Supporting Philosophy, Theology,
Please note that as of the 1st of August 2011 the Subject Centre for PRS entered a 5 month transition phase prior to its closure on the 31st of December 2011. Most pages on this website are no longer being updated, apart from resources from the last academic year's activities.
Theology and Religious Studies
The teaching of Religion and Theology in British institutions of Higher Education has been transformed rapidly in the last fifteen years.
Many of the traditional centres of theological study have widened their remit to include religious studies and the study of a variety of religious traditions. Changes in the churches and other religious groupings, shifting policies on religious education and wider cultural developments have meant that the profile of students arriving in Religion and Theology departments is very different from what it was even ten years ago. Most noticeably, and importantly, the proportion of women studying these subjects has risen until in many departments they form the majority of the student body. The subject itself has had to reckon with new trends in philosophy and culture which raise exciting but difficult questions about its methods and assumptions. New voices have demanded to be heard.
The resources of this website are designed to support this diversity of disciplines and the range of teaching methods that make up Religion and Theology in higher education institutions today, from traditional small groups teaching and lecturing to web-based discussion and field research. We are continually developing and sponsoring new materials and discussion on this website and for our peer-reviewed journal, Discourse, and other publications.
The Subject Centre seeks to provide a forum where those teaching Religion and Theology in a variety of contexts can pool their expertise and share what works in their experience with other teachers. To this end, the Subject Centre has already taken on responsibility for maintaining the membership list of AUDTRS (the Association of University Departments of Religion and Theology) and has expanded the list to include colleagues who teach some aspect of religion to university standard in a wide variety of situations.
The Subject Centre has also sought to engage the communities expertise in producing a series of Faith Guides to raise the awareness of all academics to cultural and religious diversity amongst their students and colleagues.
Resources
Reusable Electronic Learning Objects for Theology and Religious Studies
Alison Le Cornu and Angie Pears
Discourse Volume 6 Number 2
This paper reports on a project to develop reusable electronic learning objects (RELOs).
Best of the Web: Internet Resources for Philosophy and TRS
Meriel Patrick
Discourse Volume 6 Number 2
This report offers a selection of internet resources for teachers of Philosophy and TRS.