The first step in applying for the RRE course is to decide at which university you wish to be based. If you are admitted, you will be enrolled and take courses at all the participating universities but you have to be based at one of them. Each university has different strengths and slightly different selection criteria and you can read more about them below.
Note that the admission requirements are more or less the same for each university, but the application deadlines vary considerably. If you are a citizen of an EU country, you can be based at any of the universities without paying tuition.
If you are considering applying, it is a good idea to contact either a Student Ambassador or the professor in charge at the university of your choice. Their contact details are listed underneath each summary.
Please note: application deadlines for the University of Oslo are 1st December and the administration cannot respond to applications until April so it is particularly important to contact Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme to discuss any questions about the course, the university, and the entrance requirements.
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is not only Denmark’s oldest university, but also one of the oldest in Northern Europe. Its location in the capital city makes the university’s development, key people, and events part of the history of Denmark. The University of Copenhagen is the highest-ranking university in Denmark and often the highest-ranking University in the Nordic Region. Internationally, it ranks at a level that corresponds to a position among the top 1 percent of the World’s universities.
An international research evaluation carried out at the University of Copenhagen in 2018 concluded that the Faculty of Theology’s research is of high quality. As Theology is one large research field, there are overlapping interests and also many scholarly bonds between the research of the Church History, Biblical Studies and Systematic Theology Sections. At the same time, research activities are concretely based in Sections that conduct research relatively independent of each other, with each Section pursuing its specific goals. The Faculty also hosts a Center for African Studies, a Søren Kierkegaard research center, and an Excellence center for Privacy studies.
The professors closest to the RRE-program are Martin Ehrensvärd and Thomas Hoffmann, both working in the Biblical Studies section. Ehrensvärd is trained in the Semitic languages and Hoffmann holds an MA in comparative religion and specialises in Qurʾān studies. Currently, he is the Principal Investigator for a project on Ambiguity and Precision in the Qurʾān.
In early 2017, the Faculty of Theology moved to its current location on the university’s newly built South Campus with its purpose-built classrooms, reading rooms, offices, library facilities, and rooms for social activities.
Copenhagen is an international city with a high-quality of life, it is well-connected, and one of the greenest capital cities in Europe. Here are a couple of videos about what it’s like to study in Copenhagen:
- https://studies.ku.dk/masters/living-in-copenhagen/ – videos 2 and 3 feature RRE students.
- https://studies.ku.dk/masters/studying-at-ucph/ – this one features RRE program coordinator Martin Ehrensvärd.
For more information, please contact Martin Ehrensvärd at meh@teol.ku.dk.
Lund University, Sweden
Founded in 1666, Lund is one of northern Europe’s oldest, broadest and finest universities and is consistently ranked in the world’s top 100 institutions. The Centre for Theology and Religious Studies has an excellent Jewish Studies programme, a long-standing tradition of studying the interrelation between Judaism and early Christianity, particularly in the field of New Testament, and also hosts a lively study of contemporary Islam. The Collegium Patristicum Lundense is internationally well-recognized for Patristics, the study of the early Church in its Late Antique context, and runs its own journal, Patristica Nordica Annuaria.
In recent years, CTR has hosted a large-scale project about the early monastic movement, led by Professor Samuel Rubenson: Early Monasticism and Classical Paideia (MOPAI), a research programme which has continued with another project: Formative Wisdom: The Reception of Monastic Sayings in European Culture.
Lund is considered the number one city for students in Sweden, with its exciting campus environment, vibrant student life, international atmosphere, and memorable student traditions.
For more information, please contact Andreas Westergren at religiousroots@teol.lu.se.
University of Oslo, Norway
The University of Oslo allows students to apply without the Ancient Language requirement.
The Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo is a dynamic institution with high-level academic milieus especially relevant to RRE, including:
Interreligious studies, especially Christianity-Islam, including Islamic Studies (link in Norwegian);
- Bible and Biblical Reception, including focal points on Jewish-Christian relations and Gender Studies;
- Egyptian Christianity and Monasticism, including Coptic manuscripts and literature, Nag Hammadi Codices and Coptic apocrypha;
- Liturgy, especially Eastern Christian (Byzantine, Palestinian, Georgian, and other), and Jewish-Christian-Muslim comparative ritual studies;
- Cognitive theory and method, including New/Material Philology, Reception studies.
In 2020-21, Faculty scholars will lead a project at the Center of Advanced Studies on, Books Known Only by Title: Exploring the Gendered Structures of First Millennium Imagined Libraries and RRE students are welcome to connect with the project. Previous projects include New Contexts for Old Texts: Unorthodox Texts and Monastic Manuscript Culture in Fourth- and Fifth-Century Egypt and the Faculty of Theology leads a national Interdisciplinary Research School for PhD students.
There are also several reading groups in ancient languages (and texts) at the University of Oslo and nearby (Norwegian Institute of Philology) in which RRE students may participate and practice languages such as Greek, Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian.
Although Oslo is an expensive city where winter is dark and cold, it is fairly easy to find a part-time job and salaries are equally high. Moreover, the city is surrounded by some of the most stunning natural countryside in the world. The sea, forest, and the famous fjords are very accessible via public transport, meaning many exciting outdoor activities are available almost on your doorstep!
For more information, please contact Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme.
An interview with a Lithuanian student