Module THEO46930: Faith and the Experience of War

Department: Theology and Religion

THEO46930: Faith and the Experience of War

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To provide an advanced introduction to the theme of war and religious experience in the modern history of Western Christianity.
• To explore the development of different religious traditions under the impact of armed conflict.
• To examine the relationship between faith and meaning making at moments of crisis.
• To identify and utilise the range of sources available to the historian of this subject.

Content

• Selected historical case studies of the encounter between Christianity and war, studied individually and in comparison with one another.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge and understanding of the conflicts and religious traditions covered in this module.
• Awareness of the impact of war in the development of religious traditions, and of the influence of faith in driving or resisting, interpreting, experiencing, and commemorating conflict.
• Knowledge of illustrative figures, texts, images, artefacts, and memorials.

• The ability to analyse and interpret relevant individuals, texts, images, artefacts, and monuments.
• The ability to place diverse religious materials from a broad historical period in a meaningful context.

• Advanced research skills, including the location, identification, evaluation and proper citation of key sources.
• Advanced communication skills, including the abilities to construct a sophisticated written argument and to make a clear verbal evaluation of different types of evidence and sources.

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

• Teaching is through seminars in which a designated student will introduce the topic under discussion but all students are expected to participate on the basis that they have read and made assessments of the relevant texts beforehand.
• Formative and summative essays require students to investigate particular topics, to present their findings in a clear and concise manner and to cite their sources properly, displaying their subject-specific knowledge, subject-specific skills, and key skills.
• Brief, one-to-one tutorials will be available by appointment and on request to discuss essay planning and feedback.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

One 2,000-word essay.