Scottish Literature/Theology & Religious Studies
Scottish literature and theology and religious studies is a combination that brings together two disciplines concerned with some of the deepest questions about human experience: what it means to be human in a specific place and cultural tradition, and how people across cultures have sought to understand the sacred, the transcendent, and the moral dimensions of life. Scottish literature is a field with a distinctive character and an extraordinary range, from the medieval makars and the poetry of the Scottish Renaissance to the Enlightenment, Robert Burns, Walter Scott, the twentieth century renaissance of Sorley MacLean and Hugh MacDiarmid, and contemporary writers across languages and forms.
At the University of Glasgow, this part-time programme benefits from the fact that Glasgow hosts the only academic unit in the UK exclusively dedicated to the teaching of and research into Scottish literature, as the current description notes. The Centre for Robert Burns Studies is based here, engaged in producing a new scholarly edition of Burns's works, and the programme connects you to research that is actively shaping the field. In your Scottish literature studies, you will read widely across the canon from earliest texts to the contemporary, developing close reading skills alongside contextual knowledge of Scotland's cultural, linguistic, and political history.
In theology and religious studies, you will engage with the major world religious traditions, the history of Christian thought, the philosophy of religion, and the contemporary debates about religion, ethics, and secular society.
The programme includes a year abroad, providing the opportunity to study at a partner institution and engage with both Scottish studies and religious thought in a different academic context.
Graduates from Scottish literature and theology and religious studies programmes pursue careers in education, research, ministry and chaplaincy, cultural organisations, the creative industries, journalism, heritage, and a range of public sector roles. Postgraduate study in Scottish literature, theology, religious studies, or cultural history is a natural progression for those with research or specialist professional ambitions.