BA Religions, Theology and Ethics

Scientists have declared that we have entered a new geological era, the anthropocene. For the first time, humans are causing profound changes to long-term geological processes—including climate change and mass extinction. Humans have always thought hard about the ethics of their relationships with animals and with the cosmos, but the crisis has forced them to think in new ways. This course will look at the resources religious traditions provide for thinking about ethics and the environment. We will examine the ways in which contemporary thinkers have variously applied, adapted and revolutionised those resources. And we will also ask to what extent religious ethics might have been to blame for the crisis, as some have alleged, and how useful it is to analyse environmentalism as a secular form of religious ethics.

• To introduce you to a variety of religious responses to the contemporary environmental crisis
• To encourage you to think critically about different views on the relationship between religion and environmentalism

The diverse scope of traditions analysed in the course will enhance student awareness of and sensitivity required for dealing with social diversity.

The diverse range of traditions further provides training in critical analysis of a broad range of sources material.

11 x 2hr lectures 11 x 1hr seminars Information will be made available on Canvas.

• Understand the role of religion in shaping historical attitudes towards nature
• Understand a wide array of philosophical and theological arguments concerning nature and the environment

• Critically evaluate philosophical and theological views about nature and the environment
• Synthesise secular and religious outlooks about the environment
• Express reasoned arguments for a particular point of view using philosophical, religious and historical perspectives

• Effective exchange of viewpoints about the environment
• Critically evaluate the academic and intellectual value of online resources and the use of generative AI tools

• Communicate in contexts in which diverse religious perspectives are represented
• Independently formulate a programme of research
• Demonstrate ethical appreciation of religious diversity and how this can intersect with issues of race and gender

• Bauman, W. A. and Bohannon, R. R. I. (2011). Inherited Land: The Chang- ing Grounds of Religion and Ecology. Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, OR
• Cruikshank, J. (2007). Do glaciers listen?: local knowledge, colonial encounters and social imagination. UBC Press, Vancouver
• Darlington, S. M. (2012). The ordination of a tree: The Thai Buddhist environmental movement. SUNY Press, New York
• Deane-Drummond, C., Bergmann, S., and Szerszynski, B. (2015). Techno- futures, Nature and the Sacred: Transdisciplinary Perspectives. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., Farnham
• Dunlap, T. R. (2006). Environmentalism, a secular faith. Environmental values, pages 321– 330
• Laidlaw, J. Ethical traditions in question: Diaspora jainism and the environmental and animal liberation movements. In Pandian, A. and Ali, D., editors, Ethical Life in South Asia, pages 61–80. Bloomington: Indiana University Press
• Sponsel, L. E. (2012). Spiritual ecology: A quiet revolution. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara
• Taylor, B. (2009). Dark green religion. UC Berkeley Press, Berkeley CA
• Tucker, M. E. and Grim, J. A. (1994). Worldviews and ecology: Religion, philoso- phy, and the environment. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2027 will be £10,050 per annum. Tuition fees for international students will be £29,200 per annum.

For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Learn more about student finance options for UK students.

Learn more about fees and finance for international students.

As an international student you may be eligible for our Global Futures Scholarships . This is open to students starting their studies in September 2026.