Theology and Religion PgDip

**The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2023). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.** <br/><br/>The Postgraduate Diploma in Theology and Religion is provided for those wishing to pursue graduate study in theology and religion but whose first degree is not in theology or religious studies. <br/><br/>This course offers an intensive period of study which you will complete either in nine months as a full-time student or in twenty-one months as a part-time student.<br/><br/>You choose three papers which are typically taught through a series of eight tutorials supported by lectures and classes; a fourth paper may also be chosen if you wish to extend your studies. These papers are chosen from the syllabus for the facultys BA in Theology and Religion and cover four major subject areas:<br/><br/><br/>- biblical studies<br/><br/><br/>- systematic theology and ethics<br/><br/><br/>- history of religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism<br/><br/><br/>- religion and religions, including contemporary Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.<br/><br/><br/>You might choose to study a range of papers from across these areas, for example, on aspects of the New Testament, Hebrew Bible, the nature of religion or modern doctrine. Alternatively, you might prefer to focus on a single area, for example, the sources and formations of Hinduism, modern Hinduism and further studies in Hinduism or in feminist approaches to religion.<br/><br/>There is a wide range of options available but please note that not all options will be available every year. If studying part-time, you will enrol on two papers in your first year of study, and the third (and fourth, if this option is chosen) in your second year. <br/><br/>Teaching for the Postgraduate Diploma in Theology and Religion is organised by your Director of Studies, appointed by the faculty, who may or may not be based in your college or Permanent Private Hall. Your Director of Studies will arrange for some or all of your teaching to be undertaken by other members of academic staff, but will retain overall responsibility for your progress.<br/><br/>The course is mainly taught via tutorials, for which you would customarily spend one week preparing written work, with the aid of a reading list provided by your tutor, followed by a meeting to discuss this written work with your tutor for approximately one hour. The tutorial format thus includes both self-directed and supported learning elements, but it is weighted towards self-direction. You will also attend relevant classes and lectures as advertised for the BA in Theology and Religion, as well as seminars organised specifically for Postgraduate Diploma students (usually two per term). The events offer supported learning opportunities which complement the self-directed focus of tutorials. Teaching usually takes place up to the fourth week of your final term on the course.<br/><br/>Although students for the PGDip attend undergraduate lectures and classes, they are full members of the graduate community and are expected to draw on all the graduate resources of the faculty and the university.<br/><br/>Please note that there is no graduation ceremony for the PGDip.