Health & wellbeing and Religion, Theology & Spirituality (with Foundation Year) BA (Hons)

This is a **four year degree** taught at our Hope Park campus. The **Foundation Year** aims to develop your skills so that after a year, you will be equipped with the necessary skills needed for studying the full BA Hons degree programme.<br/><br/>**Health & Wellbeing**<br/><br/>Recent years have seen widespread recognition of the need to move beyond medicine with a greater emphasis on the promotion of health and wellbeing. New government initiatives and policies are giving this greater priority than ever before. Health and Wellbeing is a vibrant, multidisciplinary degree in which you will explore a range of issues and debates relevant to health and wellbeing in contemporary society.<br/><br/>The degree draws upon a range of disciplines, including sociology social policy and psychology to understand the key challenges to health and wellbeing in the 21st century. Throughout your studies, you will be considering key questions such as what factors influence health and wellbeing? How do social experiences impact upon health and wellbeing? Why do different social groups experience health and wellbeing differently? Alongside this, you develop the practical skills necessary for work in the field, through work on case studies and opportunities for applied research projects within the local community.<br/><br/>The degree provides you with the opportunity to develop practical skills, knowledge and insight into a range of issues relating to health and wellbeing in contemporary society. With its strong emphasis on social justice and welfare, you will be enabled to develop as critical social scientists who, as a graduate, will be able to use your skills and knowledge to the benefit of your local community and society more broadly.<br/><br/>**Religion, Theology & Spirituality**<br/><br/>This course leads you into a profound exploration of spirituality, wisdom, and mysticism across major religious traditions like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. But, unlike traditional Theology and Religious Studies courses, we pay special attention to religious experience and spirituality: the human quest for meaning and purpose. You will tackle ethical and theological questions concerning the beginning and end of life, sexuality, gender, evil, suffering, and contemporary issues like radicalisation, ecology, violence, inter-religious dialogue, secularisation, post-secularism, health, wellbeing, and near-death experiences. Visiting historical sacred spaces adds a tangible element to your studies, as you explore why these places still captivate people amidst modern challenges like technology and climate crisis. In studying this course, you will actively participate in critical debates about human existence in a world facing numerous crises.