Monash University Handbook 2010 Postgraduate - Course

This course builds on existing academic strengths at Monash University by bringing together scholars working in the fields of Judaic, Christian and Islamic scholarship. The course will coordinate existing research interests of three centres; Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation, Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology, and Centre for Islam and the Modern World, in order to position Monash Arts Faculty as a leading institute in collaborative approaches to interreligious studies.

Students successfully completing this course will be expected to demonstrate:

• a core understanding of the key institutions, beliefs and practices of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
• familiarity with the major texts and the interpretative methods used to promote, preserve and determine their meaning
• appreciation of the historical contexts in which these traditions evolved
• awareness of the commonalities of the respective traditions
• skills which explain historical and contemporary reasons for conflict between the traditions
• an appreciation of the varieties of religious discourse, such as mystical testimonies, political theology, hermeneutical practices and philosophies of law
• awareness of the challenges brought about by the encounter between tradition and modernity and an appreciation of the internal resources available to address such challenges.

This course consists of one 12-point core unit and one 12 point elective unit.

Students complete one of the following core units:

• HYM4175 Interpreting the Bible: Jewish and Christian perspectives
• HYM4260 Medieval dialogues: Reason, mysticism, and society

plus one elective from the following:

• HYM4840 Text and community in Renaissance Italy
• JWM4020 Zionism: The argument
• JWM4030 Jewish history, Jewish memory
• RLM4040 Islamic thought in the modern world
• RLM4060 Medieval women and their world: Constructing identities 1100-1450
• RLM4100 Religion and ceremony in Australian society
• RLM4110 Sustainability and the sacred
• RLM4145 Interpreting the sources of Islam: The Qur'an and hadith
• RLM4160 Sexuality and religion: Monotheist traditions

Students who complete the graduate certificate with a minimum credit average, may apply to transfer to course 4022 Graduate Diploma in Interreligious Studies.

Graduate Certificate in Interreligious Studies