Undergraduate Course: History of Christianity as a World Religion 1B (DIVI08015)
Course Outline
| School | School of Divinity |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course aims to provide students with a comprehensive view of the global Christian movement in time and space. It considers the period from the Reformation to the present. (1500 CE to present), including mission and ministry in Africa, Latin America, Asia and North America, as well as following changes in Europe. |
| Course description |
Academic Description:
This course surveys formative trends in Christian history throughout the world from the sixteenth century to the present day giving a comprehensive view of the global Christian movement in time and space. It covers mission and ministry in Africa, Latin America, Asia and North America, as well as following changes in Europe and movements of religious transformation, cultural encounter and missionary expansion.
Syllabus/Outline Content:
The course applies historical approaches and the study of original texts to the understanding of formative trends in Christian history throughout the world from the sixteenth century to the present day. In European history attention is paid to the sixteenth-century Reformations (with particular reference to Scotland), the impact on the churches of the Enlightenment and industrialisation, and their response in the twentieth century to totalitarian regimes in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. On the global stage, the course covers the expansion of European Christendom to Latin America, Asia and Africa, the role of Christianity in shaping American history, and the more recent growth of distinctive varieties of non-western Christianity. In tutorials these themes are illustrated by study of original texts.
Student Learning Experience Information:
The course has three lectures and one tutorial each week. As well as the primary text for each tutorial, there is a schedule of secondary reading. Each student will be required to write one main blog entry online on a primary text and give a presentation based on it to the relevant tutorial. Every student will also be expected to write weekly short comments on the blogs and participate in tutorial discussion each week.
In additional to the tutorial work, students will also investigate two topics in depth through pieces of written coursework, each supported by a preparatory workshop run by a lecturer. The workshop sessions will be either in person or online and spread throughout the semester.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | By permission of the Course Organiser |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2023/24, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 108 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 33,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
150 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
20% - 1 x Tutorial Blog 800 words and short weekly comments
30% - Scholarship Analysis Task (1000 words)
50% - Final Essay (2000 words) |
| Feedback |
Workshops for each piece of coursework will facilitate discussion about planning assignments. Students may also submit essay plans. Tutors will provide feedback on blogs and comments. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Recognise and discuss the growth and diversification of the global Christian movement from the early Reformation to the present.
- Identify and assess the place of Christianity in world history and be aware of some interactions between denominations and with other religions.
- Interpret a variety of historical evidence relating to Christianity as a world religion.
- Critique the secondary literature on the place of Christianity in world history.
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Reading List
There is a full Resource List for this course accessed via LEARN. The tutorial texts (available on LEARN) are essential preparation for the weekly tutorials and also contain background reading for each week. The different assessment options each have their own bibliography. If you would like further advice on reading please speak to your lecturer.
Suggestions for general and background reading:
If you have not studied Christianity before it is strongly recommended that you familiarize yourself with key concepts and terminology by reading an introduction such as Linda Woodhead, Christianity: a Very Short Introduction (2014) available online from the university library.
There is no single textbook for this course. The works below are reliable overviews for periods and topics - for a more detailed bibliography see Resource List.
The Cambridge History of Christianity:
Volume 6: R Po Chi-Hsia (ed.), Reform and Expansion 1500-1660 (2007)
Volume 7: Stewart J Brown & Timothy Tackett (eds.), Enlightenment, Reawakening and Revolution 1660-1815 (2006)
Volume 8: Sheridan Gilley & Brian Stanley (eds.), World Christianities 1815-1914 (2006)
Volume 9: Hugh Macleod (ed.), World Christianities 1914-2000 (2006)
You may wish to buy a single volume history of Christianity to provide an overview and for reference.
Chadwick, Owen, A History of Christianity (London: Phoenix Illustrated, 1997).
Comby, Jean and MacCulloch, Diarmid, How to Read Church History, vol. 2, From the Reformation to the Present Day (London: SCM, 1985).
Hastings, Adrian, ed, A World History of Christianity (London: Cassell, 1999).
MacCulloch, Diarmid, A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (London: Allen Lane, 2009).
---, Groundwork of Christian History (London: Epworth, 1987).
McManners, John, ed., The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
- Ability to gather, evaluate and synthesise different types of information
- Analytical ability and the capacity to formulate questions and solve problems
- Writing skills, including clear expression and citing relevant evidence
- Ability to engage critically with the meaning of documents and recognise that meanings may be multiple |
| Keywords | History,Christianity,Christianities,1450 to present |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Kirsty Murray
Tel: (0131 6)50 8900
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Rachel Dutton
Tel: (0131 6)50 7227
Email: |
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