Transformative Learning
In the School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music (TPM) we strive to provide a transformative learning experience for our students in accordance with DCU’s continuing Strategy to “Transform Lives and Societies”. Students are invited to challenge their own, and others’, worldviews and grow within flexible, supportive and inclusive learning environments. They engage with real-world issues and contexts, facilitated by leading experts in a variety of fields, from ethics to artistic performance, and inter-faith dialogue to cultural musicology.
For more on our offerings, see the Programme sections:
Click on each of the 5 Key Identifiers (ID) of our Transformative Learning Experience below to learn more:
Our students engage in direct dialogue with historical and cultural sites, political, socio-cultural, environmental and artistic contexts, archival materials, and site or context specific expertise.
- Students of World Religions and Theology take various trips to monastic sites, they debate and consider cultural and religious differences in Northern Ireland on a trip to Belfast, and they interact with archival studies and materials at the Chester Beatty library. These students also have the opportunity to take up placements in external not-for-profit organisations.
- We draw on the School’s particular expertise in Ethics on our Philosophy programmes in addressing some of the most pressing issues in today's world such as Bioethics, Environmental Ethics and Artificial Intelligence.
- Music students visit Christ Church Cathedral and Fishamble Street for Handel tours; they are taken on interactive Sound Walks through All Hallows and Drumcondra; topics covered in Musicology and Music Studies connect learning to broader and current issues such as Gender and Music, Decolonisation and the Arts, Nationalism, and the ‘Me Too’ movement. Postgraduate Choral Studies students explicitly connect to the broader arts and culture landscape in considering their place within and contribution to it. Jazz and contemporary music performance is founded on the principles of authenticity and personal growth within a real-world context, and students are encouraged and expected to seek out opportunities for external performance and engagement in honing their craft. All Music students perform as part of our free Lunchtime Concert Series and Choral Concerts.
All students in the School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music have the opportunity to learn from the real-world expertise of teaching staff. Our School exceeds expectations in securing national and international research funding including Taighde Éireann/Irish Research Council Postgraduate and Postdoctoral scholarships. Our courses are research-informed, delivered by academic and research staff who embody their disciplines and actively lead in their fields of research. This means that our student learning experiences are grounded in current scholarship and authentic experience.
- Philosophy at DCU offers students a unique combination of established foundations in the discipline (such as Metaphysics, Epistemology and Logic) and innovative and ‘cutting edge’ offerings (in Feminist Philosophy and World Philosophies, Bioethics, for example).
- The array of research in Theology and Religious Studies feeds into the curriculum. Students engage in learning and debate in new and evolving areas, for example, The Bible and Art; Theological Perspectives in Social Ethics; Science and Religion; Eastern Religious Traditions; and Comparative Environmental Theology.
- In Music, staff actively contribute to the discipline as performers, conductors, composers, arrangers, etc. and lead in research in emerging areas such as creative practice, music leadership, choral studies and conducting practices, contemporary music and jazz performance, Irish traditional music, film and popular music studies, digital technology in music and music education.
All of our Postgraduate offerings provide space for expert and internationally recognised speakers (academics, artists, cultural leaders) to contribute and enrich our students’ learning experiences. Related to ID2 (Unique Combinations of Foundational & Innovative Research-Led Topics), our research entails ongoing symbiotic dialogue with these scholars and their research, again feeding into our perspectives and our teaching.
- Successful Erasmus+ projects have ensured that the transformative learning experiences of staff and researchers directly impact both our approaches to learning and teaching and the learning experiences of our students; this can also be said of our School’s positive record of engagement with Professional Development, e.g. Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Aurora Women in Leadership, and the Advance HE Fellowships.
- Our new MA in Music, Sound, Culture & Media has emerged from the need for more cross-disciplinary interactions in further enhancing authentic learning experiences that transform students within their own professional and personal contexts. It also provides opportunities for students to learn from each other and to question where these disciplines are going and how they are being challenged, developed or reimagined now and into the future.
- Our MA in Theology and World Religions approaches theology as a critical, academic study of religion and introduces students to a comprehensive examination of the world’s major traditions within a diverse, secular and interdisciplinary university context, emphasising comparative and dialogical approaches.
- Our MA in Choral Studies prepares students for active lives in various music communities. Students acquire advanced skills in conducting, composing and ensemble singing while also understanding the relationship between cultural policy, public bodies and enterprise in the arts.
- Our MA programmes in Ethics (MA in Ethics; MA in Ethics Corporate Responsibility) provide opportunities enables students to hone their analytical and decision-making skills in effectively applying ethical theories and principles to real-world and professional challenges.
The breadth of the learning interactions, learning environment and assessment types we offer align with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), illustrating our commitment to inclusive, diverse and equitable educational opportunities for our students. We enable learners to generate new ideas, create new art, interpret the world as “students of the humanities”, and develop their personal confidence, agency and agility for an unscripted future. This has been recognised through our success in the annual President's Awards for Excellence in Teaching.
- Learning Experiences include lectures, group discussions and group work, workshops, practicals, creative and collaborative components. Delivery modes range from in-person/on-campus, online, blended, and hybrid. Varied types of Assessment allow students to demonstrate learning in different ways. These include more traditional, yet critical, modes such as written and practical examinations, group projects, compositions, presentations and written essays, coupled with innovative approaches to assessment such as interactive blogs, oral essays, podcasts, scoring maps, and creative practice portfolios.
- On-site learning generates individual and social engagement experiences for students, helping them to hone their communication, interpersonal and intercultural skills.
- Students across our Undergraduate, Postgraduate and PhD programmes have the opportunity to engage with research topics of interest to them.
Staff in the School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music support students’ independence in many ways that we work with them across the modules and disciplines in our School. The learning experience does not end in the classroom. Students receive dedicated attention and engagement with their work. Feedback on students' work is provided in multiple ways to ensure that learning is incremental and students feel supported throughout their learning journey. Students value these interactions and this has led to several Irish Research Council (now Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland) Allyship Awards in our School.
- We actively engage with our student representatives in building a community wherein every student feels valued and part of the learning environment of Theology, Philosophy, and Music.
- We consistently explore avenues for further student interactions across our three disciplines, e.g. PhD students are invited to deliver research seminars, they engage in teaching on our programmes, we plan writing retreats twice a year for staff and research students.
- We are committed to the principles of the Athena Swan Charter in promoting inclusivity and equality across all aspects of our teaching and learning.
- We ascribe to DCU’s goal of ensuring we teach and support learning in ways that account for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).