and delivery of a research project whose precise topic will be determined by the student and the project supervisor.
The dissertation will be up to 20,000 words in length. The process of producing it is designed to provide students with the opportunity to consolidate their existing knowledge and skills base while developing new knowledge and skills made possible by its project-orientated nature.
This module aims to support existing taught modules in religious studies by introducing research methods and approaches from various disciplines and working to understand theoretical and practical issues in the study of religions. It introduces cross-cultural and cross- religious examination of research topics in religious studies. The module will also give students the opportunity for developing generic skills in library research, essay writing, ethics in research, dissertation planning, and presentations.
Aims and Objectives
Assessment is by 5,000 word essay.
This module serves to consolidate postgraduate research and learning support by enabling students to engage with theories, methods, and skills relevant to your studies. The module is core for all PPR PGT politics students and complements core subject and discipline-specific provision in religious studies and philosophy. Through this module we aim to equip you with the ability to reflect upon the processes and implications of research project planning, design and execution in Politics, Philosophy and/or Religion.
The first part of the module examines the principles of research, including different disciplinary traditions of knowledge production. It goes on to set out the process of structuring a research project and explores how to develop and apply theory. The second part of the module examines a range of methods for conducting research, including interviews, surveys, and case studies. The final section covers questions of ethics and goes through how to write up and present research. Through the module, students will design research projects, develop writing and critical evaluation skills, and have the opportunity to present their research ideas as part of the annual MA conference. The module involves a combination of lectures, small group discussion, and presentations covering the following areas:
Assessment is by 5,000 word research proposal.
Philosophy is a various, contested, self-reflective discipline. It includes many different areas, questions, and approaches to answering them. Metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and aesthetics are just some of the more obvious areas. Philosophers at Lancaster investigate questions about the nature of mental illness, free will, the self, the ethics of new medical technologies, Romantic thought, the emotions, autonomy, and many other topics. Our approaches range across critical reading of historical texts, engagement with special sciences including biology and psychology, conceptual analysis, literary studies, phenomenology, and more.
The aim of this module is to use guided practice in doing philosophy, and in thinking about what we’re doing, to develop the skills and virtues of a postgraduate-level philosopher. We pursue this aim in three strands:
(1) Presentations from philosophy staff on their research work, followed by discussion, to offer a tasting menu of some of the varied questions and approaches in contemporary professional philosophy as done here at Lancaster
(2) Reading and guided discussion of an important text or texts in one or more contemporary sub-disciplines of philosophy
(3) Reflective practice in central philosophical styles of skilled reading, writing, research, discussion, and presentation.
Assessment is by 5,000 word essay.
Introduction
Week 1 Introduction to the study of Gender, Religion and Islam: This session is devoted to getting to know each other and discussing key issues in the study of gender and religion in light of feminist and post-colonial approaches.
Gender in the Tradition: Weeks 2-5
Week 2 Women in Qur'anic Narratives: This session introduces students to the study of the Qur’an with a focus on the representation of gender in Qur’anic narratives.
Week 3 The Construction of Gender Norms: This session investigates the moral boundaries of gender relations in the Qur’an, Hadith and early Muslim interpretation with a focus on the model of the Prophets’ wives and its extension to Muslim women in general.
Week 4 Sexuality and Modesty: This session continues to investigate the moral boundaries of gender relations in the Qur’an and Hadith with a focus on the question of sexuality and the dress code.
Week 5 Authority and power: This session will explore premodern Muslim views about the status of women and male authority, particularly in light of the central text Q. 3:34 (Male guardianship and the so-called beating verse)
Week 6 Individual Tutorials
Feminist Approaches and Contemporary Movements: Weeks 7-10
Week 7 Feminist Approaches to the Islamic tradition: Deconstructing Patriarchy: This session will look at the reform discourses which led to new approaches to the Qur’an with a focus on feminist interpretations that aim to deconstruct ‘patriarchal’ readings of the Qur’an.
Week 8 Feminist Approaches to the Islamic tradition: Reconstructing Islamic law: In this session, we take a closer look at the transnational Muslim Musawah (Equality) movement associated with Sisters in Islam and its effort to reconstruct Gender norms and laws in Islam.
Week 9 Politics and Piety: Reconstructing Islamic Practice: In the final two sessions we move to look at women’s involvement in changing religious practices through political action. This session looks at the British and US contexts and the emergence of the women-led mosques.
Week 10: Politics and Piety: The Revival of the Tradition and Critiques of Feminist Approaches: This session focuses on the revivalist, more traditionally-oriented mosque movement in the Middle East with reference to Egypt. The primary aim, however, will be to critically reflect upon and assess feminist approaches to Gender in Islam.
What moral obligations do we have towards future generations – to people who are yet to be born, and to merely possible people whose very existence (or non-existence) depends on how we act now? This special subject explores this question by examining both a series of practical case studies and some of the main concepts and theories that philosophers use when thinking about these issues. Questions considered normally include:
An Independent Study module allows you to undertake a focussed and self-directed study of your own choice of topic in philosophy, guided by a tutor with relevant expertise and research interests. Teaching consists of one-on-one tutorials, and contact hours are five hours of meetings, to be arranged between you and your supervisor over the term. You can take an independent study module in philosophy in Michaelmas and/or Lent, up to a maximum of two.
The subject-specialist tutor who supervises the student will:
Independent study requires intellectual maturity and self-direction from the student. The student will:
Assessment is by 5,000 word essay.
This module will involve an in depth study of a number of contemporary debates in the philosophy of mental disorder. Topics will include the following:
What is mental disorder? Students will be introduced to some of the key accounts of mental disorder: What is the relationship between evolutionary dysfunction and disorder? Are disorders necessarily harmful?
Responsibility and disorder - Are those with
This module will look at Indian source texts on politics and ethics. In particular, it will be looking at sources that explore the concept of dharma, a term that incorporates issues of justice, religion, ethics, duty, and law. The module will examine the sources of dharma both in their own historical and cultural contexts, as well as in the context of contemporary debates in political theory and ethics. The texts examined will include: the inscriptions of Ashoka, the Buddhist Nikayas, the Arthashastra, the Law Codes of Manu, the Mahabharata, and the Kamasutra. These sources are examined in connection with modern political figures, such as Gandhi and Savarkar, as well as in connection with recent debates in India about secularism, democracy and pluralism.
Whether global, national, ethnic or ethical, conflicts frequently involve religion. Between themselves, in their relations with secular states and ideologies, and even at the level of sects or denominations, religions engage in conflict arising from deeply held beliefs and values, as well as in struggles for power, status and legitimacy. Understanding how and why religious groups contribute to global and regional conflicts and civil wars – from terrorist attacks, through historically embedded disputes in Israel/Gaza and Northern Ireland, to Christian/Muslim violence in Nigeria, Uganda and India – is vital for development, humanitarian intervention, international relations, diplomacy and conflict resolution.
This module provides the knowledge and skills to help students understand and analyse why conflict happens within and between religious groups, and to assess the positive and negative contributions that religions make to wider struggles – from local disputes through to global terrorism.
Week 1: An Historical Introduction to 'Religion and Conflict' Week 2: Religion and Secularism in the West
Week 3: Religion and Secularism in India Week 4: Religion and Ethnic Conflict
Week 5: Conflict, Religion, and International Relations Week 6: Religion and Violence
Week 7: Religion and Protest: Mohandas Gandhi Week 8: Religion and Protest: Martin Luther King Week 9: Religion and Society: Islam in Britain Week 10: Consolidation Lecture
The module is designed to introduce students to key concepts and issues in scholarship on religion and conflict: e.g. on the relationship between conflict and violence, religion and ethnicity, the ‘clash of civilizations’, intra-religious as well as inter-religious conflict, jihad and martyrdom. Equal attention will be given to the importance of context – historical, social, geographical and political. Analysis and debate about religion and conflict will be situated in particular cases, from the UK and Europe, the US, the Indian sub-continent and sub-Saharan Africa. Lecture podcasts and online discussion activities will be complemented by online talks by experts and short films. There will be plenty of opportunities for online interaction with peers and tutors.
Assessment is by 5,000 word essay.
Psychology is an attempt to understand the meaning of human behaviour which focuses upon there being an influential unconscious as well as a conscious side to the personality. Directly and indirectly, it has come to play an influential role in modern life. Words like ‘Oedipus complex', ‘introverted', ’neurotic', ‘obsessional', are in fairly common use, often with little clear understanding of their meaning. Psychoanalysts have had a major impact upon ideas of what it is to be a person. They have also provided key elements in the criticism frequently levelled at religion that it is nothing but the comforting projection of personal and social problems into another illusory world. We shall be examining these issues in detail. To this end, we shall study selected texts by Freud and other texts which may vary from year to year, but will be drawn from the work of such thinkers as Jung, Nietzsche, Bataille, Lacan, Kristeva, de Certeau and Foucault.
Assessment is by 5,000 word essay.
In this module we will encounter some of the most foundational religious and philosophical texts of the Hindu and Buddhists traditions. Texts will vary from year to year, but may include: the ?g Veda, Upani?ads, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, or the Yoga Sutra from the Brahmanical/Hindu tradition, and the Nikayas, Vinaya, Jatakas, Lotus Sutra, and The Bodhicaryavatara from the Buddhist tradition. Through close readings, we will examine some of the core religio-philosophical ideas of early Indian thought as well as pay close attention to the composition, style, and structure of the texts themselves. We will also attempt to situate Hindu and Buddhist textual material within a social and historical context, paying close attention to who participates in the religio-philosophical world of ancient India and in what types of social circumstances religio-philosophical ideas are discussed. Alongside reading the primary sources, we will also situate our engagements within scholarly debates about methods of interpretation such as text-historical criticism, hermeneutics, phenomenology, orientalism, and post-colonial theory.
Assessment is by 5,000 word essay.
Location | Full Time (per year) | Part Time (per year) |
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Home | £11,500 | £5,750 |
International | £23,875 | £11,935 |
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small College Membership Fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.
For students starting in 2023 and 2024, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses. Fees for students starting in 2025 have not yet been set.
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
For most taught postgraduate applications there is a non-refundable application fee of £40. We cannot consider applications until this fee has been paid, as advised on our online secure payment system. There is no application fee for postgraduate research applications.
For some of our courses you will need to pay a deposit to accept your offer and secure your place. We will let you know in your offer letter if a deposit is required and you will be given a deadline date when this is due to be paid.
The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.
If you are studying on a programme of more than one year’s duration, the tuition fees for subsequent years of your programme are likely to increase each year. Read more about fees in subsequent years.
You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status and course. You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.
Unfortunately no scholarships and bursaries match your selection, but there are more listed on scholarships and bursaries page.
If you're considering postgraduate research you should look at our funded PhD opportunities.
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We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.
Browse Lancaster University's scholarships and bursaries.
Join our on-campus open day this February to talk to students and lecturers and find out how and when to apply.
Book my placeThe information on this site relates primarily to 2024/2025 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
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