MA in Biblical Studies
Awarding Body: National University of Ireland (NUI)
Duration: One year
Delivery: Day release: Wednesdays
The MA in Biblical Studies, especially by means of the directed dissertation, deepens the familiarity with current scholarship achieved in the Higher Diploma in Biblical Studies and trains the student in research, writing and presentation. To help the student with his/her dissertation, the courses in this year offer close readings of selected texts. The programme has the following aims:
• to familiarise the student with certain areas of Biblical research at MA level;
• to train the student in practical research skills appropriate to this level of work;
• to promote the professional presentation of research results at the level of a scholarly article.
Access, Transfer and Progression Routes
Ordinarily, only students who have obtained second-class honours in the Higher Diploma in Biblical Studies at the Milltown Institute, or equivalent, will be admitted.Programme Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the programme will have developed:• an ability to compare critically different methodological approaches to the biblical text;
• the competence to critique independently the main trends of current research using current periodicals and books;
• the capacity to make critical and original use of a variety of approaches to biblical research as demon strated through the completion of a minor thesis;
• the capacity to perform critically interdisciplinary analysis using insights from linguistics, cultural history and archaeology;
• skills in presenting written research through essays and the minor thesis;
• the opportunity to time-manage research so that the relevant stages are completed on time, in collaboration with associated agencies;
• an experience of two years of professional academic supervision of research and so learn to be self-critical of research in progress and the need for multi-disciplinary consultation;
• awareness of the power of social constructs, initially in terms of the biblical contexts, but leading to a critical evaluation of today’s social constructs.
Mode of Delivery
Three modules are taken in the first semester, and one in the second semester. A dissertation of 30,000 words is also completed in the second semester.Modules in Programme
Paul in Contemporary StudyReligious Fidelity in an Era of Upheaval.
Authority and Leadership in the New Testament
Images of God in the Bible
The Early Christian Communities: History, Ideologies, Structures.
Some Previous Research Undertaken
in the Programme
• Ruth the Stranger, Model of Loving Chesed (Loving Kindness)
• You have Struggled with God and with Men and were able: A Stylistic Narrative and Reader–Response Analysis of Gen 32:22–32
• “The Lamb will be their Shepherd”. A Study of the Lamb of God in the Johannine Literature
Grants and Tax Relief
This programme is covered by the Higher Education Grants Scheme, and information regarding application procedures, eligibility and related matters may be obtained from the student’s Local Authority (or of the local Education and Library Board for students from Northern Ireland).This course is eligible for tax relief under Section 473A, Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 by the Department of Education and Science.
Core Teaching Staff
Kieran O’Mahony, OSA, STL, H Dip Ed, LSS, PhD Associate ProfessorGerard Deighan BA, MA, BD, LSS Lecturer
Céline Mangan, OP, MA, LSS Associate Professor
Anthony O’Leary CP, BA, H Dip Ed, Dip Psych, STL, LSS Assoicate Professor
Patrick Rogers CP, BA, LSS, STD Associate Professor
Programme Director
Kieran O’Mahony HDipEd, STB, STL, LSS, PhD, head of the Department of Scripture is an Augustinian friar and studied in Rome (Pontifical Biblical Institute), Jerusalem (Ecole Biblique) and Dublin (Trinity College). He has been teaching biblical studies since 1990. His main research interest is St Paul.