MA in Death, Religion and Culture

• Examine historical and current approaches to death and dying
• Understand bereavement rituals in different cultural and religious contexts
• Useful preparation for a range of careers serving the dying and bereaved

Death, Religion and Culture at Winchester is a distance learning course that explores the universal reality of death. You examine the ways in which death and dying are understood differently by various cultures and religious traditions, and how those understandings are played out in rituals of death, dying and bereavement.

The programme attracts a diverse range of students including funeral directors, clergy from a variety of traditions, teachers, nurses and those preparing for a research degree, as well as a range of people who are simply fascinated by the subject. This dynamic group ensures that your debates and discussions are lively and informed by a breadth of interests and experiences.

Modules include Death and Pastoral Care in Global Religions, The Act and Art of Eulogy, Visiting the Dead: From Graveyards to Dark Tourism, and Is Death a Good Thing? You also complete a dissertation of 15,000 to 20,000 words on a relevant topic of your choice.

The programme is taught by a team of highly qualified and enthusiastic staff who include internationally renowned scholars. You take part in the structured discussion and debate through electronic forums and are provided with guided course readings and access to the digital resources held in the University library in order to complete assessments. A visit to a local crematorium, cemetery, mortuary and/or funeral home is an essential aspect of the course.

Graduates of the course pursue a range of careers including bereavement counselling, work in funeral homes, teaching and church ministries.

Year 1 (Level 7)

• Study Skills for Distance Learning 10
• Introduction to Studying Death 10
• Research Methods for Independent Study 10
• Dissertation 60

Optional Modules

• Death and Pastoral Care in Global Religions - 20 credits
• Death in the Christian Tradition - 20 credits
• The Act and Art of Eulogy - 10 credits
• Memory, Memorials and Remembrance - 10 credits
• Visiting the Dead: From Graveyards to Dark Tourism - 10 credits
• Sensing-Sensual Morality - 10 credits
• Religion, Ritual and Death - 10 credits
• Death and the Afterlife in Christianity - 10 credits
• The Meaning of Death and the Meaning of Life - 10 credits
• Is Death a Good Thing? - 10 credits
• Death and Love - 10 credits
• Death in Cinema - 10 credits
• Poetry, Lament and Prayer through Grief - 10 credits
• Death and Music - 10 credits
• Images of Death in Art and Literature - 10 credits
• Death and Animals - 10 credits
• Ethics, Healthcare and the End of Life - 10 credits
• The Ethics of Killing - 10 credits
• Death in the Digital Age - 10 credits
• The Biology of Death - 10 credits
• Death and the Brain - 10 credits
• Death and Climate Change - 10 credits

Graduates have gone on to work in bereavement counselling, funeral homes, teaching and the church.