THEO2321: RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN

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• To introduce students to the broad cultural landscape of Britainduring the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
• To explore ways in which religion- both traditional religiousgroups and alternative religious movements- have interacted with thisenvironment, drawing from historical, sociological and theologicalsources.
• To reflect on how religion might develop in Britain in the futureand how it might have a role to play in the construction of Britishidentity, given past histories and present concerns.

• This module explores the contours of religious movement incontemporary Britain, working from the Second World War onwards.Focusing on how religious phenomena are shaped by changing culturalcontexts, we will address the state of British society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, before examining how this context shapes thedevelopment of religious traditions movements and practices. Traditionalworld religions, such as Christianity and Islam, and more marginaldevelopments such as the New Age, will be examined in relation to topics such as national identity, multiculturalism and the power of mass media.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• A knowledge of the major issues facingtraditional and alternative religious groups in the contemporaryBritish context.
• A knowledge and critical understanding of different scholarly attempts to explainor interpret the state of religious phenomena in contemporary Britain.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Skills in the analysis and critical use of select theological, historical, and sociological sources in making sense of how religious movements interact with the British cultural context.

Key Skills:

• Lectures convey information and exemplify an approach to thesubject-matter, enabling students to develop a clear understanding ofthe subject and to improve their skills in listening and in evaluatinginformation.
• Seminars enhance subject-specific knowledge and understandingboth through preparation and through interaction with students andstaff, promoting awareness of different viewpoints andapproaches.
• Formative essays develop subject-specific knowledge andunderstanding, along with student skills in the acquisition ofinformation through reading and research, and in the structuredpresentation of information in written form.
• Examinations assess subject-specific knowledge andunderstanding, along with student skills in the structured presentationof information in written form under time constraints.
• Summative essays assess subject-specific knowledge andunderstanding, along with student skills in the acquisition ofinformation through reading and research, and in the structuredpresentation of information in written form.

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