Explore the tradition of Catholic social thought/teaching, which spans the last 150 years and draws on the social reflection of the Christian tradition since its origins. It is a tradition with huge cultural relevance now, and the course will help you connect your reflections on our own times with a tradition that gives you resources to try to orient yourself within it.
The end of the 19th century marked the beginning of a significant new tradition of Catholic papal teaching: the social encyclical. This tradition was born out of the end of an era of throne-and-altar Catholic politics and the emergence of the papacy into a world of nascent European nation states and urbanising industrial capitalism.
From the loss of territorial powers, the Church crafted a new genre of Catholic theology out of the old: from the patristic, medieval and early modern reflections of theologians and bishops emerged a distinctive canon of social principles and teachings which have shaped key aspects of the modern world we inhabit. These ideas have been at the heart of post-war constitutions, human rights frameworks, reforms to workers’ rights, resistance and liberation movements, migration norms, and now ecological action. The distinctive theological formation of each papacy has led to important differences of emphasis, controversies of interpretation and wider critique. Often this teaching has also been closely connected with grassroots movements inside and outside the Church, forming a complex web of intellectual and praxis-based influences.
This module attempts to map the emergence of key themes, trajectories of thought, principles and propositions within the broad CST field. It explores the encyclicals chronologically and thematically. It relates the development of theory to praxis, where possible, and reads the tradition critically. In addition to the popes, students will encounter the work of Joseph Pieper, Simone Weil, Gustavo Gutierrez, Dorothy Day, Charles Taylor, Ivan Illich, Jacques Maritain, Emmanuel Mounier, John Courtney Murray and others.
This course contains one module, ‘Catholic Social Thought and Practice’, a module from the MA in Catholic Theology by Distance Learning. This is a fully online module to be completed part-time over 12 months.
The module is fully online and asynchronous. In each unit students will engage with primary texts, supported by written and video materials, interacting with one another through discussion boards. There will also be at least three optional online seminars, two individual tutorials, and a chance to engage with the lecturer at other times through online office hours.
The expected total time spent by students on the module is 300 hours, including all work in preparation of essays. While students are encouraged to work through the units together as a cohort as far as possible, the module is designed with an understanding that students will need to work in different patterns, and there is a strong element of flexibility built into the module design.
Assessment
Students write, and receive feedback on formative essays after the 3rd and 7th unit. The module is assessed by one summative essay submitted at the end.
Entry requirements
A 2:1 undergraduate degree (or international equivalent) in Theology, or Religious Studies, or a related humanities discipline.
Students with at least a 2:1 undergraduate degree (or international equivalent) in a non-humanities discipline, who have studied at an undergraduate or equivalent level in one or more of the areas in which they hope to work, through their first degrees, through training for the ministry of the churches, and so on.
Your application must include a 500-word personal statement which may include the following:
Why have you chosen the Continuing Professional Development in Catholic Social Thought and Practice (DL) at Durham University?
What skills and knowledge you would bring to the course?
What skills and knowledge you would hope to acquire?
International students who do not meet direct entry requirements for this degree might have the option to complete an International Foundation Year.
Home students who do not meet our direct entry requirements, may be eligible for our Foundation Programme which offers multidisciplinary programmes to prepare you for a range of specified degree programmes.
The fees for this academic year have not been confirmed yet.
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase and are expected to rise throughout the programme of study. The fee listed above is for the first year of the course only.
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Department information
Theology and Religion
Explore religious thought, practice and scripture in a supportive and vibrant community, and develop a more joined up picture of the complex world in which we live.
Durham University’s Department of Theology and Religion is a supportive and vibrant international teaching and research community where ‘belief’ and ‘beliefs’ are studied in detail, whether those beliefs are atheistic, humanistic or religious.
We are a recognised global leader in the field of theology and religion. Delivered by researchers at the forefront of their disciplines, our range of highly regarded postgraduate degrees enables students to pursue their interests in the fields of theology, philosophy, religious studies, biblical studies, and ethics, through the exploration of diverse and contemporary issues such as the migrant crisis, homelessness and Catholic identity.
In the Department we have an intellectual community of more than 30 academic staff and 150 postgraduate students and researchers who join us from across the world, giving our courses a highly international focus. The local, national and international contexts in which we work and study help to build a more joined up picture of the complex world in which we live.
The Department is home to a range of research centres and projects, including the Centre for Anglican Studies, the Centre for Catholic Studies, the Centre for Death and Life Studies, International Centre for Moral Injury, Centre for Theology and Qualitative Research and the Centre for Early Christianity. These all help to foster a vibrant research culture, of which our postgraduates are an important part.
Our postgraduate provision is designed to develop the academic and personal qualities that are valued in the workplace and in higher-level academic research. This includes a professional development and training programme with opportunities to work as a teaching assistant.
Facilities
We are a leading Department in the field of Theology and Religion, uniquely situated within a World Heritage Site next to Durham Cathedral and within easy walking distance of the Students’ Union, colleges and Durham Castle. Our home, Abbey House, is an inspiring place to study and research the field of theology and religion.
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