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| Unit name |
Sociology of Religion |
| Unit code |
SOCI30060 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Flanagan |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None
|
| Co-requisites |
None
|
| School/department |
School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Description including Unit Aims
This unit examines traditional and contemporary sociological responses to the persistence of religion in contemporary culture. The unit deals with the controversies surrounding the definition of religion and secularisation; Weber and Durkheim; the rise of holistic spirituality; spiritual capital; prayer; conversion and evil; and the relationship between memory, nostalgia and religious belief. These topics illustrate the complexity of religion but also sociological efforts to characterise its ongoing significance as modernity matures.
Unit Aims:
- to highlight the distinctive contribution sociology makes to understanding religion and religiosity
- to set religion in the context of anthropology and theology and to relate these approaches to sociological notions of belief and practice
- to address the wider cultural significance of religion to show the relationship between religion, modernity and postmodernity
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
- demonstrate nuanced awareness of the sociological complexity of religion and religiosity
- understand how sociology deals with issues of belief, their cultural significance and institutional settings of practice
- critically apply appropriate methodologies for the study of religious practice
- make detailed and appropriate use of empirical case studies to illustrate their arguments
Teaching Information
1 hour of lecture and 2 hours of seminars.
Assessment Information
Essay 100%
Reading and References
- Inger Furseth and Pal Repstad, An Introduction to the Sociology of Religion: Classical and Contemporary Pespectives, Aldershot: Ashgate 2006.
- Kieran Flanagan and Peter C. Jupp, eds., A Sociology of Spirituality, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007.
- Hans Joas and Klaus Wiegandt, eds., Secularization and the World Religions, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2009.
- Giuseppe Giordan, ed., Conversion in the Age of Pluralism, Leiden: Brill, 2009.
- Terry Eagleton, On Evil, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.
- Anthony J. Carroll, Protestant Modernity: Weber, Secularisation and Protestantism, Scranton: Scranton University Press, 2007.
