Religion and global challenges in the past and present
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What does religion have to do with the major global issues we face? How might religion contribute negatively, and in what contexts might it provide agency and resources to address these issues? In this module, you’ll explore the complex relationship between religion and global challenges in the past and present. You’ll investigate key topics, such as equality, health, technological advances, social justice, climate change and peace. Working with historical, social scientific and philosophical/ethical perspectives, you’ll develop the skills to analyse and communicate how global challenges can be better understood and addressed.
What you will study
Religion influences how we perceive and address global challenges in many ways. This ranges from how we relate to other people to our relationship with the world we live in. It affects our beliefs and ethics, our behaviours and sense of belonging, whether we consider ourselves religious or not. This module will support you in building the confidence and skills needed to analyse and understand religion in a global context.
You’ll engage with traditions such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and a range of Indigenous cultures. As well as learning about specific religious traditions, you’ll see how religion continues to be important in law, politics and the media, with real power in today’s global society and people’s everyday lives. You’ll explore a range of religious practices and ideas in relation to global challenges in different cultural and historical contexts. You’ll study diverse topics, such as yoga, conspiracy theories, American Christian nationalism, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, concepts of the state in modern Islam, colonisation of the Arctic, the rise of international Indigenous movements, and climate activism in the UK and Romania.
The following core questions are threaded throughout this module:
- What are the interrelationships between religion and global challenges?
- How can historical, social scientific and philosophical perspectives help us understand the role of religion in global challenges?
- Why is it important to study religion to understand and address global challenges?
As part of your studies, you’ll work with a range of disciplinary perspectives, including history, philosophy, sociology, politics and anthropology. Engaging with ideas and methods across these different disciplines will help you gain a fuller understanding of the relationship between religion and global challenges in the past and present. You’ll also have opportunities to deepen your knowledge in areas of particular interest and develop your communication skills using various media.
This module includes the following blocks:
Block 1: Being Human: Religion, the Body and Inequalities explores the global challenge of reducing inequalities. The focus is on the relationship between religion and the body, for instance, in relation to health, well-being, technology, education, and human rights. You’ll also consider how religion can facilitate, reinforce, and challenge structures that create or perpetuate inequalities.
Block 2: Living Together: Religion, Conflict, and Peace is centrally concerned with the global challenges of promoting peace and justice and reducing inequalities. Drawing on a variety of historical and contemporary examples, you’ll explore how religion has contributed to conflicts but can also play an important role in peacebuilding.
Block 3: Sharing the Planet: Religion, Environments and Justice focuses on religion in relation to the climate crisis. This includes considering how religion has shaped different perceptions and ways of engaging with environments, including religious responses to natural disasters and religiously motivated climate action. You’ll also look at the relationship of religion to contested claims about knowledge, including conspiracy theories.
Entry requirements
There are no specific entry requirements for this OU level 3 module. OU level 3 modules build on study skills and subject knowledge acquired from studies at OU levels 1 and 2 with the OU. They are intended only for students with recent experience in higher education in a related subject, preferably with the OU.
Preparatory work
If you’re new to religious studies, you should look at the OpenLearn courses ? and .
This module has been designed for students on a wide range of different qualification pathways, including those who have not studied religious studies before.
What's included
You’ll be provided with three printed books and have access to a module website, which includes:
- a week-by-week study planner
- module materials and interactive activities
- audio and video content
- assignment details and submission section
- online tutorial access
- discussion forums and news from the module team.
The module authors have also recorded a podcast series to guide you and help consolidate your learning of the most important themes, issues and skills covered.
Where possible, the materials are also available in other formats – which may include PDF, EPUB, interactive ebook (EPUB3), Kindle ebook and Microsoft Word – to enable you to study on the move. You can also access the module materials via the OU Study app.
Computing requirements
- Primary device – A desktop or laptop computer. It’s possible to access some materials on a mobile phone, tablet or Chromebook; however, they may not be suitable as your primary device.
- Peripheral device – Headphones/earphones with a built-in microphone for online tutorials.
- Our OU Study app operates on supported versions of Android and iOS.
- Operating systems – Windows 10 or 11 or macOS Ventura (or higher).
- Internet access – Broadband or mobile connection.
- Browser – Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are recommended; Mozilla Firefox and Safari may be suitable.