Mission

The first and unique programme of its kind in local universities, the Master of Arts Programme in Religious Studies (hereafter the Programme) was established in 1998 by the Department of Religion (renamed Department of Cultural and Religious Studies in 2004). With the smooth ans successful running of the Programme, we have trained more than 580 graduates. Considering religion an integral part of human life, thought and culture, the Programme advocates a critical and comparative perspective to the study of multifarious religious phenomena and a sympathetic understanding of people’s religious experience.

The Programme adopts a proactive approach to enhancing students' academic performance. A Seminar on Writing Academic Papers is origanized in the first semester every year to help students grasp the essentials and methodologies of writing an up-to-standard academic paper in Religious Studies.  The Programme also offers the Best Essay Award to encourage students to write high-quality academic papers and recognize their achievements. The introduction of the course "Research Paper in Religious Studies" in 2010 enables our students to acquire some essential skills and methodologies of doing critical reserach and writing a dissertation, which makes them better-equipped for an applicaiton for a research degree.

Emphasis on experiential learning is a distinctive feature of our Programme. Since religion is a living phenomenon in our society, fieldwork constitutes a core learning activity for students to integrate religious theory and application, and to gain a greater understanding of the daily religious practices of people, both locally and overseas. Over the past years, students participated in a large number of field trips organized either by individual courses or research centres to visit religious sites in Hong Kong, Macao, Mainland China, Malacca, Japan, Portugal and so forth.

The Programme being principally not career-oriented, most graduates in the Graduate Exit Survey strongly agree with the question: “The Programme has provided me an excellent foundation for my life-long learning”. Students recognize and affirm the Programme’s main objective of heightening their cultural and religious sensitivity, as well as critical and analytical skills, which lay a solid foundation for their lifelong learning. With the establishment of the Alumni Association of the Programme in 2013, a group of committed graduates has been passionate in promoting the culture, values and wisdom of different religious traditions to the general public through workshops, open lectures, and field trips, which is, the embodiment of lifelong learning.