A lively community

We have a lively and engaging academic community that provides students regular opportunities and confidence to participate in discussions in lectures, seminars and personal tutorials. As a student here, you will be encouraged to think critically and analytically about various belief systems and practices and to consider why individuals respond to religion in the way they do.

Our teaching and research

We are known for the quality of our teaching, which spans the Judeo-Christian and Buddhist traditions and is balanced by a thorough understanding of Christianity, Chinese and Japanese religions, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. The methods we adopt to analyse our subject include anthropology, history, philosophy and psychoanalysis; while the languages of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chinese, Sanskrit and Pali are also important components of our study. Three of our teachers have won University awards for their teaching. We have an active programme of conferences, lectures, reading groups, weekly symposiums and seminars, and fortnightly departmental seminars. We also support the work of the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education through Access2Bristol and hosting school visits.

You are welcome to browse our full published research output.

Regular conferences and fieldwork opportunities

At postgraduate and undergraduate levels, we jointly host the largest annual conference dealing with Religion and Theology in collaboration with Bath Spa University, University of Exeter, University of Gloucestershire, Trinity College Bristol, Wesley College Bristol and others. We also encourage and help postgraduates to organise their own events.

And study is not simply confined to round-table discussions. Our undergraduate courses also feature a third-year fieldwork unit, giving students the chance to investigate the history and importance of some of the many places of worship that make Bristol the ideal city in which to learn about religion and theology – such as the Bristol Hindu Temple, Bristol Cathedral, St Mary Redcliffe Church and St Paul’s Church, which now houses Circomedia, a centre for contemporary circus.

How we are structured

The Department of Religion and Theology is one of five departments within the School of Humanities, which itself forms part of the University's Faculty of Arts.