Postgraduate Studies
The School of World Religions and Theology enjoys research strengths in Biblical Studies, Theology, and Ethics - as is shown by the research interests of its staff members.
In each of these research areas the School offers the supervision of postgraduate research leading to the degrees of Master of Letters (M.Litt.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Neither of these degrees have course requirements, although research students are normally welcome to audit or take third or fourth year (Senior Sophister) undergraduate courses - and on occasions they may be advised or required to do so.
Below you may find further information on current and previously completed reseach topics, facilities for research students at Trinity College, and opportunities to acquire teaching experience.
Some Current Post-graduate Research Topics
- Liturgy, Prayer and the Historical Jesus
Supervised by Dr Ben Wold - Temple Motifs in early Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic
Supervised by Dr Ben Wold - The Value of Labour: Economical, Ethical and Civic Perspectives
Supervised by Prof. Maureen Junker-Kenny - Dawkins and the frontiers of science and religion
Supervised by Dr John Scally - Human Dignity as Principle of Ethics and Law in Pluralist Democracies. John Rawls’s and Jürgen Habermas’s Political Philosophies in Philosophical and Theological Critique
Supervised by Prof. Maureen Junker-Kenny - Exorcism, Demons and the Kingdom of God in Mark's Gospel
Supervised by Dr Ben Wold - Deconstructing Gender in John’s Apocalypse
Supervised by Dr Ben Wold - Apotropaic Prayer: Demonology in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Synoptic Gospels.Supervised by Dr Ben Wold
- ‘Wisdom’ and ‘Apocalypticism’ in 4QInstruction and James.Supervised by Dr Ben Wold
- Sociological Approaches to the Question of ‘Sectarianism” in Ancient Judaism.Supervised by Dr Ben Wold
Completed PhDs
- An Autonomy Perspective in Theological Ethics on Transgenic Food Production
- A review of the Irish public service modernisation programme from the perspective of Catholic social teaching on subsidiarity and the common good
- 'Texts of trauma' and Christian theology
- Church as Community: Theological Foundations and Development in Practice (Ph.D.)
- "Institutional Integrity". The Use of Theories of Justice for Resource Allocation in the Australian Catholic Church. (Ph.D.)
- Neither Naked nor Sacred: A Theology of the Public Square. The Irish Catholic Church in the Republic of Ireland (Ph.D.)
- Church as Community: Theological Foundations and Development in Practice (Ph.D.)
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The Limits of Law: Paul Ricoeur and a critical Phronesis to engage Law, Ethics and Religion (Ph.D)
Facilities
Trinity College Library is the largest library in Ireland, containing over four million books. Since 1801 the Library has had the right to claim a copy of all British and Irish publications.
Dublin enjoys two major assets of interest to those conducting research in religion and theology. The first is the Chester Beatty Library. European Museum of the Year in 2002, this is home to an outstanding collection of early Christian and Islamic manuscripts, including some of the earliest texts of the Bible. Its reference library contains some 12,000 volumes on subjects that include Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Among its permanent exhibitions is a 'Sacred Traditions' gallery. It also offers a microfilming service.
The second local asset is Marsh's Library. Built in 1701, this was Ireland's first public library and it comprises 25,000 volumes relating to the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries. These include a large collection of works of theology, religious controversy, liturgy, and church history as well as missals, breviaries, books of hours of the Sarum use, Bibles printed in almost every language, rabbinical material, and Latin Judaica.
Teaching Experience
The Department of World Religions and Theology is keen to equip its research students, not only with knowledge to teach, but also with actual experience of teaching. Accordingly, from the second year of their research, students may expect to be given opportunities for - and guidance in - teaching.
For further information, contact the Graduate Studies Office.
Contact: jwelch@tcd.ie | Last updated: Nov 16 2012 | Back to top