Master of Arts Religious Minorities

The Religious Minorities master’s at the University of Bergen is an experience-based master program dedicated to exploring religious minorities in their religious, socio-political and cultural surroundings across time and space. The program aims to give its attending students an in-depth understanding of the the significance of religious minorities issues in contemporary cultural and political contexts.

Online Master’s Program

The Religious Minorities master’s at the University of Bergen is offered fully online. The program combines in-depth explorations of religious minorities with intensive training in research and writing. Its nurturing learning community integrates a flexible learning environment with one-on-one and group-based supervision by leading international experts at the University of Bergen.

Fixed curriculum and electives

In the fixed curriculum, students will work in small, supervised groups, exploring major challenges that surround worldwide contemporary religious minorities and their complex historical, political, and religious roots. In addition, the students will acquire a sophisticated conceptual and theoretical apparatus. Last but not least, they are trained in professional research methods and research design competency.

The electives offer expert knowledge in various subjects related to religious minorities and serve to enrich the students' horizons. Some of the electives focus on single minorities, such as modern antisemitism, Christianity in Contemporary China and India, Buddhism in contemporary India, the Yezidis, and the Samis. Other electives explore religious minorities in particular regions, such as Central and Eastern Europe and Israel, or focus on particular themes, such as dissents in religious minorities.

See overview of all courses below: 

Part-time or Full-time

The Religious Minorities program's curriculum comprises a fixed curriculum, electives, and individual supervision of the preparation and execution of a professional research project. The duration of full-time enrollment is 2 semesters of full-time study plus 1 semester full-time writing a 30 ECTS research thesis.

It will be possible to study part-time. Each student will have to sign on individual contracts with plan for progression, within the maximum limit of 4 years/8 semesters. 

Tuition fee and payment

This master’s program has a total fee of NOK 60500. The tuition fee covers tuition and supervision, as well as exam costs. Expenses for course literature are in addition. 

The study fee will be divided into installments of NOK 20,500 for the first semester and then NOK 20,000 for each of the following two semesters, a total of NOK 60,500 after three semesters. This also applies to those who choose to study part-time and thus will need additional semesters to complete the entire master’s program.

UiB does not offer any scholarships.

You must therefore ensure that you have sufficient funding for the complete tuition fee, as all admitted students will have to sign a contract with UiB stating your rights and obligations, including payment obligation. We will therefore ask all applicants to document sufficient funds, see required documentation further below.

Application requirements

To qualify for acceptance you must fulfil the following criterias:

• Bachelor´s degree or equivalent from an accredited university. Find specific requirements for your home country in our country list
• Your degree must include courses equalling at least 80 ECTS (approximately 1.5 years of full-time studies) in a subject relevant to this MA Program
• You must have obtained a minimum average grade of Norwegian grade C or the equivalent, to compete for admission. The Norwegian grade C equals to the grade C in the ECTS system or to the US grade B.
• Relevant work experience of two years (full time) or more. This work experience needs to be from the fields of media, policy, education, activism, social work, research, or similar fields.
• English language proficiency - see requirements

Please note that this is a distance learning programme. The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration will not grant you a residence permit based on studies to attend this programme in Norway. 

Application procedure, required documentation and selection of candidates

You must register your application online and upload the following documents:

• Copy of passport or other ID
• CV including both your educational- and professional background
• Secondary School Certificate / High school diploma
• Bachelor's degree certificate/diploma (all pages) 
• Transcript of records including a description of the grading scale used
• Documentation from employer (s) of a minimum of 2 years full time professional practice
• English language proficiency - see requirements
• An outline of a proposed area or theme that could serve as a topic for your Master’s thesis (400–600 words in English).

I addition, you need to document sufficient financial funds, with one of the following:

• A bank statement showing that you have sufficient funds
• A sponsor guarantee letter
• A scholarship, stipend or student loan confirmation

Note! If the original language of your documents is not English or a Scandinavian language, officially certified copies of a translation to one of these languages must accompany certified copies of your documents in the original language.

Candidates who have fulfilled all qualification criteria and whose project outline fits into the program’s aims and scope will be contacted within 3 weeks after application deadline, for a short interview by phone or Skype/Teams. 

The interview will take the outline proposal as its point of departure, and we will discuss your personal motivation, academic curriculum of previous studies and work experience, project plans, and expectations of the program.