Entry requirements: Normally a first or second-class Honours degree or professional experience in the area of study
Full-time: 1 year
Part-time: 2 years
This programme is delivered by distance learning/blended learning
Programme Leader: Dr Christina Welch
Telephone +44 (0) 1962 827521
Email Christina.Welch@winchester.ac.uk
If English is not your first language: IELTS 6.5 (including 6.5 in academic writing) or a TOEFL score of 575 (paper-based) or 232 (computer-based) or equivalent
Start dates: September and January
Application process: UKPASS (full-time applicants only) or Direct Entry Application Form (part-time applicants only)
The programme attracts a diverse range of students from funeral directors, clergy from a variety of traditions, teachers and those preparing for a research degree as well as a range of people who are simply fascinated by the subject.
Study provides a view of historical and current approaches to death and dying, disposal and bereavement rituals, enabling a meeting of professional groups and students with particular interests in this area of speciality.
Core modules include:
• Contemporary Approaches to Death and Dying
• Research Methods
• Independent Study
Optional modules include:
• Death and Martyrdom
• Death in the Christian Tradition
• Death in World Religions
• The Pastoral Care of the Dying and Bereaved
• The Philosophy, Ethics and Theology of Death
• Death and Visual Culture
• Postgraduate Seminar
Students undertake structured discussion and debate. Visits to local crematoria, cemeteries, mortuaries and funeral homes are an essential aspect of the programme, which also benefits from guest lecturers from the death industries, a variety of religious traditions and public services.
The programme is taught by a team of highly qualified and enthusiastic staff who include internationally renowned scholars, and is available in distance learning and blended learning modes of delivery.
Types of assessment used include a review of practical activities such as presentations, alongside more traditional methods of assessment such as essays and the dissertation. There are no examinations.
Dissertation
Students complete a dissertation of 15,000- 20,000 words on a subject of their choice within the realms of religion and death. It is a substantial piece of independent research and full tutorial support is provided.
Graduates have gone on to work within bereavement counselling, funeral homes, teaching and the church. The programme provides a firm foundation for undertaking a research degree or further training.