Theory and Method in the Study of Religion

Dates: 12/09/2016 - 16/09/2016
Mode of Delivery: Onsite and Online

Level: 4 (Year 1)

Credit Value: 20 (for regular BA Theology and Religious Study)

Concentration on the main themes and debates within each approach in the study of religion:
1. The main discussions within the field of Anthropology of Religion (i.e. unilinear evolution) with reference to the theories developed by Tyler and Evans-Pritchard
2. The main discussions within the field of Sociology of Religion (i.e. religion as a function of society) with reference to the theories developed by Marx and Weber.
3. The main discussions within the field of Psychology of Religion (i.e. religion and the individual) with reference to the theories developed by Freud & James.
4. The influential contribution of M. Eliade within the field of Phenomenology.
5. Orientalism.

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• Module Tutor

  

  Dragana Jagusic (Jahnava Lila Dasi) is a tutor for the Introduction to Western Philosophy and Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion module as well as the Bhakti Shastri modules both online and onsite. She holds an MA in Philosophy and Comparative Religion from the University of Zagreb and Bhakti-Shastri, TTC 1 & 2 and BS TTC certificates from Bhaktivedanta College. At current she is completing her MPhil degree at KU Leuven, specializing in Ancient and Medieval (Western) Philosophy. Her interests are focused on the comparison of Ancient and Medieval philosophical schools with the Vaishnava Vedanta tradition, within the framework of logic, metaphysics and epistemology.




• Expected Student Learning Activity and Contact Hours

  
  100 hours notional learning hours of which 16 hours will be contact time. Distance learning students will have access to videoed or recorded lectures and seminars and to a moodle interactive learning environment.
  

• Attendance Guidance

  
  Students are expected to attend all lectures and seminars. Distance learning students will participate in the lectures as explained in section 11 of this module descriptor.
  

• Module Content

  
  Concentration on the main themes and debates within each approach in the study of religion:
  1. The main discussions within the field of Anthropology of Religion (i.e. unilinear evolution) with reference to the theories developed by Tyler and Evans-Pritchard
  2. The main discussions within the field of Sociology of Religion (i.e. religion as a function of society) with reference to the theories developed by Marx and Weber.
  3. The main discussions within the field of Psychology of Religion (i.e. religion and the individual) with reference to the theories developed by Freud & James.
  4. The influential contribution of M. Eliade within the field of Phenomenology.
  5. Orientalism.
  

• Aims

  
  To develop:

  A critical appreciation of the development of the academic discourses on ‘religion’ as a category and the evolving debates within religious studies over the last two centuries.

  An awareness of some of the classical theories of religion (Marx, Weber, Eliade, Geertz etc.) and the contemporary debates in religious studies.

  An understanding of the various approaches to the study of religion (sociology, psychology, phenomenology etc.) and some of the relevant research methodologies applied in religious studies (quantitative/qualitative method, hermeneutics etc.).

  An appreciation of the relevance of the theories discussed.




• Methods of Learning and Teaching and Formative Assessment

  
  Lectures; talk with group participation; question and answer sessions; discussions and debates; summary; practice essay questions; reviews; individual reading and homework; use of course hand book and power point presentations.
  Appropriate forms of delivery and assessment will be offered to distance learning students to ensure comparability of learning opportunity. Lectures and seminars onsite will be video recorded; within 24 hours the video will be available in the moodle environment. We will also have separate MP3 audio recordings of the class.




• Learning outcomes

  
  By the end of the module the students will:

  1. Be familiar with the development of religious studies in the western academia, some of its main thinkers and debates.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principal representatives and major strands of classical and contemporary theories, approaches and methods.
  3. Appreciate the various approaches to religious studies within a wider historical and cultural context.
  4. Write clearly and precisely on a selected topic, introducing a problem, formulating an argument and giving coherent analysis.

• Assessment and Reassessment Components and Weighting

  
  A 2,000-word essay (100%) [LO 1 – 4].
  Reassessment: As assessment.
  

• Key references

  
  Bond, H. K., Kunin, S. D. et al. (2003). Religious studies and theology: an introduction. New York: New York University Press.
  Capps, W. H. (1995). Religious studies: the making of a discipline. Minneapolis, Fortress Press.
  Davie, G. (2007). The sociology of religion. Los Angeles, SAGE Publications.
  Dubuisson, D. (2007). The Western construction of religion: myths, knowledge and ideology. Baltimore, Md., John Hopkins University Press.
  MacCutcheon, R. T. (2005). The insider/outsider problem in the study of religion a reader. London, Continuum.
  Olsen, T. A. (2006). ‘The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion. Edited by John R. Hinnels’, Literature and Theology 20(4): 478-480.
  Pals, D. L. (2006). Eight theories of religion. New York, Oxford University Press.
  Whaling, F. (1995). Theory and method in religious studies: contemporary approaches to the study of religion. Berlin; New York, Mouton de Gruyter.