Research degrees
Our Department provides excellent support for its research students, many of whom gain valuable teaching experience and publish their research whilst studying with us. Research students are often given the opportunity to lead undergraduate seminars, and some, towards the end of their PhD research, have given lecture courses on their area of study. For areas our staff would be particularly interested in supervising please visit our staff research profiles. The Department offers the following research degrees:
MA by Research in Theology and Religious Studies
This degree, which can be studied one year full-time or two to four years part-time, enables students to pursue a particular project at masters level. It also introduces students to the research skills necessary for doctoral study in the field of theology or religious studies. The course is designed to offer a flexible learning experience: students are guided in their reading by their supervisor and attend the Department’s taught MA modules relevant to their research area. The taught modules constitute 60 credits of the 180 credit degree programme. At the end of the course students submit a dissertation of 30,000–35,000 words on a subject agreed by the students and their supervisor.
Master of Research in Theology (MRes)
This degree is designed to offer a flexible learning experience. It introduces students to the research skills necessary for doctoral study in the field of theology and is the perfect stepping stone to a PhD. It includes a dissertation of 30,000-35,000 words on a subject agreed by the student and supervisor. Worth 160 credits, this forms the main element of assessment, which is conducted (as for the PhD) by both an internal and external examiner, and may involve a viva voce examination. Students attend the Department’s taught MA modules relevant to their research area which make up the remaining 20 credits of the 180 credit degree programme.
Master of Research in Theology and Religious Studies (MRes)
This degree is designed to offer a flexible learning experience. It introduces students to the research skills necessary for doctoral study in the field of theology and religious studies and is the perfect stepping stone to a PhD. It includes a dissertation of 30,000-35,000 words on a subject agreed by the student and supervisor. Worth 160 credits, this forms the main element of assessment, which is conducted (as for the PhD) by both an internal and external examiner, and may involve a viva voce examination. Students attend the Department’s taught MA modules relevant to their research area which make up the remaining 20 credits of the 180 credit degree programme.
MPhil
Student research their chosen topic and write a dissertation of at least 60,000 words. The MPhil is an internationally recognised research degree.
PhD
The PhD requires an original contribution to knowledge and a dissertation thesis of 80,000–100,000 words.
Doctoral students are encouraged to present papers at staff and postgraduate seminars. Students have access to a range of staff in the Department, but work particularly closely with one or two supervisors. As the academic profiles of members of staff indicate, most are experienced supervisors, several with former research students in academic posts.
A British PhD is valued highly internationally because it demands that a dissertation embodies an original contribution to knowledge either by exploration and discovery or by re-appraisal and critique of a fresh and distinctive nature. Hence, an emphasis is placed on a thorough mastery of the literature of the field, usually in the original languages, as well as a creativity which grows out of interaction with a research supervisor who is producing creative work. We endorse John Henry Newman’s maxim that a university education has at its central core the creative meeting of minds.
Example research topics
The Department currently has students studying in the following areas: