Course details

Summary

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) is Otago's most flexible undergraduate degree programme, enabling students to study from a selection of more than 40 arts and social science subjects, as well as papers offered elsewhere in the University. Academic breadth is complemented by in-depth knowledge gained through majoring in one or two subjects with the option of minors in one or two others.

Students are taught by research-active scholars, are expected to undertake a diverse range of learning tasks and are challenged to develop their intellectual independence. Graduates of the programme are well-informed, versatile, independent thinkers with the information literacy, communication, research and interpersonal skills necessary for a career or further academic study. The completed BA is an entry qualification for the PGDipArts in the major subject of the degree.

Religious Studies

Religious Studies seeks both to understand religion as a universal human phenomenon and to explore the variety of ways in which people express their religious commitments in thought and action. Since Religious Studies students study a wide variety of societies and cultures, this is a subject which can be profitably included within most courses of study.

Papers in Religious Studies are designed to be accessible to everyone, irrespective of religious background.

The subject would be particularly useful to students of History, Philosophy, Political Studies, Classical Studies, Education, Psychology, Anthropology and Art History. Students who have majored in Religious Studies at Otago have gone on to careers in teaching, religious and social work, counselling, librarianship, business (especially marketing) and government.

Programme Requirements

100-level

• RELS 101 Introduction to Judaism, Christianity and Islam
• RELS 102 Introduction to Hinduism and Buddhism

200-level

• Three 200-level RELS papers
• PHIL 229 Philosophy of Religion, may be substituted for one 200-level RELS paper

300-level

• Four 300-level RELS papers
• BIBS 317 God, Suffering and Justice, may be substituted for one paper

Plus

198 further points; must include 54 points at 200-level or above.

Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Arts

Entry criteria

The minimum requirement for students is the completion of a high school qualification plus satisfactory completion of one year's study at an approved tertiary institution or successful completion New Zealand Foundation Year programme.

We also accept the following International qualifications: International Baccalaureate: IB Diploma with a minimum of 26 points; GCE Advanced Levels: minimum grade of 8.

English Language Requirements:

IELTS score of 6.0 in the academic module (with no individual band below 6.0); Internet-based TOEFL Score of 80 (writing 20); Paper-based TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 550 (TWE 4.5); CIE Cambridge International Examinations Grade E or better in AS English; Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) - Overall score of 176 (with no individual band below 169); Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) - Overall score of 176 (with no individual band below 169); GCE 'A' Level or 'AS' Level English Language or English Literature - grade C or higher; GCE 'AS' Level General Paper (English) - grade C or higher; APIEL (Advanced Placement International English Language) Examination - grade 3 or higher; IB International Baccalaureate - English at Higher or Standard level in Language A: literature, Language A: language and literature, or at Higher level in Language B; Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic - Overall score of 58 with no communicative skills score below 50.