BA Philosophy and Religious Studies & Comparative Religion (3 Years)
Entry requirementsSelected entry requirements A level: Grades from AAB-BBB. Unit grade information: The University of Manchester welcomes the provision of unit grade information which, like all other available information, will inform the consideration of applications. Unit grades will not normally form part of offer conditions, except for Mathematics programmes. GCSE: Minimum of grade C in English language. Key Skills qualification: The University warmly welcomes applications from students studying the Key Skills qualification. However, as the opportunities to take these modules are not open to all applicants, currently this is not an essential requirement of the University. International baccalaureate: Contact us for further information. Additional entry requirements Additional entry requirements exist for this course. You may view these by selecting from the list below.
Academic titleBA Philosophy and Religious Studies & Comparative Religion
Course descriptionCourse description
Combined Studies offers you a degree which allows you to study course units from Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and some Sciences. The degree is structured around a range of disciplines, and is therefore able to draw on a wide range of University Schools in order to make a wide selection of courses available to you. The structure of the degree is designed to provide both coherence and flexibility.
In the Philosophy study area the central courses are those offered in Philosophy, which will provide a foundation for Philosophy options in your second and third year. By the second year you will be able to choose from a wide range of courses including Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophical Logic and Ancient Philosophy. In the third year there are further courses on particular philosophers, Social Philosophy, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Language and Philosophy of Law. You will be given advice at the beginning of your second year about prerequisites for any third-year courses you may be keen to follow.
Course units in the Religious Studies & Comparative Religion area fall into two fairly distinct groupings. One focus is provided by Comparative Religion, where you can study courses in the methodological aspects of religious study as well as on individual religions like Buddhism or Hinduism. In the second grouping you study religion from the specific angle of Christianity and other closely related religions (particularly Judaism). Biblical Studies offers course units in the criticism and exegesis of texts from the Old and New Testaments. Ecclesiastical History has courses on the historical background of Christianity. You select courses according to your own particular interests which often go on to provide the subject of a dissertation in the third year.
Special features
Combine arts, social sciences and some sciences in a single degree programme.
Wide range of courses available.
Career opportunities
A degree in Combined Studies gives access to numerous possibilities for further study or training, and future employment: our students have become teachers, translators, journalists, social workers; have joined TV companies and multi-national firms; have entered, in fact, all the careers usually open to Arts and Social Science graduates. Many go on to postgraduate study. In our experience many employers look favourably on students who have demonstrated their abilities in more than one field.