Spring 2017  |  RELS 3001W Section 001: Theory and Method in Religion: Critical Approaches to the Study of Religion (52106)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Meets With:
RELS 5001 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/17/2017 - 05/05/2017
Mon, Wed 04:00PM - 05:15PM
UMTC, East Bank
Lind Hall 203
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Theoretical/methodological issues in academic study of religion. Theories of origin, character, and function of religion as a human phenomenon. Psychological, sociological, anthropological, and phenomenological perspectives.
Class Description:
While even a quick glance at any newspaper these days impresses upon us the importance of religion, just how we are to understand and/or learn about religion, given the vast array of ideas, practices, institutions, and communities that lay claim to the category, is anything but straightforward. Scholars from many disciplines study religion, adding another layer of diversity, or even confusion, to the question of how one might go about learning about religion. This course will sort through a number of theories of religion and methods for studying it that have developed since the 19th century. Along the way we will examine theoretical work by Frederich Schleiermacher, Emile Durkheim, E. B. Taylor, Rudolph Otto, Mircea Eiiade, Evans Evans-Pritchard, Clifford Geertz, Jonathan Z. Smith, Robert Orsi, Thomas Tweed, Talal Asad, Tomoko Masuzawa, and others. Embedded in all of these theories are ideas about religious power and about the "religious other" and the ethics of studying those "others."
Class Format:
20% Lecture
5% Film/Video
60% Discussion
10% Small Group Activities
5% Guest Speakers
Workload:
120 Pages Reading Per Week
26 Pages Writing Per Term
4 Paper(s)
8 Quiz(zes)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52106/1173
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
5 December 2013

ClassInfo Links - Spring 2017 Religious Studies Classes

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