Celtic Civilisation/Theology & Religious Studies

Celtic Civilisation and Theology and Religious Studies sit side by side naturally, because understanding any ancient culture requires grappling with its spiritual world. Celtic Civilisation draws you into the history, literature, art, material culture and religion of the Celtic peoples, from their earliest presence on the European continent through to contemporary expressions in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and beyond. Theology and Religious Studies brings a rigorous analytical lens to questions of belief, meaning and practice across the world's traditions.

Together, the two subjects train you to read primary sources carefully, situate ideas within their historical moment and think comparatively across cultures and centuries.

At Glasgow you will explore the development of Celtic societies, their vernacular literatures in languages such as Old Irish and Middle Welsh, and the visual and archaeological record they left behind. Alongside this you will engage with foundational questions in theology, from the philosophy of religion to the study of sacred texts, ethics and the sociology of belief. The course runs over four years of full-time study and includes a year abroad, which gives you the opportunity to deepen your language skills or pursue specialist research in a Celtic-speaking community or an internationally recognised centre for religious studies.

Your training moves between close textual reading, historical analysis and theoretical frameworks drawn from anthropology, linguistics and philosophy.

Graduates combine rare expertise in a minority-language heritage tradition with broad humanistic skills in critical thinking, research and argument. Career paths include roles in heritage and museum curation, archival work, education, journalism and broadcasting, community language promotion and the civil service. Those who wish to continue academically are well placed for postgraduate study in Celtic languages and literatures, medieval history, comparative religion or theology, and the combination of disciplines opens doors in interfaith dialogue, religious education and the study of identity and belonging in contemporary society.