StudyLink logoHome
Students on a university campus

Study options for this course

The award How you will study Study duration Course start Domestic course fees International course fees
PG DipFull-time12 monthsSeptemberGBP 7667 totalGBP 16333 total

About Religion, PG Dip - at Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Religion continues to shape our world and our understanding of the world. Deepening our knowledge of religious beliefs and practices is essential to tackling some of the greatest ethical and political challenges that we face.

On this course you will explore how religious traditions facilitate, disrupt, or otherwise influence political and social life. You will learn about the relevance of theology, sacred scripture, religious ritual, and faith-based organisations to contemporary issues such as climate change, terrorism, global development, gender, sexuality and race discrimination, migration and diaspora.

You will 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, religious identity and representation, religion and the public sphere. You will have the option of choosing a specialised pathway in one of three areas - theology, development, or gender.

Our Religion course draws on academic expertise across the School of Philsophy, Religion and History of Science, including theological, philosophical, sociological and anthropological approaches to the topic. Our academic staff approach religion from a variety of angles, but they share a commitment to studying and teaching religion critically and emphatically as a relevant factor in understanding our contemporary world. We have active links with charitable, activist, community and faith organisations in the city.

As a postgraduate student, you will be able to participate in our Centre for Religion and Public Life, and Centre for Philosophy of Religion. You will be encouraged to join in with our fortnightly seminars and occasional research days, showcasing the work of our very own researchers at Leeds as well as external scholars.

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

You can study full-time or part-time, and we also offer masters (MA) and postgraduate certificate (PGCert) versions of the course.

Learn more about Religion, PG Dip - at Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Visit course webpage

Entry requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any components

Student reviews of Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Find out what students say about Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Caroline Mwape Phiri-Lubwika - MA Applied and Professional Ethics (Online Learning)

What made you want to apply to your course and to Leeds?

I chose to study my course because you can apply it across different careers. I believe that each and every person needs to step up in terms of being professional in their work and in their careers; it is something very close to my heart.

I am a journalist by profession, and ethics is at the core of the media industry. I train upcoming journalists in Botswana and I also do children’s reporting, so issues of ethics are very pertinent; not only to me personally but to the profession that I stand for.

How would you describe your experience of studying at Leeds?

Studying online gave me the rare opportunity to study and take care of my family at the same time. It was good that I could concentrate on raising my family while also continuing with my professional work, I must say I gained all round!

I have studied online before - I did distance learning with the University of South Africa, where I did my BA in Communications Science - but this was at another level. What kept me going were the group discussions, which gave me an opportunity to interact with students from across the world, and the tutors coming in to give their opinion.

I decided to come to Leeds in person for my graduation and I was so excited because my dreams have turned into reality. It was so friendly and lovely that I felt like I’d been there before, even though it was my first visit to the campus.

Aakriti Jain - MA Global Fashion Management

What made you want to apply to your course and to Leeds? 

After working in fashion as a designer, I realised that I am more suited for the managerial side of this industry. I had all the knowledge and experience I needed to become a designer but I needed to learn more about how that organisation works. With that in mind I started looking for universities who were offering a fashion management course which will help me to gain and enhance the required skills. UK was always my first choice for pursuing my masters because of the successful and booming fashion industry here along with the cultural diversity. University of Leeds offers that exact course which I had been looking for. The combination of subjects that this course provides is extremely unique. It has the perfect blend of business and fashion studies. Other than the course that the University of Leeds offers, the city also has a very warm and welcoming atmosphere for students.

What aspects of the course do you enjoy the most?   

Here is the best part of this course, it is so well integrated and connected to all the subjects and you need to apply the knowledge gained from one subject into the other. You can literally see the various parts that you study coming together as one. It pushes you to think differently yet practically.

Ting Zeng - MA Linguistics and English Language Teaching

What made you want to apply to your course and to Leeds?

During the process of learning English and French I found many similarities and differences between these languages and my native language, Chinese. This made me curious about the amazing world of linguistics. In addition to this, my own experience of learning English has shown me that learning a language is not just about memorising vocabulary and grammar rules; it involves a systematic process. One field of linguistics, language acquisition, deals with this process, which increased my interest in studying English language learning from the perspective of linguistics, instead of from the perspective of education. Leeds is one of the few universities in the UK to have a course that combines these two areas.

What aspects of the course do you enjoy the most?  

My favourite part of my course is the way it gives you critical reading skills. The major difference between postgraduate and undergraduate study is that postgraduate courses require you to think deeply and broadly, so that you can design your own research project to investigate a new or old problem which hasn’t been solved. 

Developing these skills not only helped me to gain a lot of ideas about my essay and dissertation, but also enables me to read clearly, carefully and critically in my everyday life. When I am reading newspapers and magazines, for example, criticality helps me to avoid being misled by the words and opinions of others.

Other courses at Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

There are 70 other courses listed from Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds. A selection of these are displayed below:

Advertising and Design MA

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Find out more

Applied and Professional Ethics PG Dip

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Find out more

Applied and Professional Ethics MA

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Find out more

Applied Psychology of Music MA

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Find out more

Applied Theatre and Social Change MA

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Find out more

Applied Translation Studies MA

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Find out more

Arabic/English Translation MA

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Find out more

Art Gallery and Museum Studies MA

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Find out more
View all 70 courses at Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Photos from Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Videos from Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds

Related Information

See other universities in Leeds

Find out more about studying in the United Kingdom

International Study Visa

As an international student you may require a valid visa to study at Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds. Read more about the requirements in our Guide to the United Kingdom International Student Visa Requirements.