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RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Major combinations:
NQF Level: 5: RST1501, RST1502
NQF Level: 6: RST2601, RST2603 and ONE of APY2601 or HSY2602
NQF Level: 7: RST3708, RST3709, RST3711, RST3712 and RST3713

Theorising Key Terms in the Study of Religion - RST4801
Honours Year module NQF level: 8 Credits: 24
Module presented in English Module presented online
Recommendation: It is recommended that students have a background in religions and theories of religions.
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to gain insight into theories of selected key terms in the study of religion. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to demonstrate not only a critical engagement with such theorised key terms, but will also be able to apply these to specific case studies across religious traditions.
Comparing Philosophies of Religion - RST4802
Honours NQF level: 8 Credits: 24
Module presented in English Module presented online
Recommendation: It is recommended that Students have a background to religions and theories of religions.
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to provide an in-depth comparative understanding of critical issues in a selection of global philosophies of religion. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to demonstrate a creative and critical approach to questions posed in a selection within or across Western, Asian, Islamic and African Indigenous philosophies of religion.
Designing a Research Proposal - RST4804
Honours Year module NQF level: 8 Credits: 12
Module presented in English Module presented online
Recommendation: It is recommended that students take this module before or together with RST4805.
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to gain insight into major theories and research methodologies employed in Religious Studies, Islamic Studies and Arabic. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to incorporate this knowledge in the compilation of a research proposal.
Writing a Research Article - RST4805
NQF level: 8 Credits: 36
Module presented in Module presented online
Recommendation: It is recommended that students take RST4804 before or with this module.
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to write a research article under the guidance of an academic staff member in the disciplines of Religious Studies, Islamic Studies or Arabic. Students who successfully complete this module will have produced a submission-ready article for an accredited journal.
Introducing Religions of the World - RST1501
Under Graduate Degree Semester module NQF level: 5 Credits: 12
Module presented in English,Zulu Module presented online
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to provide an introduction to the religions of the world, including African perspectives, on the following clusters: African indigenous religion(s), Abrahamic/Semitic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Asian religions (Hinduism and Buddhism) and contemporary religious movements. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to reflect upon this foundational knowledge within public and professional spaces that are multi-religious and multi-cultural in nature, and within selective social and political issues that are religious in nature.
Introducing Theories of Religion - RST1502
Under Graduate Degree Semester module NQF level: 5 Credits: 12
Module presented in English Module presented online
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to provide insight into major theories of religion, including the role of Africa in theory formation. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the nature of religion as defined by leading theorists of religion, can demonstrate knowledge of, and critically assess, the linguistic, anthropological, sociological and psychological theories of religion, as well as the intersection of religion with phenomenological and critical theories of class, race and gender.
Understanding Religion through Objects, the Senses and Technology - RST2601
Under Graduate Degree Semester module NQF level: 6 Credits: 12
Module presented in English Module presented online
Recommendation: RST1501 and RST1502
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to provide a critical analysis of the role of objects, the senses and communication technology (i.e. broadcast media, virtual and immersive reality, and video games) as material aspects of religion. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to analyse these aspects within social, cultural, political, economic, and technological contexts across a selection of religious traditions, including African case studies.
Understanding New Religious Movements and Developments - RST2603
Under Graduate Degree Semester module NQF level: 6 Credits: 12
Module presented in English Module presented online
Recommendation: RST1501 and RST1502
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to promote understanding of the emergence and significance of "cults", new religious movements (NRMs) and other new religious movements and developments. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to define key concepts, explain the occurrence and historical development of new religious movements, their depiction in media (including South African media) and popular culture, and critically analyse their role in society.
Analysing Philosophy of Religion - RST3708
Under Graduate Degree Semester module NQF level: 7 Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Recommendation: Students to complete RST1501 and RST1502 before they enrol for this module.
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to provide insight into key questions in philosophy of religion. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to demonstrate a critical understanding not only of Western philosophy of religion (classical, modern and postmodern), but also relate Western to either African, Islamic or Eastern philosophies of religion."
Analysing the Social Functions of Religion (in Politics and Gender) - RST3709
Under Graduate Degree Semester module NQF level: 7 Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Recommendation: Students to complete RST1501 & RST1502 before they enrol for this module.
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to introduce sociological theories of religion to analyse the role of religion in politics and gender relations. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to develop comparative and historically nuanced analyses of the role of religion in politics and in gender relations, with particular attention to African case studies.
Problematising Africa's Religious Heritage and World Religions - RST3711
Under Graduate Degree Semester module NQF level: 7 Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Recommendation: Students to register together with RST1501 & RST1502
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to provide a post-colonial theoretical lens to analyse problems in either African, Semitic or Asian religions. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to examine a selection of contemporary problems such as identity formations, migration, conflict, human rights, dissent, gender, race and caste.
Analysing Religion and the Spiritual Self - RST3712
Under Graduate Degree Semester module NQF level: 7 Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Recommendation: Students to register together with RST1501 & RST1502
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to enable students to provide a critical understanding of the formations and representations of the spiritual self in relation to religion. It focuses on the emotional and examined life of the individual, including the roles of myth, ritual and public life. On completion of the module students will be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of historical representations of the self in relation to religious motifs from various religious traditions, for example the relation between identity, politics and religion.
Analysing Religion in Literary Writings, Audio and Visual Media Forms in Africa - RST3713
Under Graduate Degree Semester module NQF level: 7 Credits: 12
Module presented in English Module presented online
Recommendation: Students to register together with RST1501 & RST1502
Purpose: The purpose of the module is to provide students with methods and theories to analyse the roles of religion in literary writings, audio and visual cultures in Africa. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to develop a contextually nuanced analysis of how literary writings, audio and visual cultures express major religious themes such as ideology and politics, violence and power, secularisation discourses, social identities, lived-experiences, myths and rituals, and economic exchange.
Teaching Religious Studies in Further Education and Training - TMS3730
Under Graduate Degree Year module NQF level: 7 Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to ensure that qualifying student teachers: (1) Acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that will enable them to teach Religious Studies in FET, (2) Intergrate knowledge and skills acquired from the modules in the qualification such as Instructional Studies, Curriculum Development and Implementation, Assessment, Classroom Management, Inclusive Education and the disciplinary knowledge in the subject to develop and enhance their teaching ability, preparing them to fulfill their roles as a classroom teacher in the varying context of South African classrooms, (3) Acquire, integrate and practise their foundational, practical and reflexive competences to prepare them to facilitate the teaching and learning of Religious Studies on a beginner teacher's level.
Analysing Religion in Private and Public Life - RST4803
Honours NQF level: 8 Credits: 24
Module presented in English Module presented online
Recommendation: It is recommended that students have a background in religions and theories of religions.
Purpose: The purpose of this module is to gain insight into the functions of religion in public and private life. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to critically engage with important social-anthropological theories of the relationship between religion and secularisation, and be able to critically discuss the relationship between religion, human rights and constitutional law across a selection of states.