Module description
This module takes students on the path to understanding of how religious ideas, movements, and institutions shape and are shaped by individuals, groups, and societies. Students engage with ideas and theories of classical thinkers, such as Durkheim, Marx, and Weber, and with innovative and often provocative views and concepts of contemporary sociologists. Among the questions for discussion are whether religion serves as ‘social cement’ or causes conflict; why and how it can reinforce the existing social order or encourage change; and how we can explain why people stay in conventional faiths or choose new, even exotic, religions – or maybe they are brainwashed into them? While grounded in the solid legacy of the ‘founding fathers’ of the sociology of religion, the module confronts a range intriguing contemporary issues such as whether religion is still socially significant or has become a ‘leisure pursuit’, and how contemporary popular culture and religion impact each other. Finally – and importantly – we discuss methods and approaches that sociologists use to study religion – and why their methodology often leads them to discoveries that challenge common assumptions and ‘official truths’ about certain religious beliefs, practices, and groups.
Assessment details
One 90 mins examination (100%).
Teaching pattern
Ten two-hour classes over ten weeks. Lecture is the principal method of teaching in this module, but it also includes ample opportunities for discussion, dispute, and questions.