Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The programme has six modules you have to do plus a dissertation. And out of those six
modules, only three of them are actually compulsory. The other three are optional. So the compulsory
elements, like a lot of our Masters programmes, you'll have to do Research Skills. Then you'll
have to do a module called God and the Meaning of Life. And then you'll have a choice between
either Global Ethics or Bioethics as another core module. And the idea of that is to cover
I suppose all the elements of the philosophy of religion and ethics.
The programme is offered by the John Hick Centre for the Philosophy of Religion. John
Hick was a very famous Philosopher of Religion who happened to be at Birmingham. So, he very
generously allowed us to use his name for a new Centre that we established for the Philosophy
of Religion. And what we do in this particular Centre is we try to look at the philosophy
of religion slightly differently, from a global perspective rather than just from a limited
western perspective that it's traditionally looked at.
The distance learning programme is delivered using Skype. Using email. Using blogging.
We try to make the experience of looking at the philosophy of religion as engaging as
it would be normally around a seminar table. So we use online facilities to that effect.
We get so many different kinds of students from different kinds of backgrounds. Right
now, in my class, I've probably got people who've come from history backgrounds, sociological
backgrounds, philosophy backgrounds. So, students come with a kind of an interest in the questions
themselves. Questions about the meaning of life or the existence of God or the problems
of evil and suffering. Or how we're meant to behave towards each other and the world.
Or the advances in medical ethics. These are general interests that people have.
People who complete the programme they tend to go on to do further study. We have quite
a lot of students who go on and do research degrees. But quite a few just then go off
to get jobs in say, in Law maybe, or banking or the social services. A variety of different
sort of careers that they can do with a humanities degree. But I think particularly with a philosophical
background, employers respect that because it comes with a number of critical or cognate
skills that they can use.