Study of Religions: Learning and Teaching

The Department has an excellent reputation for the quality of teaching and learning. We are also known to students as being friendly and helpful, with staff who make time to help individual students. Teaching and learning takes a variety of forms including lectures, small group seminars, individual tutorials and individual research.

Virtual Learning

Supplements lectures and seminars with additional resource materials, information and other activities, such as on-line discussion groups.

Fieldwork Visits

These are made to places of worship and religious/spiritual communities, and there is a compulsory one-week placement in a community as part of the second year module on how to study religions. There are many choices of communities from Buddhist monasteries to Salvation Army social work to New Religious Movements.

Bath Archive for Contemporary Religious Affairs (BACRA)

The Study of Religions also houses BACRA as a resource available for student access. The archive collects information from a range of different sources but relating to all aspects of religion - with special emphasis on new religious movements as well as current events.

Study Abroad

There is an opportunity for you to spend half a year at a university abroad, and students have recently been studying in Romania, Finland and the USA.

Personal Tutors

You will be allocated a personal tutor who will assist with both academic progress and personal issues throughout the course.

Assessment

A variety of forms of assessment are used, mostly coursework, but with some examinations in compulsory modules. Coursework includes essays, literature reviews, research projects, seminar presentations and a dissertation. Feedback on your work is provided in both written form and by means of individual tutorials.

World View Society

This is a programme of visiting speakers which has included leading British academics and international scholars, as well as giving an opportunity for our own research students and staff to present their latest research findings.

Opportunities for Further Study

The course is very good preparation for further study, and a significant number of students go on to study religions at Masters or PhD level, either at Bath Spa or elsewhere. Bath Spa also offers a PGCE in Secondary Religious Education, and PGCE Primary Education for those who intend a career in teaching.

Research and Scholarship

Staff are involved in research and scholarship in their own area of expertise, regularly publish books and articles, and are invited to give conference papers in this country and abroad. We take part in important developments in the subject, and the Department is well known nationally and internationally. Members of staff are often consulted by the media, and have been seen and heard on television and radio in recent years. We have also advised on developments in religious education in schools.

Employment

Our graduates enter a variety of careers, but they tend to be ones that involve working with people, especially from a wide range of religious and cultural backgrounds. Probably the most popular choice is teaching, either secondary religious education (there is a national shortage of RE teachers so job prospects are good) or as primary teachers. The degree course covers all the major areas that are taught on schools syllabuses, as well as having a module on religion and education. One of our recent graduates has been identified as a 'fast track' candidate for the teaching profession, and another graduate became a university lecturer. Other common choices are social work, the health service, the police service, publishing, media and librarianship. Specific examples range from sports reporter to working for the Inland Revenue. A significant number of our graduates decide to spend some time travelling or working abroad, where their knowledge of different beliefs and customs comes in useful.