Transcendence, Devotion and Desire (L3119B)

15 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

On this module, you’ll explore the lived experience of transcendence – the human desire and capacity to transcend local ‘situations’.

You’ll address themes including:

• sex
• drug
• death
• gods of war
• cultism
• mysticism
• secular transcendence
• dreams
• false promises.

Through this, you’ll investigate the power of devotion and desire. You’ll study human relations with such gods and analyse the worlds caused by these relations.

You’ll examine:

• different beliefs about what exists and what is worth devotion in social settings
• the stories people use to make sense of their devotions and desires
• how the body learns to desire and commit in certain ways, through habits and attachments that shape everyday life. 

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses:

• Criminology BA
• Criminology and Sociology BA
• Criminology with Psychology BA
• History and Sociology BA
• International Relations and Sociology BA
• Philosophy and Sociology BA
• Politics and Sociology BA
• Sociology BA
• Sociology and International Development BA
• Sociology with a Language BA