Postgraduate Research, Supervision, and Teaching

Research, both individual and collaborative, is at the heart of the CCS. Our commitment is to nurture a community of scholars from undergraduate through to doctoral research—a flourishing community of Catholic scholarship in the pluralist, public academy in the unique context of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Durham offers an unparalleled environment for postgraduate study of Theology and Religion, having been ranked UK 1st in research quality in the UK research assessment exercises 2008 RAE, 2014 REF, and 7th in the world in the QS World University Subject Rankings (2023). Our staff members provide a wide range of expertise for postgraduate students interested in all areas of Catholic theology and Catholic studies. As well as academic excellence, we also aim to provide students with access to world-class study facilities and to a range of training and professional-development opportunities that are second to none, including teaching and research assistantships.

The Durham Catholic Theology Research Seminar

The Catholic Theology Research Seminar is a forum for scholarly discussion of pertinent issues in the Catholic traditions of theology and church. It ranges across the traditional theological disciplines (scriptural, historical, philosophical, systematic, liturgical, ethical, and practical/pastoral), Catholic social thought and practice; Catholicism, literature and the arts; and Lived Catholicism. Staff and students of the Department of Theology and Religion join with staff and students of other departments, and others with a shared commitment to the critical exploration of Catholic theology and practice.

We have a dedicated set of modules which allow students to take an informal ‘pathway’ in Catholic studies within our wider MA in Theology and Religion programme.

We also offer doctoral supervision in the following areas:

• Modern Catholic fundamental and dogmatic theology
• Patristic theology
• Medieval theology
• Catholic social thought and practice
• Political theology
• Theology and ethics
• The reception of Vatican II
• Religion and film
• 20th and 21st century Catholic theologians
• The place of Scripture in modern Catholic theology
• Catholicism and gender
• Philosophy and theology
• Theology and spirituality
• The history of Catholicism
• Critical theory and Catholic theology
• Franciscan studies
• Lived Catholicism

Distance Learning in Catholic Theology: MA, PG Diploma, PG Certificate and CPD single module

This exciting new venture led by the CCS and the Department of Theology and Religion is designed so that participants can work through the material at their own pace, studying equally well in any time zone and in many different life-situations, alongside work, ministry, family, or caring obligations.
This fully online programme is designed both for those who have studied Theology before and for those who have a background in a variety of other academic backgrounds.
For more information, click here.