Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

专业详情

Please note that the Faculty of Oriental Studies has recently been renamed as the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. 

The course in Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies offers students an in-depth understanding of a number of the world’s great religious traditions including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. 

To engage with all the different aspects of the course, you will have to become something of a historian and a philosopher, a textual and literary critic, as well as an accomplished linguist. These disciplines together, not only enable students to appreciate the qualities of religions that can be radically different from those in Western societies, but also equip graduates with the analytical and critical abilities to embark on a wide range of careers.

Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies enables students to study the major world religions and their primary languages. It provides them with an understanding of the intellectual underpinning of religious traditions, and of the social and cultural contexts for religious beliefs and practices. Students can also explore topics such as the relationship between religions and science, and the place of religious ethics in public life.

Between them, the Faculties of Theology and Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies include more than 270 academics, ranging from experts in the ancient languages and literature of the world’s religions to church historians and systematic theologians. The reputations of both faculties, together with Oxford’s excellent library facilities, attract scholars from all over the world.