Master in the Study of Religion
The Study of Religion is the global and comparative, academic study of religion as a
historical and contemporary phenomenon. The Master’s program offers you both a broad
disciplinary competence in the Study of Religion and the opportunity to specialize in a
preferred area of study. By studying religion, you will understand the complexity of the world better.
Informed by post-colonial debates and with a stress on historical contextualizations, the MA in the Study of Religion allows you to explore a variety of expressions of religion— from local diversity in Oslo to the religions of empires. In this MA, you will study the movements of religious artifacts on the global antiquities market, the significance of empire for religious formations, and the complex interrelationships between religion, knowledge, law and politics in past and present. The MA provides historical, analytical and critical perspectives on religion and brings you up to speed on the methodological finesses of studying religion as a cultural phenomenon.
Rooted in the humanities, the MA will focus on religious texts, objects, images, narratives and practices. You will learn textual and multi-media analysis, discourse analysis, digital methods and ethnography. The MA will also train your generic skills, preparing you for professional life: critical reading, thinking and evaluation of sources, the handling of a large body of information, the ability to write an academic thesis and to disseminate research about religion in social media.
Three tracks allow you to specialize in accordance with your academic interests and career plans. Choose between an Islam track, and Asian Religions track and our Maverick track. The tracks let you determine your own specialization through your choice of electives, your exchange destination and your thesis topic. The first two tracks offer advanced knowledge in Islamic traditions, or religious expressions in Asia, and the opportunity to learn one of the languages of the selected tradition before your write a supervised Master’s thesis. The Maverick track is for you who want to follow your own interests. You may specialize, for example, in the contemporary Norwegian religious diversity, the race and religion nexus, gender and queer studies, or you may dive deep into Christian and Jewish Antiquity.
The program is taught in English. All written assignments, including the exams and the master’s thesis, can also be written in Norwegian or other Scandinavian languages.
Entry requirements
A. Applicants must meet the general admission requirements (except proficiency in Norwegian) to be eligible for admission. These requirements differ depending on home country/country of education, and are described in the GSU-list.
B. All applicants to master programmes must document English proficiency, regardless of what is stated in the GSU-list. English proficiency is documented in one of the following ways:
- TOEFL iBT 80 (minimum 24 in the writing component)
- IELTS 6.0 (minimum 6.5 in the writing component)
- PTE Academic 59 (minimum 58 in the writing component)
- Grade 4 in Vg1 course in English at Norwegian upper secondary school (140 hours) or completed Advanced course in English at Norwegian upper secondary school
- Minimum one year of studies on university level in Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand or Australia.
- Bachelor degree or minimum one year of master studies (60 ECTS) with English as the medium of instruction completed in one of the Nordic countries.
- University degree in English language and/or literature. A degree in other disciplines taught in English does not meet this requirement.
C.A bachelor’s degree or a period of study comparable to a Norwegian bachelor’s degree totalling 180 ECTS credits.
You need at least 80 ECTS credits in religious studies or other relevant studies*. The 80 ECTS credit group must have an average grade of C (2,7) or better.
*Other relevant fields for the study of religion include religious history, sociology of religion, theology, and interdisciplinary studies of religion. Disciplines within social science (e.g., political science, anthropology) and humanities (e.g., language, history, culture) may also be relevant and are assessed on an individual basis.
Entry requirements
A. Applicants must meet the general admission requirements (except proficiency in Norwegian) to be eligible for admission. These requirements differ depending on home country/country of education, and are described in the GSU-list.
B. All applicants to master programmes must document English proficiency, regardless of what is stated in the GSU-list. English proficiency is documented in one of the following ways:
- TOEFL iBT 80 (minimum 24 in the writing component)
- IELTS 6.0 (minimum 6.5 in the writing component)
- PTE Academic 59 (minimum 58 in the writing component)
- Grade 4 in Vg1 course in English at Norwegian upper secondary school (140 hours) or completed Advanced course in English at Norwegian upper secondary school
- Minimum one year of studies on university level in Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand or Australia.
- Bachelor degree or minimum one year of master studies (60 ECTS) with English as the medium of instruction completed in one of the Nordic countries.
- University degree in English language and/or literature. A degree in other disciplines taught in English does not meet this requirement.
C.A bachelor’s degree or a period of study comparable to a Norwegian bachelor’s degree totalling 180 ECTS credits.
You need at least 80 ECTS credits in religious studies or other relevant studies*. The 80 ECTS credit group must have an average grade of C (2,7) or better.
*Other relevant fields for the study of religion include religious history, sociology of religion, theology, and interdisciplinary studies of religion. Disciplines within social science (e.g., political science, anthropology) and humanities (e.g., language, history, culture) may also be relevant and are assessed on an individual basis.