The MA in Literature, Religion and Philosophy interleaves themes resulting from the overlap of philosophy, literature, theology and religion. It provides you with an opportunity to explore topics, sources, historical phases, classic works and particular authors sensitive to the interplay of these areas of enquiry.
Programme structure
Full-time students take the compulsory core course Contemporary Philosophy of Religion and one optional course in the Autumn Term, and two optional courses in the Spring Term. Each course is taught by weekly seminars. During the Summer Term students work under individual supervision towards a dissertation.
Part-time students take the MA over two years, taking one course per term in the Autumn and Spring Terms and working towards their dissertation over their two Summer Terms.
Autumn Term courses
Contemporary Philosophy of Religion (core course) (tutor: David Smith)
This course is an introductory course to the logic of theism. Depending on the interest of students and availability of tutor, it may be organized around three basic areas: 'Reason and Religion', 'Logic and God', 'Morality and Evil'. A selection of readings will be flexible and negotiated, a list of possible topics to include: the challenge of Logical Positivism, God's properties, arguments for and against the existence of God, religious pluralism and philosophical relativism, Wittgenstein's views on religion, religion and rationality, religious experience, religious epistemology, the language of 'natural' religion.
The Bible and Literature (tutor: Mary Dove)
An exploration of the shape and meaning of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles from a point of view that is neither historical nor theological but literary. This course not only looks at the details of individual stories, poems, prophecies, but also asks such questions as: Does the Bible have an overall shape, and, if so, what is it? Does its meaning inhere in its form and style? How does it relate to the epics and sagas of the Ancient Near East and Greece, and to the chronicles and histories of other nations in the area? How does it relate to later works, such as Paradise Lost, War and Peace and A la recherche du temps perdu?
Spring Term courses
In Search of the Soul (tutor: Peter Abbs)
What is the soul? And how has it been explored, expressed and developed in Western culture? In these seminars we will examine a number of critical moments of spiritual and psychological change. We will begin with the development of the notion of psyche at the time of Heraclitus and the metaphors for psyche subsequently developed by Socrates and Plato. We will consider the Stoics' strategies for developing the soul and the web of images and narratives built up in the first deep spiritual autobiography - Saint Augustine's Confessions. We will continue by examining certain moments of radical transformation in spiritual understanding at the Renaissance and, later, under Romanticism. The course will conclude by looking at current post-modern thinking and contemporary electronic culture.
The Novel as Secular Scripture (tutor: Norman Vance)
The history of the novel since the mid-nineteenth century represents a significant episode in the fertile interaction between literature, religion, and philosophy. The coming of age of the novel coincides with the loss of confidence in traditional methods of reading 'sacred texts'. In part, this is due to the demise of textual authority; also, in part to the emerging critique of idealist philosophy, and a greater sensitivity to methods of interpretation. Increasingly, contemporary minds have come to search for reassurance in questions related to morality, teleology and epistemology in sources other than the Bible. The novel represents a special case of the intersection of analytical, expressive and informative discourses. This course examines such developments in stages by considering selected literary, religious, and philosophical texts drawn from the nineteenth century, the early twentieth century, and then the postwar and later years of the twentieth century.
Numen and Psyche (tutor: Gavin Ashenden)
This course explores the way in which the analysis of religious experience has evolved during the twentieth century. It begins by reviewing the overtly hostile Freudian critique and then comparing it with those of William James and Carl Jung. It draws on James Fowler's use of developmental psychology to offer categories of maturation as tools of analysis of religious experience in contrast to the reductionist approach typified by J.B. Riley. It examines the range of material found in the original archives of Alistair Hardy and his Religious Experience Research Unit, and updates them with the phenomena of Near Death Experiences with a variety of interpretations ranging from orthodox religious to neurological reductionism.
Alternative optional courses
As alternatives to the above, with the consent of the Programme Convenor, students may take one or more courses from related MA programmes. Examples are Analytic Aesthetics; Continental Aesthetics; Texts in the History of Philosophy (all in MA in Philosophy); Literature, Politics and Religion in Europe; Heretics, Witches and Jews: Toleration and Persecution in Early Modern Europe (both in MA in Intellectual History and History of Political Thought); Hegel (from MA in Social and Political Thought) .
Summer term
During the summer term students work under supervision on a dissertation of up to 20,000 words on a topic they choose and agree with their supervisor. Part-time students are expected to begin background reading for the dissertation in their first summer term.
Assessment
The MA is assessed by a 5000 word term paper for each of the four courses, which is written in the vacation following the end of the course, together with the 20,000 word dissertation, which is submitted towards the end of the summer vacation.
Admission requirements
Students should have at least an upper second honours degree in a related discipline.
MPhil and DPhil study
The University offers individual supervision leading to an MPhil or DPhil in Literature, Religion and Philosophy.
Associated faculty
Faculty particularly associated with the programme are Peter Abbs, Gavin Ashenden, Mary Dove, David Smith, and Norman Vance.
Further information
For further information on the MA, MPhil or DPhil programmes, please contact Norman Vance, email r.n.c.vance@sussex.ac.uk, tel. +44 (0)1273 678631
Updated March 2006. Please note that it may not be possible to run an advertised course in a given year if there is insufficient demand from students. For more general information on possible variations of programmes and courses, see the 'Terms and Conditions' page in the 'Applications' section of the Postgraduate Prospectus.