HDip in Thological Studies, Maynooth

MissLe

Just wondering has anybody completed the Higher Diploma in Theological Studies from St. Patrick's College in Maynooth? Or anybody know anything about it? Any feedback would be mush appreciated

Crazyteacher

I know people who did it . It's two evening per week and one full saturday per month. Not as intensive as the three year degree in theology there but combined with a pgde or hdip allows you to teach up to fourteen hours of RE per week in a secondary school according to the teach council( open to correction). Enjoyable if you are interested in theology but remember not just about learning about Religion . There's scripture, moral, liturgy , systematic, ecclesiology etc. HTH.

markievicz

If you have an interest in Theology and would like to teach RE in second level I'd say go for it. It's an enjoyable course from what I've heard (my degree is in Theology and some of my classmates continued with the HDip in Theology. The Dip is basically a shorter version of my course!) and the Theology aspect itself is pretty interesting. As the poster above mentioned,it isn't based purely religion in general, it's divided between a few aspects of Theology the main ones being scripture, moral, and dogma (systematic). Scripture is kinda self-explanatory it'll be a study of some of the Gospels, the Psalms and some parts of the New Testament. Moral is the study of morality and the effects on Christian life. This subject was my favourite, very intersting. It covers sin and virtue, marriage, euthanasia and some of the Church writings on different subjects affecting Christian life. Dogma is basically the history of religion. It covers people like Aquinas, Augustine and how different things in religion came about. The electives are usually pretty good too covering a lot of different aspects. If one on Islam is available I'd recommend it, it's incredibly interesting! The lecturers in St. Pat's are great aswell, I couldn't recommend them highly enough, they have all the time in the world for their students.
If you've any specific questions feel free to PM me! HTH!:D

sitstill

Hey there. I did this a few years ago as I was only qualified in one subject and wanted a second.

The lectures are Mon and Wed 6.30 - 9.30 and roughly one Saturday 10 -4 per month.

You will have lectures on systematic theology (church structures, sacraments etc), moral theology, liturgy and scripture. Each is assessed with an exam and an essay (except liturgy which is assessed by project). I found that most assignments were bunched towards the end coming up to the exams.

The Saturday classes are you option modules. There are 6 to choose from, including Islam and Church History. They also do an option on teaching methodologies which you will obviously be advised to do. The options are assessed by class participation, presentations etc.

The course is quite tough going but its well worth doing and I recommend it to everyone in that situation. If you want any more info then feel free to PM me.

dno7239

Hi all,

when would you recommend applying (closing date is in June or something), is it too early to apply now do you reckon?

sitstill

If you want to apply, apply! I think I did in the February and they offered me a place 3 days later. So I reckon they are continuously recruiting for it - there were people on the course in my year who had only applied in July. If they offer you a place, they will give you a month to make up your mind and pay a deposit of €127. Let us know how it goes!