Monastic Studies – (M.A.)

Monasticism is an important form of the religious quest in many religions. The aim of this MA is to allow students to gain a profound understanding of the role of monasticism in Christianity.

Christian Monasticism emerged in the third century AD, out of a longer ascetic tradition, to exert a profound inspiration upon the secular, as well as the religious life in the Christian churches.

The first `Desert Fathers´ retreated into the deserts of Egypt and Palestine; other hermits were to retreat to caves and islands - some even to live out their lives on the tops of pillars. Far from being fully separated from society, however, these early ascetics were soon engaged with church and society in a complex relationship. Monks lived a cloistered, regulated, community life, as well as periodically emerging to provide social leadership in the secular world. In the early middle ages people looked to monasticism to provide a spiritual `powerhouse´ for the church.

By the modern era, monasticism has become a rich tradition which continues to exert a variety of influences upon both the religious and the secular life. The great traditions which emerged in the middle ages see monasticism carried on, on a large scale in the Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox traditions in Britain, as well as in newer religious traditions on a monastic model, such as the mendicant (Friars) and regular (Canons Regular) orders of clergy, who emerged in the later middle ages. In the later middle ages there would also be a growing tendency to adapt monastic theologies to more everyday worship - evinced by phenomena such as `books of hours´, as well as popular devotion to monastic mysticism. More recently, modern community movements, such as at Taizé in Burgundy and Iona in Scotland have continued to adapt interpretations of the medieval monastic tradition for everyday worship.

In the twentieth century, monastic writers such as the Cistercian Thomas Merton also have brought an interpretation of the monastic life into the wider community - as well as exploring the dialogue of Christian monasticism with monastic practices in other religions. Our MA and MTh degrees in Monastic Studies continue this engagement of the secular world with monastic communities, with monastic communities providing key elements of the teaching for the degree. Our programme combines the study of history and archaeology with the study of monastic theology and liturgy to produce a rich insight into the unique spirituality of the monastic tradition.