Module description
This module focuses on 'lived religion', feminist and post-colonial approaches to studying how people negotiate identity, meaning and power across diverse social, cultural, and religious contexts. A combination of lectures, practical assignments and group discussion will be used to introduce contemporary social scientific theories and develop students' independent social research skills. This module also engages with questions around social research ethics and gives students a practical understanding of the ethics review process. Students will have the opportunity to apply this knowledge to develop their understanding of diverse communities, including within the university and in London.
Sample topics: structure, agency, secularism, religious minorities in modern states, piety, embodiment, indigenous perspectives, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, intersectionality, identity and hybridity, embodied practice, social interaction, space and place, qualitative research methods and research ethics. The approach combines theory with a practical focus on developing qualitative research skills.
Assessment details
2000-word coursework essay
Educational aims & objectives
This module will provide students with an understanding of contemporary social theories and the practical qualitative social research skills to investigate how people negotiate identity, meaning, religion, and power across diverse social and cultural contexts.
Learning outcomes
Generic skills:
- Ability to conduct focused and sensitive qualitative research (such as interviews and participant observations).
- Ability to connect theoretical and methodological knowledge and skills with empirical interactions and observations.
- Ability critically to assess theoretical knowledge and refine methodological skills through empirical interactions and observations.
- Ability to tackle ethical issues involved in conducting research with human participants.
- Ability to contextualise original research with contemporary social theories
- Ability to write essays based on empirical research.
Module specific skills:
- Understanding contemporary social scientific theories relevant to identity, meaning and power in contemporary societies.
- Ability to use qualitative research methods to study cultural meaning and practices.
- Ability to engage with people from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds and to reflect on the ethical issues involved.
- By the end of the module you will broaden your knowledge and empathy of the diversity of religious and cultural practices that are significant to people within their everyday lives.
- Ability to see the relevancy of theory to understanding real people and their lives today.
Teaching pattern
1 lecture and 1 seminar per week, over ten weeks