Sikh Studies

The School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham is one of the largest in Europe. It includes some of the main academic centres at Selly Oak: the Centre for the Study of South Asian Religions and Interreligious Relations, the Centre for Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. It has also started significantly to build up resources for Sikh Studies because of generous support from both the Sikh community and elsewhere.

The city itself is recognised as one of the most multicultural cities in Europe with just about every religion represented (and the varieties within those religions) within its region. The University has built up good relationships and partnerships with Birmingham’s many different communities, and such a rich cultural mix means that it provides an ideal setting to study the relations between religions.

Students of Sikh Studies come from a wide variety of backgrounds and often express very different opinions. Thus, there is no stereotypical student of Sikh Studies and all viewpoints are freely discussed in a friendly atmosphere

The MRes is a research degree that includes taught components and a 20,000-word thesis. The programme’s taught element will seek to provide you with an understanding of the Sikh religion in a theological, anthropological and ‘case-by-case’ context with particular reference to the contemporary scene. The focus is issue-based rather than, say, linguistic; thus, texts studied will be in English and there are no requirements barring entry with regard to languages (eg, Punjabi)