Honour School of Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

A

• 1. The subjects of the Honour School of Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies shall be 1 Religion and 2 Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. All candidates must offer both 1 and 2.

• 2. The Honour School of Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies shall be under the joint supervision of the Boards of the Faculties of Theology and Religion, and of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, which shall appoint a standing joint committee to make, and to submit to the two boards, proposals for regulations concerning the examination.

• 3. No candidate shall be admitted to the examination in this School unless he or she has either passed or been exempted from the First Public Examination.

• 4. The Public Examiners in this School shall be such of the Public Examiners in the Honour Schools of Theology and Religion and of the Honour Schools in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies as may be required, together with any additional examiners who may be required who shall be nominated by the committee for the nomination of Public Examiners in one or both of those Honour Schools as appropriate.

B

• Candidates are required to offer eight papers. Three papers must be in Religion and three in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; the other two may be in either Religion or Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. All candidates will be required to submit as one of their eight papers either a thesis (in Religion) or a dissertation (in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies).

• (a) Religion

• Each year the Faculty will publish a list of available papers and specify the assessment mode for each as well as any restrictions pertaining to individual papers. 

• (b) Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

• Individual paper requirements can be found under Special Regulations for the Honour Schools in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

  Candidates must take three papers and may take up to five all of which must be drawn from either 1. Buddhism or 2. Eastern Christianity or 3. Hinduism or 4. Islam or 5. Judaism. Advanced language options are for candidates who have studied the same language for the First Public Examination. Each year the Faculty will publish a list of available papers in the handbook and specify the assessment mode for each as well as any restrictions pertaining to individual papers.

• 1. Buddhism

• All candidates must offer two papers, unprepared translation and prepared texts, from one of the following language options: 

  Sanskrit: [B1A]: Sanskrit unprepared translation, and [B2A]: Sanskrit prepared texts. 

  or 

  Advanced Sanskrit: [B1B]: Advanced Sanskrit unprepared translation, and [B2B]: Advanced Sanskrit prepared texts. 

  or 

  Pali: [B1C]: Pali unprepared translation, and [B2C]: Pali prepared texts. 

  or 

  Advanced Pali: [B1D]: Advanced Pali unprepared translation, and [B2D]: Advanced Pali prepared texts. 

  or 

  Tibetan: [B1E]: Tibetan prose composition and unprepared, and [B2E]: Tibetan prepared texts, with questions. 

  or 

  Advanced Tibetan: [B1F]: Advanced Tibetan prose composition and unprepared translation, and [B2F]: Advanced Tibetan prepared texts. 

• Candidates must offer one paper and may choose up to three papers from the following: 

  [B2]:Buddhist set texts: Pali or Sanskrit or Tibetan 

  [B6]: Further Buddhist Texts: Pali or Sanskrit or Tibetan 

  [B7]: Essay questions on classical Indian literature, history and culture 

  [B8]: Questions on Tibetan culture and history 

  [B9]: Essay questions on Pali language, literature and culture 

• 2. Eastern Christianity

  All candidates must offer either [EC1]: Armenian or [EC2]: Syriac.

  All candidates must offer two and may offer up to four papers from the following:

  [EC3]: Early Armenian Theological and Ecclesiastical Texts

  [EC5]: Armenian Historical Texts

  [EC6]: Syriac Biblical and Exegetical Texts

  [EC7]: Armenian Poetry

  [EC8]: Syriac Poetry

  [EC9]: Armenian Christology and the Development of Doctrine

  [EC10]: Syriac Theology and Mystical Texts

• 3. Hinduism

• All candidates must offer two papers, unprepared translation and prepared texts, from one of the following language options: 

  Sanskrit: [H1A]: Sanskrit unprepared translation, and [H2A]: Sanskrit prepared texts. 

  or 

  Advanced Sanskrit: [H1B]: Advanced Sanskrit unprepared translation, and [H2B]: Advanced Sanskrit prepared texts. 

  or 

  Hindi: [H1C]: Hindi unprepared translation, and [H2C]: Hindi prepared texts. 

  or 

  Advanced Hindi: [H1D]: Advanced Hindi unprepared translation, and [H2D]: Advanced Hindi prepared texts. 

  All candidates must offer paper [H3]: Essay questions on classical Indian literature, history and culture. 

  Candidates may offer up to two papers from: 

  [H4]: Brāhmaṇism 

  [H5]: Vaiṣṇavism 

  [H6]: Śaivism 

  [H7]: Sanskrit chosen area 

  [H8]: Hindi Bhakti Texts 

  [H9]: Religion and Society in Hindi Literature 

  [H10]: Any other paper, relevant to Hinduism, in the Honour Schools in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies approved by the Interfaculty Committee. 

• 4. Islam

  All candidates must offer [IS1]: Translation from Classical Arabic and [IS2]: Islamic Texts.

  Candidates must offer one paper and may choose up to three papers from the following:

  [IS3]: Hadith

  [IS4]: Sufism

  [IS5]: Qur’an

  [IS6]: Topics in Islamic Law

  [IS7]: Theology & Philosophy in the Islamic World

  [IS8]: Any other paper, relevant to Islam, in the Honour Schools in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies approved by the Interfaculty Committee.

• 5. Judaism

  All candidates must offer either [J1A]: Hebrew Language and Texts or [J1B]: Advanced Hebrew Language and Texts.

  Candidates must offer one paper and may choose up to three papers from the following:

  [J2]: Second Temple Judaism

  [J3]: Formation of Rabbinic Judaism

  [J4]: History of Jewish-Christian Relations

  [J5]: History of Jewish-Muslim Relations

  [J6]: History of Jewish Bible Interpretation

• [J7]: Modern Judaism

• Candidates will be precluded from offering the following combinations of papers: 

  Hebrew of the Hebrew Bible (Theology 3101) with Hebrew Language and Texts (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies [J1A]) or with Advanced Hebrew Language and Texts (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies [J1B]). 

  Islam in the Classical Period (Theology 2305) with Hadith (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies [IS3]) or with Sufism (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies [IS4]) or with Topics in Islamic Law (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies [IS6]); Varieties of Judaism 100 BCE-100 CE (Theology 3310) with Second Temple Judaism (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies [J2]). 

• Candidates who offer any of papers  Formation of Rabbinic Judaism; Modern Judaism; Foundations of Buddhism; and Buddhism in Space and Time must offer them as either Religion or Asian and Middle Eastern Studies papers.
•  

• Regulations concerning theses and dissertations

  A thesis may be offered in Religion or a dissertation in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. The regulations governing theses in Religion are the same as those specified for theses in the Special Regulations for the Honour School of Theology and Religion.  The regulations governing dissertations in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies are the same as those specified in Special Regulations for the Honour Schools in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

• Regulations concerning essays 

  Candidates who take any of papers (3305) Further Studies in Judaism; (3306) Further Studies in Islam; (3307) Further Studies in Buddhism; (3308) Further Studies in Hinduism or (3404) Further Studies in Science and Religion will be required to submit an extended essay not exceeding 10,000 words, inclusive of notes and appendices but excluding bibliography. The regulations governing extended essays are the same as those specified for extended essays in the Special Regulations for the Honour School of Theology and Religion. 

  Candidates who take papers (3303) Faith, Reason, and Religion from the Enlightenment to the Romantic Age or (3405) Mysticism will be required to submit two long essays each not exceeding 5,000 words, inclusive of notes and appendices but excluding bibliography. The regulations governing long essays are the same as those specified for long essays in the Special Regulations for the Honour School of Theology and Religion. 

  Candidates who take papers (3109) New Testament Theology; (3110) Study of a New Testament Book; (3111) The Afterlife of the New Testament; (3112) The Old Testament in Early Christianity; (3201) Contemporary Theology and Culture; (3406) Feminist Approaches to Theology and Religion will be required both to sit a two hour written examination and to submit an essay for each paper offered. Essays should not exceed 2,500 words, inclusive of notes and appendices but excluding bibliography. The regulations governing essays are the same as those specified for essays in the Special Regulations for the Honour School of Theology and Religion.