This programme, housed within the School of Divinity, draws on the strengths of one of the most distinguished centres of religious and theological studies in the country. It offers deep and broad study of the relationship between all genres of literature and religious traditions, history, thought and practice.

The programme will equip students to engage in this growing field from a variety of starting points and to understand the interaction between literature and religion from a range of wider contexts, including those of theology and the textual, historical and social scientific study of religions.

In the programme’s core course, students will cover the history of the field as well as current issues in both areas of study and in their interaction. Optional courses from which they may choose (although not all may be available each year) include courses on Scottish Literature, Imagination and Faith; Science and Religion in Literature; Islamic Literature; Peacebuilding, Theology and the Arts; and Lives of the Buddha in Indian Art and Literature.