Objectives

The Bachelor’s Programme (years 1-3)

• The development of an integrative reference framework by introducing students to the primary disciplines of theology and religious studies and to the domains of philosophy and the human sciences that facilitate reflection from the perspective of theology and religious studies.
• The development of the basic skills unique to academic formation in theology and religious studies, including the combination of a broad academic awareness and a critical stance with respect to the various ways in which the phenomenon religion is presented and evaluated in the academy and in society and culture.
• Preparation for a more specialised Master’s programme in theology and religious studies subsequent to the Bachelor’s programme.

The Master’s Programme (year 4)

The Master’s programme in theology and religious studies aims at an intensification of the initial formation offered in the Bachelor’s programme, preparing students (a) to engage in independent research in the domains of theology and religious studies and equipping them (b) to function as experts in both church and society. The study curriculum thus has a twofold focus: (a) students are given the opportunity to specialise in one of the faculty’s six research disciplines; (b) the curriculum continues to offer a general orientation towards the interdisciplinary academic investigation of the Christian faith traditions in the context of a multi-cultural and multi-religious society.

The Master in Advanced Studies Programme (year 5)

The goal of the Master in Advanced Studies programme is the further development of independent activity in the domains of theology and religious studies and engagement if scientific research, for the most part with a view to transition into the doctoral programme and the composition of a doctoral dissertation. The specialisation initiated in the Master’s programme is reinforced on the basis of a highly specific research curriculum. The Master’s thesis (research paper) is of particular importance in this regard. In addition, students learn are offered intensive training in the research procedures employed in the remaining specialisations. Specialisation thus continues to go hand in hand with excellent and well-grounded general formation in the domains of theology and religious studies. The capacity to engage in interdisciplinary thinking acquired in the Master’s programme is further developed in the context of a project-based specialisation in which the student demonstrates his or her ability to initiate and elaborate a personal project.