Discover Religion, Philosophy & Ethics at Gloucestershire at an Open Day!

You can find out more about Religion, Philosophy & Ethics at Gloucestershire online, of course, but the best way to really get a feel for the course and place is at an Open Day. 

We've got events on:

FCH Campus..

• Saturday, 27 June 2015 
• Tuesday, 30 June 2015 
• Saturday, 03 October 2015 
• Saturday, 31 October 2015 
• Saturday, 21 November 2015

Book a place by visiting http://www.glos.ac.uk/visit/open/Pages/undergraduate-open-days.aspx 

Click to magnify..

Religion, Philosophy & Ethics at Gloucestershire was recently rated (by the Guardian 2016 League Table) as among the top 3 courses in the UK the whole 'Religious Studies & Theology' area. 

RPE offers an experience well beyond the exciting and interesting lectures, seminars  workshops and tutorials (that led to our recent 100% National Student Survey Satisfaction score, both for overall satisfaction and for the teaching). 

As well as our international trip (see HERE for a report on this year's Spanish adventures), we offer a wealth of chances for students to deepen their knowledge via first -hand experiences. We recently visited Stonehenge, Avebury, the British Museum, the Swaminaryan Mandir in Neasden, the Malmesbury Philosophy Town event, as well as students having the chance of lots of free tickets for speakers at Cheltenham International Festival of Literature. Closer to home, students regularly attend Gloucestershire Philosophical Society talks (held on campus), have their own debate group, and more. You can browse the archives of this blog to see more recent events.

Find us on Flickr..

Over at Flickr you can see loads of pictures of events, trips, students, and staff: tinyurl.com/RPE-pics  

At our video blog - you can watch staff and guests in discussion about a range of topics: http://philosvids.wordpress.com/

The 2015 Field Trip to Cordoba: A Personal Reflection from Professor Melissa Raphael

Bristol Airport at 5am..

Going to Cordoba this last spring yielded at least two new experiences: my first field trip abroad with the staff and students of the University of Gloucestershire and, on a more personal note, my first trip to the region of Spain my Sephardi Jewish ancestors were expelled from in 1492, travelling on first to Portugal, then Amsterdam and then, in the seventeenth-century, to London, at the invitation of Oliver Cromwell, where the family have remained.

At Medina Azahara, waiting for bus..

The Jewish trace, in Cordoba, is just that.  The Jewish presence-in-absence is yet more elusive than that of Islam or Catholicism, whose monuments, as in most urban topographies of power, occupy the grand central spaces of the city.  If you want Jewish ghosts, you have to turn into the winding alleyways and small squares, and preferably at night.  True, we visited the remains of an exquisite synagogue and a small but vivid museum; I also spotted a restaurant serving traditional Sephardi dishes which, if I could find it again, I'd visit next time.  And there was the famous statue of Maimonides - he wouldn't have approved of it as full-body statues would generally be regarded as contrary to Jewish laws relating to idolatry - which nonetheless situated his work in a very particular historical time and space that had previously felt as abstract as much of his thought.  But, if you're interested in pursuing the Jewish heritage of Cordoba you need to have done some research beforehand and know what you're looking for.   A talk by one of our guides was a great help, but you also need to use your imagination which, in this complex, mysterious city, where the sediment of Jewish history is so rich in achievement and pathos, is not difficult to do. 

Another philosophical debate

But, back in 2015, a pleasure of the trip that I should have anticipated, but didn't, were the impromptu open-air, on-foot religion and philosophy seminars.  This lent fresh meaning to the word 'pedagogy'! - students and staff enjoying theoretical discussions that were more fluid, heated, and perhaps more creative, exchanges than many held in the classroom.  There must have been something in the air...and the unseasonable heat; the golden light and the dramatic shadows cast by perhaps the most spectacular architecture I have ever seen.

Our tour of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba

Thanks for making my experience on the trip so rewarding must go to Dave for his meticulous planning and totally unfazed approach to any mishaps - but also to the students: all of them, but especially Ally, Caroline, Kathryne, Tom and Bingying.

[For previous trips see HERE]

Most of the group on top of the Torre de la Calahorra Museum

MR.