Buddhist Studies MSc

Compulsory courses

As a student of this programme, you will complete the following compulsory courses:

• Approaches to Research in Divinity and Religious Studies (10 credits, Semester 1)
• Approaches to Research: Buddhist Studies (10 credits, Semester 2)
• Envisioning Buddhist Studies: Methods and Themes (20 credits, Semester 1)
• Dissertation (MSc in Buddhist Studies) (60 credits, Semesters 1 and 2)

Approaches to Research

The two Approaches to Research courses will allow you to develop the postgraduate research skills required for engaging with important methodological literature and preparing your dissertation proposal.

Envisioning Buddhist Studies: Methods and Themes

This course will introduce you to the many ways in which Buddhism has been and can be studied. Course sessions focus on:

• textual, historical, visual, philosophical and ethnographic approaches
• modelling the application of different methods (and combinations of methods) to the study of particular topics or themes

Optional courses

The programme director will guide you through the wide range of optional courses available for you to choose from. You will take four optional courses worth 80 credits in total.

The range of optional courses offered across various schools may include the following:

• Buddhist Studies in Practice
• Buddhist Literature
• Lives of the Buddha in Indian Art and Literature
• Theravada Buddhism from Benares to Bangkok
• Buddhist Ethics
• Buddhist Monasticism Across Time and Place
• Introducing Sanskrit
• Intermediate Sanskrit
• Indian Philosophies of Mind and Language
• Japanese Philosophy
• Buddhist Philosophy
• Buddhism and the State in Early East Asia
• Chinese Religions
• Japanese Religious Traditions
• Art for the Afterlife: Buddhist Relics in Asian Material Culture
• Art and Belief in the Himalayas

Optional courses available for 2025 entry will be confirmed in Spring 2025.

Buddhist Studies in Practice

One of the optional courses for this programme, ‘Buddhist Studies in Practice’, offers you the chance to pursue an experiential learning option. This course allows you to complete an activity such as:

• a translation
• the creation of a teaching resource
• a piece of curatorial work

Your activity will be supervised by an appropriate colleague who is based either:

• at the University of Edinburgh or
• with one of our existing partnerships with local schools and the National Museum of Scotland

Your work for this course will be assessed through an extended piece of reflective writing.

This course may be of particular interest to students who do not wish to pursue PhD study, but instead wish to develop other professional skills. A supervised research essay option is also available.

Dissertation

Topics covered in your courses will inform your choice of an area of specialisation, which will be reflected in your dissertation project.

If you choose to take the optional course ‘Buddhist Studies in Practice’, this may involve a short placement with a relevant organisation, such as:

• the National Museum of Scotland
• a local school
• a local Buddhist organisation

By the end of the programme, you will be able to:

• explain the major methods used in the academic study of Buddhism, and assess their strengths and limitations, informed by an understanding of the history of the field and its current debates
• engage closely and critically with a range of primary sources relevant to the study of Buddhism, including textual, visual and material sources
• critically assess a range of scholarship in Buddhist Studies and allied fields
• plan and complete an independently designed research project that contributes to the field of Buddhist Studies
• select appropriate methods and theoretical frameworks in approaching individual pieces of research in different areas of Buddhist Studies, and justify their selection
• produce and articulate clearly a coherent argument in both written and oral form

Graduates of this programme may choose to pursue:

• an academic career in areas such as:

  • Buddhist studies
  • Asian religions
  • cultural studies or

• work in areas such as:

  • teaching religion
  • museum curation
  • editing and publishing
  • politics
  • civil service
  • journalism
  • working with NGOs and businesses with an Asian focus

This programme is designed for highly-motivated graduates from any relevant discipline including, but not limited to:

• anthropology
• art history
• Asian studies
• literature
• philosophy
• psychology
• religious and theological studies

This programme may appeal particularly to applicants with undergraduate degrees in Asian languages (including those who have studied in Asia) but who lack a disciplinary grounding in the field.

After graduating from this programme, you will be well-prepared for PhD study or further training in a variety of professions including:

• teaching
• academic publishing
• translation
• work in cultural institutions

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a relevant subject.

We may also consider your application if you have relevant qualifications and experience; please contact us to check before you apply.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 6 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money
  • taking out a loan
  • family support
• personal savings
• income from work
• employer sponsorship
• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Other funding opportunities

• School of Divinity Postgraduate Masters Scholarships

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding