MA Religion, Politics And Society

This course focuses on how religious traditions encourage, contest, facilitate, disrupt, or otherwise influence political and social change. You’ll learn about the importance of religions to phenomena such as social movements, revolutions, terrorism, global development, gender, sexuality and race discrimination, climate change, migration and diaspora.

You’ll also critically interrogate the concept of ‘religion’ in the context of different theories of politics, policy and social change, engaging with hotly debated and contested topics such secularisation and ‘post-secularism’, religious identity and representation, religion and the public sphere.

The course draws on academic expertise across the School including theological, philosophical, sociological and anthropological approaches to the topic. You’ll have the option of choosing a specialised pathway in one of two areas – ‘development’ or ‘gender’ – and also of taking the external placement module, The Civic Researcher: Engaging the Modern City.

Leeds’ Centre for Religion and Public Life is a unique centre for the engaged and critical study of contemporary religion in society, in its diverse contexts and across disciplinary boundaries. As a Leeds MA student you will be part of this research centre.

This course can be used for preparing for further research or to develop within any sector where religion is relevant (for example the voluntary, advocacy, NGO, or policy sectors); or simply to further your interest in this fascinating area.