Religious studies
Class: LM-64 - Religion
Next Calls for applications (international students) - A.Y. 2024/25:
- Starting from July 2024
An Inter-University course that provides tools, included that which has not been published, for analysing religious experiences. The innovative nature of the course rests on combining knowledge of the historical and cultural development of the great religions with the learning of linguistic and philological knowledge for direct access to sources and witnesses. The path of study offers an analysis in terms of intercultural contemporary societies using the tools of comparison between religions. Students study a common training on the fundamentals of history, phenomenology, and the sociology of religions that deepen the understanding of a pluralistic history-related religious traditions. Students can pursue careers in social, inter-religious relations, and communications, within multi-confessional social contexts and at research centres.
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Overview
The MA in Religious Studies aims to train specialists with a solid knowledge of the theory and methods in the historical study of religions as well as of the cultures in which some of the major religious traditions expressed themselves. Students will learn to apply previous and acquired knowledge to investigate with academic rigor, confidence and originality how myth, ritual, philosophy and theology operate through history. The study of theories and methods in the study of religions is sided by modules in the anthropology and philosophy of religions. Students will therefore be able to choose highly specialized pathways designed to investigate the religious traditions of the classical world, the ancient Near and Middle East, India and South Asia, China and Japan as well as monotheistic traditions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and forms of shamanism and magic. Modules are designed to critically study ancient, classical and medieval sources and their interpretation and reprise in both modern and contemporary contexts. Along with strengthening their philosophical understanding and familiarity with a range of classical languages and literatures, students will be able to choose a series of modules in which religion is debated in relation to crucial topics such as health and medicine; science; asceticism, esotericism and mysticism; ecology and politics. Finally, students will be guided in the process of developing an original research project into their final dissertation.
Employability
Graduates in Religious Studies will be able to work within the education sector, to carry out further research or to find employment in any professional context dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge on religious cultures. In Italy, the degree allows to teach 'Philosophy and Human Sciences' and 'Philosophy and History' in high schools. Graduates may also opt for an academic career by choosing to pursue a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Italy or abroad. Finally, the skills acquired make it possible to seek employment in a variety of contexts such as museum networks; foundations and cultural institutions; publishing houses (including digital publishing); media and the press; non-governmental organizations; and all those sectors operating for the promotion of inter-religious relations and multi-confessional social awareness. Graduates will also be able to work at public and private schools of all types and levels in extra-curricular programmes designed to disseminate information on the different cultural and religious traditions.
