Bible and the Contemporary World

A good 2.1 undergraduate Honours degree. You do not need to have a degree in Theology in order to apply for a place on this programme; however, all applicants will be expected to have sufficient knowledge to equip them for postgraduate level of study in the field of theology.

The MLitt in Bible and the Contemporary World is a course that connects biblical and theological studies with other disciplines in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Highlights

• Gain an understanding of how public issues and culture both shape and are shaped by Christian theology, biblical interpretation and practice.
• Combines campus-based and virtual learning modules.
• Join an international and interdenominational group of 20 to 25 students in relating the Christian traditions to a host of public issues.

Teaching format

Each semester begins with a residential study week held at St Mary's College, the School of Divinity. A typical residential study week, which is shared with the distance learning part-time students, includes lectures, seminars and other learning activities. Attendance is required at each study week from Monday through Wednesday, but students are encouraged to stay for the remainder of the week. You will need to pay for your own travel and accommodation costs to attend these mandatory study weeks.

After the study week, students take one residential module and two Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) modules, which are shared with students on the part-time, distance learning version of this programme.

Each VLE module comprises 15 weeks of study (typically divided into four units) and focuses on independent learning. In each unit of a module, students are supplied a number of scholarly articles and extracts from books which are supplemented by two written lectures available online in digital format; you will also have access to the library's extensive online subscriptions of journals and ebooks. In lieu of seminars, you will participate in online bulletin board discussions with your peers (not held in real time). Students will have one personal tutorial (usually via online video messaging or telephone) with a tutor per module.

Assessment comprises four essays for each VLE module and a combination of essay and written examination for the campus-based module.

The taught portion is followed by a 15,000-word dissertation written over three months during the summer and submitted mid-August. Students are assigned a supervisor who gives guidance on the topic and provides academic support during the research and writing phases.

Modules