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Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
91
and equality issues. Trinity College’s Department of World
Religions and Theology offers students in Ireland a unique non-
denominational context for studying religions: it is not affiliated
to any church or religious body and we do not presume that you
have any previous knowledge of the subject.
Course content
In your first year you will study a range of introductory courses:
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Introduction to Jewish civilisation
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Introduction to world religions (Buddhism, Hinduism,
African Christianities)
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Introduction to Islamic civilisation
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The world of the Bible
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How Christianity came to Europe
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Introduction to the problems of recovering the historical
Jesus
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Introduction to Christian thinking about God, the world
and human life
From the second year on, you may choose from a wide range
of courses depending on the individual interests you have
discovered in your first year. Students may choose courses
on subjects such as:
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The early history of Israel and Judaism
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The challenge of world religions
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Issues in modern Islam
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Arguments for and against the existence of God
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Judaism since the Holocaust
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The relation between modern science and religious belief
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Medical ethics, including issues such as human cloning
Students in the second year may substitute a Broad Curriculum
course (see page 13) for one of these half year courses.
In addition you may choose to study Hebrew, Greek or Arabic.
Students have a wide variety of subject choices in the Junior
and Senior Sophister (third and fourth) years. These include:
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Jews under empire: from the Babylonians to the Romans
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Early Christianity and its literature (the Gospels)
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Judaism and Islam in the medieval world
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Jewish and Christian identity and interaction in the Roman
world
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The Reformation and the Enlightenment in Europe and
Ireland
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Jewish identity in the modern world
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Christologies (ways of understanding Jesus)
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Christianity and world religions: the challenge of the claims
of Buddhism, Hinduism and other world faiths to Christianity
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Ethics: philosophical and theological
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Religious identities in modern film and literature
Students do not just encounter religious cultures in the
lecture theatre and libraries, as central to this course are
visits to museums, sacred sites and cultural destinations.
For example, students have visited Israel, Berlin and Poland.
Assessment
Students write between six and ten essays over the course
of the year. In addition they sit four (or two for TSM students)
examinations at the end of the year.
Study abroad
A student exchange programme offers you the opportunity
to spend up to a year at the University of Leuven in Belgium,
the University of Glasgow in Scotland or Heythrop College,
London. Recently scholarships have been made available to
enable students to spend a summer in Israel participating in
archaeological digs.
Career opportunities
The course in World religions and theology is an arts degree and
shares many features of other arts degrees in Trinity College.
A knowledge of the cultures, values and histories of different
societies in the global community is an asset for many types
of careers. Students of World religions and theology graduate
with an understanding of the challenges and opportunities
which multi-cultural societies present. This understanding
is of particular value to those who pursue careers in media,
education, public policy making, human resources and health
care professions, law and business. Graduates in World religions
and theology have skills which are highly valued by potential
employers and our graduates pursue the same kinds of careers
as other arts graduates. Over recent years these have included
careers in publishing, media, business, education, archaeology,
tourism, law and psychology. Trinity College’s Careers Advisory
Service recently surveyed employers about what they looked
for in arts graduates and top of the list came: enthusiasm for the
position, personal qualities and transferable skills such as good
oral communication, written communication, team work and
problem solving. Students of religions have ample opportunity to
develop all of these skills within a department which is relatively
small and very student centred. For further information on
careers for graduates in World religions and Theology see
www.tcd.ie/Religions_Theology
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Further information
www.tcd.ie/Religions_Theology
Tel: +353 1 896 1297