Childhood & Youth and Theology BA (Hons) (with Foundation Year)

CHILDHOOD & YOUTH

Childhood & Youth is an exciting, multidisciplinary subject in which you will explore a range of issues and challenges faced by children and young people in contemporary society, both here in the UK and on a global level. Drawing on key ideas from sociology, politics, history, social policy and cultural studies, the degree examines important questions about children and young people and the social contexts in which they live.

Topics studied include: how children and young people’s place in society has changed over time; how social class, poverty, gender, ethnicity, disability, social policy and so on impact children and young people’s lives; the role of risk and risk-taking in children and young people’s everyday lives and; how children and young people make sense of and help to shape their social worlds. In exploring such issues you will also look at various political debates and policy initiatives, as well as learning about various ways of researching with children and young people that aim to help them overcome the many challenges that they face.

With its strong emphasis on social justice and welfare, the degree will enable you to develop as critical social scientists who value their role within the academic community at Hope and who, as graduates, will be able to use their skills and knowledge to the benefit of their local community and society more broadly.

THEOLOGY

Studying our Theology Major provides you with the opportunity to study the core disciplines of the subject in-depth. You will engage with important issues in the contemporary world  and major issues from the past that effect how we think and live today. This includes issues such as suffering and evil, sexuality and gender, justice and liberation. Your study will involve the development of critical reading and writing skills encompassing the areas of biblical studies, church history, and constructive, ethical, mystical, and philosophical theology. You will engage with issues concerning what it means to be human and to be divine, what is meant by spirituality and the mystical, including the ways in which the material realm can convey the spiritual. You can acquire expertise in finding your way through the complex and rich Christian tradition, and how it relates to vital historical and contemporary issues. A focus on global Christianity is one of the defining characteristics of the curriculum. You will have an opportunity to explore Christian theology not only as it pertains to the development of Western Christianity, but to the influences and trajectories in other parts of the world.

The international teaching team represent a broad range of Christian traditions, and all of our lecturers are experts in their field and well-published.

To further support your studies, you will have access to our Library’s Special Collections, which houses texts dating back to the 15th century.