Religious Studies BA Hons - 2020 Entry

Course Structure

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster please visit our Teaching and Learning section.

The following courses do not offer modules outside of the subject area due to the structured nature of the programmes: Law, Physics, Engineering, Medicine, Sports and Exercise Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedicine and Biomedical Science.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research.

Year 1

Core

• Religions of the Modern World

  This first year module provides an outline of the growth and development of some of the world’s major religious traditions, their primary characteristics, and subsequently considers some of the various forms they take in the contemporary world.

  In the module we will focus on four religious traditions – Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. You’ll learn about each religion in context and the varieties of its beliefs. We will explore religious ethics and practice, and examine some of the contemporary issues facing these religions today. The module concludes with a cross-cultural and inter-religious examination of some of the key issues for the study of religion in the modern world, such as ethics, politics, gender, and the character of religious life as it faces the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Year 2

Optional

• Buddhism and Modernity in Asian Societies

  In this module we give you the opportunity to develop a solid knowledge base and understanding of a range of important issues, key concepts, contemporary debates, and approaches regarding Buddhist and modernity in Asian countries. As well as an understanding of different historical, social, political, and economic factors that have impacted on the development of Buddhism in respective societies. In addition, you will have the chance to gain an understanding of the intersection between secular power and religious authority. We will also present an analytical and interpretive framework within which to situate issues of modernity in Buddhist countries.

• Christianity in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations

  In this module we survey and critically examine some of the main themes, key concepts, debates and approaches to the study of Christianity and theological change in the modern word. You will also have the opportunity to develop an analytical and interpretive framework within which to situate competing Christian traditions and theologies in a historical context. In addition, we also examine some of the key issues facing the Christian Church in the modern world.

• Constructing Christian Ethics and Politics

  This module explores the emergence and construction of ethics and politics within the context of Christianity. We will examine the ways in which Christian attitudes to ethical concern and practice are and have been influenced by traditional, textual and cultural factors. Some of the ethical concerns typically covered throughout the module are: Politics and Economics; Justice and War; Sex and Sexuality; Rights and Law. Across these areas, the module will encourage you to explore the dynamic interplay between historical context and contemporary circumstances in the construction of Christian ethics and politics.

• Hinduism in the Modern World

  This module surveys and critically examines the main themes, key concepts, debates and approaches to the study of Hinduism. It pays particular attention to Hinduism in the modern world and Hinduism's relationship with other religions of South Asia during and since the 19th century. In this module, you will have the chance to develop an analytical and interpretative framework within which to situate competing Hindu traditions in a historical context. Typically, lectures will include topics such as: religious pluralism, the limitations of the term 'Hinduism', the impact of colonialism on Indian religious traditions, gender, the caste system, yoga, and the relationship between Hinduism and politics.

• Indian Philosophical and Religious Thought

  This module is a study of fundamental ideas and texts of the classical philosophical and religious traditions of India. Topics typically covered include the origins and nature of inquiry and the evolution of a tradition of epistemology, debates about the nature and existence of the self, questions about the nature of ethics and ethical dilemmas, competing theories of the nature of reality, and the existence and nature of the divine. The aim is to introduce you to some of the varied intellectual debates from Indian traditions, and widen your understanding of the nature of religious and philosophical thought. Discussions will proceed through reading passages from key texts in translation.

• Islam: Tradition, Community and Contemporary Challenges

  This module examines the historical formation of Islam; its renewal movements past and present; and modern reform discourses on gender, politics, and law. The aim is to gain an understanding of continuities and discontinuities in the Islamic tradition in relation to religious authority, theology, politics and contemporary practice. Some of the topics studied include: the formation of Shari'a (Islamic law); competing Sunni and Shi'i orthodoxies; the rise of radical political movements and global Jihad; Islamic feminisms; Islam and the West; and Islam in Britain. The module offers you the chance to build a strong foundation for more specialised study in second and third year modules.

• Religion and Gender

  Questions about the nature, salience and consequences of gender have now become central to social debates. The politics of gender, however, is deeply influenced by cultural forms and the religious sources that inform them even in apparently secular contexts. In this module we will look at the textual traditions of Hinduism and Islam (together with some aspects of Christianity) and their intersection with social, political and ideological conditions today.

• Religion in Society: Theories and Methods

  In this module we give you the opportunity to survey and critically examine the theoretical frameworks, methods and approaches used to study religion sociologically. You will also engage with contrasting empirical studies of religion, focussing particularly on religion in modern Britain. We aim to enable students to develop their own sociologically informed questions about religion that can serve as a basis for further enquiry. We will also survey various sociological study of religion and the underpinning social realities such as secularism, ideology, race, gender, class and diaspora. In this module we encourage students to consider the value of conducting their own field research if they choose a dissertation module (using the subject specific skills gained in the module), which may help to shape your own research proposals in the field of sociology and religion.

• The Politics of Race

  Race has played a central role in shaping the political agendas of many nations around the world – and has acted both as a mechanism of political exclusion and as a form of politicised identity. In this module we critically examine the notion of race, and its connection to the politics of ethnicity, religious identity, and class. We examine the role race has played, and continues to play, in the determination of domestic and international politics. We look at the way in which race is politicised and de-politicised, and consider the nature of various forms of racism that exist in politics.

Year 3

Optional

• Dissertation

  This module provides an opportunity for you to choose a topic related to some aspect of Politics and International Relations, Philosophy and Religious Studies which particularly interests you, and to pursue it in depth. The topic may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught module, or it may be less directly linked to course work. The intention is that you will develop your research skills and ability to work at length under your own direction.

  You write a dissertation which is typically 9,000-10,000 words, which you begin to think about towards the end of your second year and submit in your final year. To help you prepare for work on the dissertation, there will be an introductory talk on topics relating to doing one's own research and planning and writing a dissertation, as well as handbooks detailing full requirements and supervision arrangements.

• Dissertation with external collaboration

  The aim of this module is to allow you to pursue independent in-depth studies on a topic of your choice, within the scope of your scheme of study. The topic will be formulated in dialogue with one or more external collaborator(s) and may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught module, or it may be less directly linked to course work. This module will give you the opportunity to develop your employability and research skills, and your ability to work independently at length under your own direction with input from external collaborators and an academic supervisor. Working with external collaborators provides you with the chance to develop your ability to reflect on the impact of academic work. One option is to incorporate work done through the Richardson Institute Internship Programme, but you may also discuss other forms of collaboration with your supervisor.

  You are expected to start thinking seriously about your dissertation towards the end of your second year and complete it by the end of the Lent term in the third year. To help you prepare for work on the dissertation, there will be an introductory talk on topics relating to doing one's own research and planning and writing a dissertation as well as handbooks detailing full requirements and supervision arrangements.

• Dissertation with field studies

  The aim of this module is to allow you to pursue independent in-depth studies of a topic of your choice, within the scope of your scheme of study. The topic may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught module, or it may be less directly linked to course work. This module will give you the opportunity to develop your employability and research skills, and your ability to work independently at length under your own direction with input from an academic supervisor. The field work element, organised by you, enables you to build on your ability to reflect on the impact of academic work.

  You are expected to start thinking seriously about your dissertation towards the end of your second year and complete it by the end of the Lent term in the third year. To help you prepare for work on the dissertation, there will be an introductory talk on topics relating to doing one's own research and planning and writing a dissertation as well as handbooks detailing full requirements and supervision arrangements.

• Indian Politics, Society and Religion

  This module aims to introduce and familiarise you with the interplay between politics, society and religion in the world’s largest democracy, India. At a time when India is emerging as a global power and economic powerhouse despite persistent poverty and various socio-political fissures, a critical balance must be struck in our understanding between its potential and its problems. India offers powerful lessons on the challenges and achievements of democracy in a deeply pluralistic and unequal society. An examination of these issues opens up our conceptual preconceptions about democracy, competing political philosophies, religion, secularism, discrimination, globalization and political mobilization, which tend to be structured by knowledge of Western polities. The particular issues concerning large populations of many different religions and huge social differences offer pathways of understanding to many pressing global issues.

• Media, Religion and Politics

  This module takes a case study approach to contemporary issues in media, religion and politics from around the globe. Media will be broadly defined to include Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, tabloids, feature films, documentaries, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. The module may include the study of topics such as: US President Trump’s evangelical council; Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s campaign; Boko Haram and ‘the Chibok girls’; ISIS on Twitter; witchcraft and the ‘Thames torso boy’; Ugandan antihomosexuality campaigns; zombies; Nollywood; and other subjects selected by students. Using both primary and secondary sources, we will contextualise each case study and subject it to historical and critical analysis. Where possible, concerted effort will be made to investigate topics in ways that Politics, International Relations, and Religious Studies students will all find compelling.

• Modern Religious and Atheistic Thought

  The aim of this module is to examine and evaluate some of the most central issues in Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment Western religious and atheistic philosophical debates. The module will begin by looking at the philosophy of G W F Hegel and its implications for subsequent religious and atheistic thought. We will then proceed to consider the thought of the post-Hegelian ‘masters of suspicion’: Feuerbach, Marx, Freud and Nietzsche. After this, we will look at ways in which religious and atheistic thought have been brought together, as manifested in various forms of ‘Christian atheism.’ Finally, we will consider postmodern critiques of modern atheism and the nature of the associated ‘return of religion.’

• New religions and alternative spiritualities

  The religious landscape in the West has changed significantly over the last hundred years or so. While the emergence of new religions and alternative spiritualities is not a recent phenomenon, the previous century, particularly since the 1960s, witnessed a remarkable proliferation of new religious trajectories. Factors such as increased travel, advances in global communication, and the virtual worlds of cyberspace have made available a bewildering variety of options for religious seekers. In this module we aim to enable you to understand what is taking place in this territory. Through an analysis of established organisations (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses) and contemporary developments (e.g. Paganism and UFO religions), you will be introduced to a number of theoretical perspectives and issues, such as violence, millennialism, gender, and charismatic leadership. We aim to make this an enjoyable module, in which you will be encouraged to incorporate case study research in your work.

• PPR in India

  (PPR in India) is a special dissertation unit typically open to all PPR students going into their third year. An essential component of the module is three weeks at Manipal University, India. In this immersive three week programme India becomes your classroom as you accompany lecturers to different temples and heritage sites to learn about the India's richly textured culture, vast history, and influential current events. There is no course work do to when you are in India, but upon return you will write a 10,000 word dissertation. The dissertation can be about any topic related to India. Past topics include: political relations between India and Pakistan, India's trade relations with East Africa, the rise of Hindu nationalism, Buddhist ethics, and ancient Indian religious texts.

• Reading Buddhism

  This module examines the Buddhist scriptures in the Theravada and Mahayana traditions and offers an opportunity for you to understand some of the key concepts and ideas by reading select extracts of the Buddhist texts in English from both schools and traditions. It also allows you to understand the changes in doctrinal emphasis as well as variations in interpretation in the historical development of Buddhism. This module will be a stand-alone module for third year students but will also be accessible to students who are new to the subject.

• Religion and politics

  This module will take a historical and cross-cultural approach to examining the relationship between religion and politics. In the first half of the module, we will look at primary sources from the ancient world, such as Plato’s Republic, the Analects of Confucius, the inscription of Ashoka, and the Laws of Manu. In the second half of the module we will look at contemporary debates about secularism, multiculturalism, and pluralism taking place throughout the world today. Throughout the module we will be addressing the following questions: How has the relationship between religion and politics been characterised in different cultures and at different historical moments? To what extent are ancient discussions about the relationship between religion and political relevant today? Is there something distinctive about recent debates about secularism, or are these debates playing out perennial questions? Is it possible to separate religion and politics?

• Religion and Violence

  There are those who claim that religion is little more than a perverse and irrational scar on the modern world, one that invariably causes violence, while others (at times driven by political motivations) claim that religion is ‘good’ and that violence only occurs when ‘religion has been hijacked by other forces’. Others still claim that ‘religious violence’ is a myth constructed for political purposes, and that one should not therefore speak of religion in such terms.

  In disentangling such claims, in this module we examine the relationship between religion and violence, asking whether one can draw such associations between the two and whether one can develop any broader theoretical understandings about their relationship that enhances our understanding of religion in the modern world. It thus challenges you to think through and develop an understanding of these issues. While examining a variety of theories and perspectives on the topic, including close examination of the arguments outlined above, we will continually refer to empirical data and case studies in which religious movements and religious individuals have been involved in violent activities, as well as examining cases where acts of immense violence (including genocide) have occurred in what appear to be political contexts, but where religious rhetoric may have been used by the perpetrators of violence.