Unit information: Sociology of Religion in 2013/14

Unit name	Sociology of Religion
Unit code	SOCI20023
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
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.

Aims:

1. to highlight the distinctive contribution sociology makes to understanding religion and religiosity

2. to set religion in the context of anthropology and theology and to relate these approaches to sociological notions of belief and practice

3. to address the wider cultural significance of religion to show the relationship between religion, modernity and postmodernity

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate nuanced awareness of the sociological complexity of religion and religiosity
2. Understand how sociology deals with issues of belief, their cultural significance and institutional settings of practice
3. Critically apply appropriate methodologies for the study of religious practice
4. 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

Formative 2000 word essay or equivalent

Summative 3000 word essay or equivalent

Both formative and summative essays or equivalent address learning outcomes 1-4.

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.