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EmilyAlexandra
Guest
It occurs to me that CAF has a lot of theologians as well as quite a lot of lawyers.
For a while, I have had the sense that I regret not having gone further in my education. Whatever I consider doing, it has to be something that I can do part-time and that I can do in London in the evenings or weekends or through distance learning, as I cannot study full-time and cannot commute.
The obvious route would be an MA in history, as that is what my undergraduate degree was in (or something closely related such as an MA in politics or international relations). However, I think I am more interested in trying something new.
One area that I’ve considered is law. I’ve always been interested in constitutional and legal history, and I think I’d be especially interested in constitutional and administrative law, international law, the law of war, human rights, and jurisprudence. The main route into law for non-law graduates is the graduate diploma in law, but this has little value as a qualification if one isn’t intending to become a barrister or solicitor. It’s mostly offered by commercial providers and universities with quite a low academic ranking. The academic route is an LLB qualifying law degree with senior status or an MA or LLM QLD. Birkbeck College offers a University of London LLM in two years full-time or the part-time equivalent. This has the advantage of being a master’s degree including a research component and is therefore a higher level of qualification than what I already have. It also offers a wider range of choices than most QLDs. The other options are the LLB QLD from the Open University or from the University of Essex Online, which is really Kaplan Open Learning using the University of Essex brand.
I have also been looking at the University of London Bachelor of Divinity degree offered through University of London Worldwide. It is taught entirely online and can be studied over up to six years. If I wished to focus on Judaeo-Christian studies, I could choose:
My husband is keen on the LLM QLD because (1) it is a master’s degree, (2) he thinks a QLD would be more useful for career progression, (3) he thinks that if I am interested in theology, I could educate myself about theology, whereas it would be relatively difficult to become an autodidact in law. I am inclined to think that he is correct on all points.
The other thing I wonder is how well respected a University of London degree is outside the Commonwealth, in particular in the US. For work purposes, I would need a qualification that will be respected in the US.
I know that CAF is closing in four days, but I have been meaning to ask this for some time!
For a while, I have had the sense that I regret not having gone further in my education. Whatever I consider doing, it has to be something that I can do part-time and that I can do in London in the evenings or weekends or through distance learning, as I cannot study full-time and cannot commute.
The obvious route would be an MA in history, as that is what my undergraduate degree was in (or something closely related such as an MA in politics or international relations). However, I think I am more interested in trying something new.
One area that I’ve considered is law. I’ve always been interested in constitutional and legal history, and I think I’d be especially interested in constitutional and administrative law, international law, the law of war, human rights, and jurisprudence. The main route into law for non-law graduates is the graduate diploma in law, but this has little value as a qualification if one isn’t intending to become a barrister or solicitor. It’s mostly offered by commercial providers and universities with quite a low academic ranking. The academic route is an LLB qualifying law degree with senior status or an MA or LLM QLD. Birkbeck College offers a University of London LLM in two years full-time or the part-time equivalent. This has the advantage of being a master’s degree including a research component and is therefore a higher level of qualification than what I already have. It also offers a wider range of choices than most QLDs. The other options are the LLB QLD from the Open University or from the University of Essex Online, which is really Kaplan Open Learning using the University of Essex brand.
I have also been looking at the University of London Bachelor of Divinity degree offered through University of London Worldwide. It is taught entirely online and can be studied over up to six years. If I wished to focus on Judaeo-Christian studies, I could choose:
- Religion, meaning, and value
- Reading the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
- Sacrifice, praise, and wisdom
- Biblical Hebrew: language and texts
- Texts in Hebrew
- Reading the New Testament
- New Testament theology: texts in English
- New Testament Greek: language and texts
- Texts in Greek: John and Romans
- Christian doctrine
- History of Christianity
- Dissertation
My husband is keen on the LLM QLD because (1) it is a master’s degree, (2) he thinks a QLD would be more useful for career progression, (3) he thinks that if I am interested in theology, I could educate myself about theology, whereas it would be relatively difficult to become an autodidact in law. I am inclined to think that he is correct on all points.
The other thing I wonder is how well respected a University of London degree is outside the Commonwealth, in particular in the US. For work purposes, I would need a qualification that will be respected in the US.
I know that CAF is closing in four days, but I have been meaning to ask this for some time!
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