Religion in Contemporary Society: Public Issues - Global Perspectives

The MA in Religion in Contemporary Society: Public Issues – Global Perspectives provides knowledge about religion in contemporary society, from the perspectives of social science, the humanities and different kinds of religious studies. There is an emphasis on social science perspectives.Religion in contemporary society is understood as interpretations of religious traditions, how religion is expressed in practice, and the interplay between religion and ongoing societal processes at the local, national and global scale.The study programme provides in-depth study of recent theories of religion in contemporary society. There is an emphasis on methods from the sociology of religion and qualitative empirical studies of contemporary religion. The programme gives tools to understand and interpret relevant social processes and societal challenges that shape, and are shaped by religious traditions and practices. The study programme provides both analytical skills and practical skills to study and discuss religion using methods from social science.The MA thus combines a broad introduction to social scientific methods and ways of thinking with perspectives from the humanities and the study of religion. There is an emphasis on the social scientific study of the role of religion, ideology and values in (post)modern societies in different parts of the world in our times. This equips students to discuss relevant societal challenges, including themes such as religion and politics, globalisation, climate change and migration. Elective courses provide the opportunity to focus on a specific topic, and give the education a unique profile suited for specific career interests or academic interests.Compulsory courses and elective courses during the first year will enable the student to do an independent piece of research which will be presented in the form of a master’s thesis in the second year. The thesis shall shed light on religion in contemporary society and the interplay between religion and society locally, nationally or globally. The coursework will train the students for doing empirical research and writing about it, but the students may choose to write a theoretical thesis as well.