Theology & Religious Studies/Comparative Literature

Theology and religious studies combined with comparative literature is an intellectually ambitious pairing that draws together two disciplines deeply concerned with texts, interpretation and the ways in which human beings have made meaning across cultures and centuries. Theology and religious studies does not treat religion as a world apart, but examines it as it relates to politics, history, literature, philosophy, art and culture, as well as to personal belief and practice. Comparative literature asks how works of literary imagination in different languages and traditions speak to each other and to us, developing the ability to read across linguistic and cultural boundaries with critical sophistication.

This four-year full-time degree at the University of Glasgow includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study in a different academic and cultural environment that enriches both your religious and literary studies. You will engage with theological and religious texts from multiple traditions alongside literary works across languages and historical periods, developing skills in close reading, textual interpretation, comparative analysis and extended scholarly argument. The combination asks you to think about the deep connections between religion and literature in human culture, and to bring both disciplines to bear on each other.

Graduates from this combination bring a distinctive breadth of textual and cultural understanding to careers in academia, education, publishing, journalism, ministry, chaplaincy, cultural organisations, international development and the civil service. The ability to read complex material from multiple traditions with care and to construct well-reasoned arguments about it is valued across many professional contexts. Further study in theology, religious studies, comparative literature, cultural studies or area studies is a natural route for graduates seeking specialist or academic careers.