This module surveys wider theories and debates in sociology, cultural studies and anthropology as a basis for the study of religion, focussing especially on the social and cultural analysis of religion.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: Critically assess the representation of religion within a book, film, monument or website

Value: 20 credits

This module introduces students to the core elements of Islamic faith and practice with reference to the key Islamic sources and methods of religious thought. It summarises the development of Islamic thought, and the current state of Islam in majority and minority situations.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: What is the importance of the Qur’an in Islamic legal, theological and social thinking?

Value: 20 credits

This module introduces students to the history of Christianity from the early church to the present, with particular focus on schisms and denominational histories including Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, the early and later Protestant Reformation, non-conformist churches, and the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement of the twentieth century.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: Debate and discuss African Independent Churches as a critique of colonialism.

Value: 20 credits

This module aims to give students an introduction to Hebrew Bible and New Testament from the perspective of academic Biblical Studies. Topics covered relate to the historical background to these texts; questions of authorship, dating, and original audience; literary relationships between biblical books; the historicity of the biblical narratives; different theological interpretations of the events the Bible describes; and the relationship between academic and confessional approaches.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: What is the role of Biblical Archaeology, and how can it be treated as an independent source?

Value: 20 credits

You will need to choose a module that is of interest to you from outside Theology and Religion. There will be a ‘MOMD Fair’ at the beginning of the academic year, which you attend in order to make your choice of a module.

Value: 20 credits

This module introduces and evaluates a number of competing narratives (or accounts/explanations) of the nature of Judaism, Jewishness and Jewish history and explores how they relate to each other. Considerable attention is paid throughout the module to questions of definition and methodology, paying particular attention to Second Temple Judaism and the modern and contemporary period.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: why might it be argued that all the halakhic problems identified by Jewish feminists are still unresolved within Orthodox Judaism, but have nearly all been resolved in non-Orthodox forms of Judaism? Do you agree? 

Value: 10 credits

The module explores contemporary debates about how to define, describe and account for the Holocaust, including the nature of non-Jewish victimhood and whether or not this should be understood as part of ‘the Holocaust’, and how events were written about and understood differently from the perspective of victims and perpetrators.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: Is it possible for an individual or group of people to be both a victim and a perpetrator of the Holocaust? Or is it necessary to maintain a clear-cut distinction between these two categories?

Value: 10 credits

This module focuses on the role of Christianity in contemporary society, investigating distinctive beliefs, practices, worship, ethics and buildings. The module investigates larger-scale contemporary challenges and opportunities as well as scrutinising ‘ordinary’ Christian belief among Christians in the UK (and in the city of Birmingham in particular) today.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: Does the concept of original sin make sense in contemporary society?

Value: 10 credits

This module explores the incredible diversity of expressions of the Christian faith that exist in the world today, considering the different denominational, regional and theological traditions of the religion and the phenomenology of Christianity as a world faith in the twenty-first century.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: What role does ‘Biblicism’ play in global expressions of Evangelical Christianity?

Value: 10 credits

This module provides a structured framework enabling you to gain professional skills in presentation and teamwork, as well as identifying an appropriate dissertation area, research question and supervisor, and completing the initial planning and research for your dissertation.

Value: 20 credits

The placement module allows you to spend time in a school, charity, or other situation in the UK or abroad for about two weeks and then to reflect critically on this in a written report in the light of your studies in Theology and Religion and your career aspirations.

Value: 20 credits

A variety of critical methods and approaches (e.g. sociology, anthropology) are used in this module to understand the nature and diversity of religion in the UK today. The module will enable students to begin to read effectively and appreciate the nature of religion in urban and other settings with some focus on lived religions in the City of Birmingham. 

Value: 20 credits

Each year this module explores one key aspect of the Holocaust in depth (e.g., Auschwitz, the Warsaw ghetto, Anne Frank). The aspect studied will be considered in relation to its historical realities, how it is represented in testimony by victims and survivors of the Holocaust, and its cultural afterlife in art, literature, film, memorials, museums, etc. The module will explore the continuities between these different representations, the tensions between them, and the controversies surrounding them.  

Value: 20 credits

This module introduces students to the Internet in terms of its technology, culture and social function, focussing on areas of specific interest and case studies of religious traditions such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, alternative spiritualities and New Religious Movements in virtual contexts.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: What are some of the forms of religion and spiritualities in cyber environments?

Value: 20 credits

This module critically assesses some of the main doctrines in Christianity from a wide variety of perspectives and using the work of many different theologians. It aim is to provide a good understanding of how Christian doctrine is being shaped and developed in the contemporary world.

 Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: Does Christianity have three gods? Discuss this question in the light of recent theological developments in the relational understanding of the Holy Trinity. 

Value: 20 credits

This module introduces the nature, methods, insights and contested dynamics of contemporary theological ethics. Students evaluate the main theories and methods in ethical thinking and apply this knowledge to a variety of social and personal issues in contemporary Western society.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: What are some of the factors, methods, and sources that theological ethicists should include in their moral decision making?

Value: 20 credits

This module explores key critical issues relating to the study of Jesus and Muhammad as figures in history, as well as investigating their prominence and roles in religious interpretation and within wider culture.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: What would it mean to undertake a ‘quest for the historical Muhammad’?

Value: 20 credits

This module encourages you to think creatively about how a biblical text can be read and interpreted, moving beyond the historical-critical method to consider newer reader-oriented approaches (narrative, queer, feminist and gender criticism) to biblical texts and how they have developed within recent scholarship.  

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Questions: What are the aims of feminist approaches? What reading strategies do they employ? How does a man read ‘as a feminist’?

Value: 20 credits

This module examines aspects of the rise of Islamic thought from the origins of this tradition through to the present day. 

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: In what way does Iman differ in meaning from Islam?

Value: 20 credits

The module traces the development of philosophy in the Islamic world from its beginnings in the ninth century to its full flowering in the thirteenth century and beyond. It examines the relationship between Islamic philosophy and its Greek and Persian antecedents, focussing on the contributions made by the major philosophical figures of the Islamic world.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: Who was the first true philosopher in Islam?

Value: 10 credits

Starting with a brief historical and geographical background to Hinduism, this module focusses on key concepts, values, religious practices and texts, within Indian tradition as well as for Hinduism in diaspora.

Value: 10 credits

This module covers the origins and fundamental beliefs of Sikhism, as well as analysing religious and cultural issues facing Sikhs today. Particular attention is paid to women and children, and to the Sikh diaspora.

Value: 10 credits

Aimed at absolute beginners in Arabic, this module introduces the alphabet an sound system though dialogues and moves on to teach the primary structures of phrases and sentences, emphasising the functional use of the language in daily life situations.

Value: 20 credits

Aimed at absolute beginners in Greek, this module enables you to gain a basic grasp of the Greek so you will be able to read and understand ancient texts such as the New Testament and the early church fathers. 

Value: 20 credits

This module is designed to help you to read and understand the texts of the Hebrew Bible at a basic level and as a foundation for further study.

Value: 20 credits

This module examines the diverse beliefs and practices of contemporary forms of Sufism, considering the historical and cultural antecedents of Sufism, and discussing various interpretations and understandings of Sufi origins and practice.

Value: 10 credits

This is a major piece of independent work for which a topic is identified and research is carried out with supervisory help to produce a 12,000 word essay.

Value: 40 credits

Description to follow.

Value: 10 credits

Description to follow.

Value: 10 credits

The module studies the historical and contemporary interactions between Islam and the Western world and includes examination of the significance of events such as 9/11 and the ‘war on terror’.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: In what ways has racism in Europe and America taken on a more explicitly anti-Muslim character?

Value: 10 credits

This module surveys the position of women in Islam, dealing with their legal, social and political status by analysing the institutions of education, marriage, inheritance, divorce and family life.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: ‘Honour killing is a crime against the sacred text of Islam; nevertheless, some Muslims continue to commit it.’ Discuss.

Value: 10 credits

The Pentecostal movement is one of the largest and fastest growing traditions in cotemporary world Christianity. This module critically examines the key distinctive theological ideas that characterise this movement including concepts of healing and speaking in tongues and reads these developments against the background of contemporary Evangelicalism. 

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: Give a theological assessment of the Alpha Course.

Value: 20 credits

This module introduces students to the Internet in terms of its technology, culture and social function, focussing on areas of specific interest and case studies of religious traditions such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, alternative spiritualities and New Religious Movements in virtual contexts.

Value: 10 credits

An opportunity to engage in depth with a theologically or religiously significant text in detail in a small group with a member of academic staff. Texts will vary and might include scriptural, philosophical or literary works. 

Value: 10 credits

An opportunity to engage in depth with a theologically or religiously significant text in detail in a small group with a member of academic staff. Texts will vary and might include scriptural, philosophical or literary works. 

Value: 10 credits

This module studies the theology of culture and cultural expression and highlights the significance of contextual and cross cultural interpretations of contemporary Christian theologies and biblical texts.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: What is the value of cultural artefacts as an interpretative tool for the student of theology and religion?

Value: 20 credits

This module enables students to pursue a specific area of interest in the field of Biblical Studies through tutored independent study.

Value: 20 credits

Building on Themes in Christian Theology in the second year, this module allows students to engage with some of the main ideas and methods of contemporary Christian theologians from a variety of backgrounds and traditions.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: What is the contribution of ‘Eco-theology’ to contemporary theological discourse?

Value: 20 credits

This module, unique to Birmingham, offers a critical consideration of key themes in thealogy (‘goddess spirituality’), its thinkers and its theoretical concerns. Female spirituality and feminist critiques of conventional religions are just two aspects of this unique and diverse module.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: what kind of ‘liberation’ is available through programmes such as What Not to Wear?

Value: 20 credits

This module considers the theory, theology and practice of contemporary inter-religious interaction, mainly between the Abrahamic faith traditions (Islam, Judaism, Christianity).

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: Is it possible to identify shared values between Islam, Christianity and Judaism?

Value: 20 credits

This module consolidates, develops and extends Arabic listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

Value: 20 credits

This module aims to exam the beliefs and practices of New Age and Alternative Spiritualities, providing an understanding of the context, culture and impact of such traditions on society and popular culture. An optional fieldtrip to Glastonbury is a feature of this module.

Sample Essay/Exam/Discussion Question: ‘New Age is Old Occult.’ To what extent might this statement be true?

Value: 20 credits