Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2024-2025

Module TMMC3207: Topic in Church History

Department: Theology, Ministry and Mission

TMMC3207: Topic in Church History

Type Open Level 3 Credits 10 Availability Available in 2024/2025 Module Cap None. Location Durham

Prerequisites

  • None

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • None

Aims

  • To enable students critically to analyse one focussed area of Christian history.
  • To nurture students' ability to read, analyse and critically evaluate primary historical sources.
  • To enable students to develop critical awareness of historical methods.
  • To enable students to integrate critical historical thinking further info their own spiritual formation and ministerial development.

Content

  • This module will explore one specific topic in church history (for example, the development of Christianity in one place over a particular period; the history of the interaction between science and faith, the response of the British church to immigration) and will include:
  • in depth exploration of the chosen topic
  • study of primary theological texts and other sources (e.g. art, liturgy, hymnody or material evidence)
  • consideration of this area’s connections to the wider history of Christian life and thought
  • attention to the relationships between this historical area and contemporary Christian practice and experience.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • [BA SSK 2, 4] [Grad Cert / Dip SSK2]
  • Offer a coherent and detailed account of an aspect of a topic in Christian history exploring questions about how it relates to aspects of faith, church and society.
  • Discuss intelligently at least one key issue and/or controversy in contemporary Christian thought about this area of history, drawing on some current scholarship.
Subject-specific Skills:
  • [BA SSS 3] [ Graduate Cert / Dip SSS2]
  • Critically analyse one or more aspects of the relationship of Christian history to experience and practice in the context of discipleship, mission and ministry, showing sensitivity to the problems of religious language, experience, and the limits of knowledge.
Key Skills:
  • [BA KS 1, 2] [ Graduate Cert / Dip KS 1, 2]
  • Identify, gather, analyse and critically evaluate textual source materials, including material from primary sources and scholarly research, and communicate their findings with clarity and fairness.
  • Critically evaluate ideas, arguments and assumptions, using them to construct and communicate coherent and well-reasoned arguments, showing critical awareness of their own and others’ beliefs, commitments and prejudices.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • Content delivery by lectures

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
Lectures 8 1.75 16
Personal Study 84
Total 100

Summative Assessment

Component: Written Assignment Component Weighting: 60%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Written Assignment 1500 words 100%
Component: Reflective Learning Journal Component Weighting: 40%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Reflective Learning Journal 1000 words 100%

Formative Assessment:


Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University