General description

The Master's degree program in History of Ancient Religions utilizes a philological-historical approach to impart more extensive knowledge to students about the religions, texts, and historical connections and correlations in the ancient world. The program offers three areas of specialization that pick up where the corresponding BA areas left off: a) Ancient Middle East and Old Testament, b) Ancient Judaism, c) Ancient Christianity.

Admission requirements

Bachelor’s degree with a specialization in theology or religious studies as at
least a minor program of study with 60 ECTS credits. Admission with restrictions may be granted to applicants who have the required specialization
but who do not display sufficient knowledge of the subject. Applicants who do
not possess a Bachelor’s degree with the required specialization may be admitted upon special review; if sufficient knowledge of the subject cannot be
displayed, additional requirements may have to be met. Admission without additional requirements is granted if the applicant has a Bachelor's degree in
History of Ancient Religions with the same area of specialization as in the
minor program of study, or a Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies as a major
or minor program of study (provided proficiency in two relevant source text
languages can be proved), or a Bachelor's degree in Theology as a major or
single major from the Faculty of Theology and Study of Religion at the University of Zurich, or if
the applicant has an equivalent or higher-quality degree from a university in
Switzerland or abroad, provided the degree is recognized by the Faculty of
Theology and Study of Religion. Admission to the consecutive Master’s degree program in History of
Ancient Religions as a minor program of study requires the applicant to have
knowledge of two of the languages relevant to the selected area of concentration, whereby 12 ECTS credits need to have been earned for each language. Applicants must also have completed at least 6 ECTS credits in Religious Studies and must have knowledge in the fields relevant to the selected area of concentration, whereby at least 18 ECTS credits need to have
been earned here. The area of specialization can be changed from the one pursued in the Bachelor’s program if the proficiency demonstrated in the source-text languages allows for this, or if 12 ECTS credits from the Elective
Pool are applied to courses in an additional source-text language.

Branch of studies

Theology

ECTS credits

30 ECTS Credits

Major/minor subject combinations

The minor program of study in History of Ancient Religions (30 ECTS credits) cannot be combined with the major program of study in Theology (90 ECTS credits). If the minor program is combined with Religious Studies as a major program, modules common to both programs will be applied to the minor; the Elective Pool in the major will be increased by the corresponding number of ECTS credits. In all other cases, it is basically possible to combine the major program of study in History of Ancient Religions with any minor study program at the University of Zurich.