|
|
|
| Why Durham?
Deciding where to take your first degree is not always easy,
especially with many good courses now available at British
Universities. At Durham our intention is to match keen students with
challenging topics precisely because the best applicants always want
to be stretched, whether by deepening familiar subjects or by
tackling quite new fields. |
| Here you can pursue long established theological studies
by mastering their historical roots and engaging with their
contemporary developments. You can also take up new areas in
the study of religious thought and religious movements.
We are as keen to foster biblical and specialist language
study as we are to engage in the study of the exploding
world of ethics and of the study of religiousgroups. In all
this we remain fully aware of the church-based and religious
traditions out of which historical, textual and
philosophical studies emerge, and from which they gain their
distinction colour.
 All
this is possible because our academic staff are keen to
teach just as they are eager to learn through their own,
ongoing, research. In many respects learning is the key-note
whether for the first year undergraduates, for postgraduates
or for lecturers. Teaching and learning are almost two sides
of the same intellectual coin. A great deal of your work
here will be that kind of self-teaching that comes as you
spend much time in private study both before and after the
more formal aspects of lectures and seminars and the like. |
| Sometimes it is perfectly possible for students to
engage in a serious piece of personal research in their
dissertation and this can really stimulate a high level of
interest and commitment whether in library-based piece of
research or one involving a more fieldwork-based study of
some group or religious practice. |
| Many of our students find the broad-ranged challenge of
their degree excellent in developing their critical and
analytical skills and preparing them for any number of
careers and professions after graduation. The mark of a
university-trained mind is that it can absorb what others
say, stand back and ponder it before arriving at a
considered opinion. The intellectual skill is the skill of
developing judgement and the ability to express that
judgement. |
| Because this attitude grows
throughout the degree it renders redundant the popular
question, ‘What can you do with a theology degree?' The
answer is that you are prepared to do a great deal, as the
range of our graduates shows. Before finally leaving,
however, a few stay to pursue the Department's MA level
degree, one that brings together even more formally the link
between learning, teaching and research. |
 |
| Finally what about place and people? Durham
is obviously a great place to study theology, with many
resources available. But its academics and students have
many chances to get to know each other and develop interests
through such contact. There is a personal touch within the
department which is hard to describe but real to experience.
We think you would benefit from that and contribute to it.
If that strikes a cord perhaps we are the place for you and
you the right person for us. To leave mention of colleges
until last is to emphasise their importance at Durham as the
community focus of life. College Principals and tutors along
with the new friends waiting to be made all help create that
net of relations that makes life here intense, challenging,
supportive, and a base for the future. |
|
Learn more:
 |
|
|
