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'The unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates.
Welcome to A-Level Religious Studies at KAA
Each year the RS department leads students through a thought-provoking curriculum of Philosophy, Ethics and the study of Islam. This popular course has seen our students leave with excellent A-level results. However, the skills you gain through studying with us are equally important as grades.
Religious Studies help you develop marketable skills and aptitudes including:
analytical and strategic thinking
research skills
critical judgement
the ability to work with abstract, conceptual ideas
an ability to understand both sides and negotiate and resolve conflict
problem-solving skills
understanding of the impact of conflicting ideologies
an appreciation of human diversity, belief systems, cultural and spiritual experience
This page contains a range of activities for prospective students to engage with, hopefully making the step to A-level much easier.
For any further queries contact A.Kang@kaa.org.uk
Ms Kang | Head of Religious Studies
A Level Taster Day Handout.pdfFor additional information please see the Taster Day Handout here. For any other questions or digital bridging work can be emailed to A.Kang@kaa.org.uk
Bridging Work
Year 12 Bridging Work 2022 RE.pdfProgression Work
Philosophy:
The aim of the logic puzzles is twofold:
1. To show you how different Philosophy is from the RS you've done before.
2. To start to get you thinking in the right way for looking at Philosophical arguments
Please have a go at the puzzles before watching the answer videos which also go into how these are relevant to Philosophy.
Logic_Puzzles.pdfAnswers:
Ducks: https://www.loom.com/share/7c50ad162935473c88c702c3bfdb731d
Apples: https://www.loom.com/share/0a367f0ab16d43bf9c11818adbdc876f
Marriage: https://www.loom.com/share/26a5db146bce44669e23a410ed532892
Crossing the River: https://www.loom.com/share/da526e4ba11645fcbba49d64c77e94da
Lion & Unicorn: https://www.loom.com/share/da526e4ba11645fcbba49d64c77e94da
Spies, Knaves & Knights: https://www.loom.com/share/5c5adeae0c574f07be5d328d10d2658a
Post Office Burglary: https://www.loom.com/share/a21b6c413e654b30b4a9087cebc633ae
Ethics:
Ethics is all about morality and decision-making. You might think knowing what's right & what's wrong is easy however our study of Ethics will make you question everything!
Try these games - What will you find out about your morality?
http://www.philosophyexperiments.com/fatman/Default.aspx
http://www.philosophyexperiments.com/cat/Default.aspx
http://www.philosophyexperiments.com/whosebody/Default.aspx
http://www.philosophyexperiments.com/euthyphro/Default.aspx
http://www.philosophyexperiments.com/carneades/Default.aspx
Islam:
In order to study Islamic theology you do not need to be a Muslim - it may help if you know some of the Arabic words already, but this course does not require prior knowledge of the history of Islam, nor does it need an Arabic linguist. It does demand a student who is open to a wide range of scholarly debate - even when it is uncomfortable to hear. Learning the theory of hermeneutics (interpretation of a text) is a skill you will develop over time when responding to challenging claims. Let's take the history of the life of the prophet Muhammad - an agnostic Jewish author who wrote a biography of his life and was struck by discovering how much he doubted the first revelation he received.
Watch this 13-minute TedTalk titled 'The Doubt Essential to Faith' to explore some uncomfortable research about Prophet Muhammad and whether questioning and doubt are useful tools for religious faith. https://www.ted.com/talks/lesley_hazleton_the_doubt_essential_to_faith#t-27721
Are you willing to join us and understand Islam from different perspectives?
Ongoing Activities:
Reading: anything of good quality, even if it's a novel or a book about an entirely different topic, is always helpful for improving your skills, because you are practising your comprehension skills as well as practising understanding different ways in which writers express their ideas. Your own writing will improve, the more you read.
Here are some books you could try:
The Puzzle of Ethics - Peter Vardy
The pig that wants to be eaten - Julian Baggini
Think - Simon Blackburn
Sophie's World - J. Gaarder
The Miracle of Theism - J.L Mackie
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
Some things to watch and think about:
Use these links as stimulus for thinking and writing, rather than just sitting in front of them. Start with topics that interest you!
BBC History of Ideas:
Short animations to explain some big questions around freewill, beauty and good and evil
The Big Conversation video series from Unbelievable?
Features world-class thinkers across the Christian and atheist communities discussing faith, science and what it means to be human. Each season consists of 6 special shows featuring video conversations between leading theistic and atheistic voices, exploring science, faith, philosophy and what it means to be human.
Crash Course
offers a range of introductory to Western philosophy based on A-level curriculum
Films & TV shows
With religious or philosophical ideas:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Gattaca
The Good Place
The Matrix
Messiah
One Day in the Haram
Twelve Angry Men
Unorthodox
Devs
TED talks
These are usually wonderful, with plenty to stimulate your questioning and reasoning skills. There are loads of talks on here, so use the search engine to find topics that interest you. You could practice your note-taking skills as if you were in a real lecture by jotting down key points at speed.
Ask yourself questions when you get to the end:
* What were the speaker's key messages?
* Do you agree with the speaker?
* What might someone who disagreed say, and what might their reasons be?*
Here are our suggestions:
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