Programme Overview

Course Objectives

1. To enable the candidates to develop themselves as resource persons prepared to engage in “big picture” questions about the story of the cosmos, approached through the lenses of science andreligion.
2. Covering the essential foundations of philosophy and theology, the course is oriented toward the development of skills in interdisciplinary thinking via exploration of the rational and scientific grounds of faith. It confronts common assumptions that science and religion are necessarily in conflict.
3. To understand the essential nature of Religion and Theology and to reflect on the religious experience of the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims with their notions of Revelation and Faith. It will also seek the development of beliefs in their respective traditions as the horizon for the phenomena of the diversity of religious experiences, the pluralism in theology, the theological imperative to dialogue, and the foundation of a universal theology of religion as
   the ground for ecumenism.
4. To provide students with the training necessary for scholarly research and critical reflections upon various themes in Science-Religion Interface
5. To equip them to be competent teachers in Science-Religion-Dialogue in the secular and ecclesiastical institutes.
6. To enable them to appreciate the rich heritage in the Western and Eastern Philosophical tradition and thus making them confident in taking up contemporary challenges that various religious traditions face today.

Eligibility:

A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent approved by the Indian universities or ecclesiastical institutes.

Special Features:

1. Opportunities will be given to the candidates not only to familiarise themselves with the latest themes in Science-Religion Dialogue, but also to contribute creatively to the on-going dialogue by research and writing.
2. They will be required to contribute articles to national and international journals of repute. Opportunities will be created, as far as possible, that the students may actively involve themselves in organizing, and presenting papers, if feasible, atnational/international seminars.
3. Each Course is led by one or two lead faculty. Along with weekly or fortnightly lecture inputs, interactive learning in students’ groups will be the major approach of this programme.Academic-style papers will be the mode of evaluation of the courses.
4. Preparation of an academic-style paper of about 4000-5000 words will be the mode of assessment for each course. Grades will be awarded for the academic papers. Publication of
   the paper in one of the journals recognized by the University Grants Commission of India, the apex body of higher education in India, will obtain the highest grade.
5. For the publishable Research Paper students will be guided by a mentor on a topic ap- proved by the Faculty, the output of which will be published.

Course Details:

Students will be required to obtain 50 credits over a period of two years from the various components of the program. One credit is equivalent of 15 hours of academic activity consisting of lecture inputs, group activities, and personal study and research.

Credit Allocation:

• 8 Courses of 5 credits each - 40 credits
• Publishable Research Paper – 6 Credits
• Pro-seminar on Research Methodology – 2 Credits
• Participation and presentation of paper in national/international seminars prescribed by GMU, FEDAR and ISR - 2 Credits

Internal Credit Distribution

The internal credit distribution for individual courses will be as follows:

1. Each course will have a minimum of 15 lectures/interactions (one credit) of one-hour duration by the course instructor over the zoom platform.
2. Each course requires of the students 15 hours of group interaction (one credit) over the
   zoom platform.
3. The rest of the required credit hours (3 credits) for each course will be met by the students by personal study and research.