Religions, Theology and Ethics

Religions, theology, and ethics is a discipline that takes seriously the religious traditions that have shaped human history and continues to animate the lives of billions of people, while also examining them with the critical tools of scholarship and asking the fundamental ethical questions that religious and secular life both raise. It is genuinely interdisciplinary, drawing on history, philosophy, anthropology, textual studies, and social science to examine Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and many other traditions alongside the philosophical and theological questions about God, meaning, morality, and the good life that cut across all of them.

At the University of Manchester, this three-year full-time programme engages with the full range of world religions and with the theological and ethical debates that arise within and between them. You will study religious texts and their interpretation, the history of religious thought and practice, comparative religious ethics, philosophy of religion, and contemporary issues in applied ethics including environmental ethics, bioethics, and global justice. Manchester's department has a strong research tradition in theology, Islamic studies, Jewish studies, and philosophy of religion, and you will have access to scholars working at the frontier of the field.

A typical entry tariff of 136 points makes the programme broadly accessible.

Graduates of religions, theology, and ethics programmes work in education, journalism, broadcasting, the civil service, international development, interfaith dialogue, healthcare and social care ethics, and the voluntary sector. The ability to understand and engage respectfully with deeply held values and beliefs, and to reason clearly about ethical questions, is increasingly valued by employers across many sectors. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in theology, ethics, philosophy of religion, Islamic studies, or a professional qualification in law, social work, or teaching.