UWTSD Home - Study With Us - Undergraduate Courses - Religious Studies (BA) – Joint Honours only
Religious Studies is a vibrant area of enquiry and a key strand of the Humanities, reflecting the significance of religion’s role in societies. The vitality and richness of the subject reflect its centrality in a world that displays substantial cultural and religious diversity.
The programme is intended to stimulate curiosity about, and fascination for, the variety of religious cultures across the globe, and to open up a greater awareness of plurality within religious traditions and within societies at large. This gives students a real insight into the human condition and the multiplicity of religious beliefs and practices in the world.
You will explore different approaches to the study of religion. This will include the study and analysis of religion as a significant dimension human culture.
Full-time applicants should apply through UCAS. Part-time applicants should apply through the University.
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Tuition Fees 2023/24:
Home (Full-time): £9,000 per year
Overseas (Full-time): £13,500 per year
Why choose this course?
- Wide range of modules on relevant topics such the nature of religion, the Abrahamic traditions, or religious conceptions of sex and gender.
- Modules based on lecturers' distinctive research expertise in religious experience or new religious movements.
- Innovative immersive teaching in small groups and one-to-one tutorials.
- Space for independent thinking and opportunities to pursue your own interests.
- Chance to combine your studies with modules from other humanities subjects.
What you will learn
Our BA Religious Studies degree enables students to become familiar with the specifics of religious traditions and to make comparisons between the beliefs and practices of different religions, particularly in the context of a world coming to terms with its cultural and religious diversity.
This programme is intended to stimulate curiosity about, and fascination for, the variety of religious cultures across the globe, and to open up a greater awareness of plurality within religious traditions and within societies at large. This gives students a real insight into the human condition and the multiplicity of religious beliefs and practices in the world.
Year One – Level 4 (CertHE, DipHE & BA)
- Contemporary Challenges: Making a Difference (20 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
- Cultures and Philosophies of Politics (20 credits; optional)
- Death, Burial and the Afterlife (20 credits; optional)
- Exploring the Humanities (20 credits; compulsory)
- From Egypt to the Near East: Phenomena of the Mediterranean (20 credits; optional)
- Gender, Sex, & Sexuality: Historical & Critical Perspectives (20 credits; optional)
- Humans and Other Animals (20 credits; optional)
- Learning in the Digital Era (20 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
- Morality, Ethics and Reason (20 credits; optional)
- Myths and Mythology: How Stories Shape the World (20 credits; optional)
- Power and Inequality (20 credits; optional)
- The Colonial Project and the Humanities (20 credits; optional)
- The Nature of Objects: Why Matter Matters (20 credits; optional).
Year Two – Level 5 (DipHE & BA)
- Changemakers: Building your Personal Brand for Sustainable Employment (20 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
- Changemakers: Creativity and Value Creation (20 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
- Complex Bodies: Questioning Gender, Religion and Sexuality (20 credits; optional)
- Cross Cultural Ethics: Christian and Islamic Approaches (20 credits; optional)
- Faith Seeking Understanding: God and Philosophy in the Middle Ages (20 credits; optional)
- Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World (20 credits; optional)
- Independent Religious Studies Project (20 credits; compulsory)
- International Independent Study Module (40 credits; optional)
- International Independent Study Module (60 credits; optional)
- Judaism: From 70 CE to the Present Day (20 credits; optional)
- Life of Muhammad (20 credits; optional)
- Living Ancestors and Talking Tree: Indigenous Religions Today (20 credits; optional)
- Questioning Gender and Theology (20 credits; optional)
- Special Collections Research : The Roderic Bowen Library and Archives (20 credits; optional).
Year Three – Level 6 (BA)
- Complex Bodies: Questioning Gender, Religion and Sexuality (20 credits; optional)
- Cross Cultural Ethics: Christian and Islamic Approaches (20 credits; optional)
- Faith Seeking Understanding: God and Philosophy in the Middle Ages (20 credits; optional)
- Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World (20 credits; optional)
- Independent Project (40 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
- International Independent Study Module (40 credits; optional)
- International Independent Study Module (60 credits; optional)
- Judaism: From 70 CE to the Present Day (20 credits; optional)
- Life of Muhammad (20 credits; optional)
- Living Ancestors and Talking Tree: Indigenous Religions Today (20 credits; optional)
- Questioning Gender and Theology (20 credits; optional)
- Special Collections Research : The Roderic Bowen Library and Archives (20 credits; optional).
Prospective students should be aware of the following:
- Not all optional modules are offered every year
- Optional modules are delivered subject to sufficient student numbers
- Language modules are optional/compulsory/core according to linguistic ability
- There are many Level 5 and Level 6 versions of the same module. Students can only take this module once; this depends on which year the modules are offered in.
The programme is assessed in a variety of ways and will include several of the following types of assessment:
- essays of 1,000 to 4,000 words in length;
- document analysis;
- book/journal reviews;
- short reports and reflective journals;
- time tests;
- seen and unseen exams;
- field journals;
- posters;
- group and individual presentations;
- dissertations of 10,000 words;
- wikis;
- commentaries; and,
- film evaluations.
This Framework aims to develop your professional skills and competence alongside your academic subject knowledge. You’ll study up to 40 credits per level throughout your programme from the Graduate Attributes Framework.
The Graduate Attribute modules are designed to enable you to develop, and evidence, a range of career-focused skills related to your subject area. These skills include digital competency, research and project management, as well as such personal competencies as communication, creativity, self-reflection, resilience and problem-solving.
- Find out more about the Graduate Attributes Framework
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Key Information
Grades are important; however, our offers are not solely based on academic results.
We are interested in creative people who demonstrate a strong commitment to their chosen subject area and therefore we welcome applications from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds.
To assess student suitability for their chosen course, we normally arrange interviews for all applicants at which your skills, achievements and life experience will be considered, as well as your qualifications.
A BA in Religious Studies is a highly desirable qualification in terms of engaging in a multicultural, multi-faith society.
It is a sought after degree by employers who want staff to engage with a diverse cultural environment. Consequently, many of our students find employment and build careers in social services, counselling, nursing, policing, and fire and rescue services.
A number of students move on to a PGCE in primary or secondary Religious Education.
Other students seek to add to their BA by pursuing postgraduate studies that involve an aspect of religion from the world’s great traditions.
The University of Wales Trinity Saint David is widely recognised for mobilising its students for the world of work. Student Services offer an active programme of employment-related activities; the School of Theology, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies regularly builds bridges for its students to employment-related activities endorsed by the University.
The Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey regularly reports high percentages of graduates of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in work or seeking further qualifications six months after graduating.
In the 2016/17 DLHE survey, 96.8% of UWTSD’s full-time UK undergraduates were in employment and/or further study six months after graduating.
Estimates are on the assumption that students buy new copies of the books. Students may also choose to spend money on printing drafts of work.
Students may spend up to £300 per year on books and additional related materials.
Students are expected to submit two hard copies of their final project; the estimated cost for binding these is £20.
Optional Field trip:
There are various fieldwork and field trip options available, both locally and internationally. Students can opt to take either more expensive or less expensive placements. These are subsidised but the cost each year is dependent on airfare, location, and currency exchange rates. Below are the upper end of expected costs, based on previous placements:
- Fieldwork (depending on location) – approximately £500–£1,500; and,
- Individual trips – approximately £5–£50.
Visit our Lampeter Accommodation section to find out more.
If you would like to find out more, you can visit us on an Open Day.
