University of Kent in UK closes Religious Studies

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – The University of Kent in the UK has announced the closure of the Philosophy / Religious Studies department, alongside Anthropology, Art History, Health and Social Care, Journalism and Music and Audio Technology.

In a statement it said the changes will come into effect from 2025-2026 “recognising that students have different needs and different expectations than they did in the past”.

It continues: “None of this is a reflection on the quality or societal value of any course or subject area being consulted on – we simply don’t think we at Kent can continue to recruit competitively to every course given national student number projections”.

Current students on the threatened courses will be able to complete their studies.

The university is based in Canterbury which is the base from which St Augustine introduced Christian scholarship to Britain.

It is now one of the leading centres in the study of how religion is understood today, with international research on unbelief and what that means.