Study programmes

The aim of the programme in religious studies is to introduce students to the main ancient as well as contemporary religious traditions and to modern academic approaches to them. The programme revolves around the historical study of various religious areas, the aim being to provide students with a thorough grounding in one of them and at least a basic grounding in some of the others. The principal areas that we specialize in are ancient Greece, ancient Near East, Buddhism, and Judaism. The study is mainly text-based; students are, therefore, required to study, understand, and learn to use actively a large corpus of religious texts necessary for academic work. At the same time, they must be able to take a critical stance toward these texts and to interpret them in an unbiased way using their knowledge of religious traditions and schools of thought. Solid skills in at least one major language are an indispensable prerequisite for the study; furthermore, students are required to learn one other language. During the course of their study, students choose between a historical-philological focus, which includes the study of a Classical or Oriental language for at least two years (Greek, Hebrew, Sanskrit etc.), or a focus on contemporary society, which involves methodological courses such as fieldwork or quantitative research. Religious studies are interdisciplinary, covering different cultures and religions and combining various modern theoretical disciplines such as anthropology, philosophy, sociology or psychology. Students will also master general academic skills (researching and critically analysing sources, academic writing etc.).