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2011/2 Provisional Module Catalogue - UNDER CONSTRUCTION & SUBJECT TO CHANGE
 Module Code: SOC2042 Module Title: SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
Module Provider: Sociology Short Name: SOC2042
Level: HE2 Module Co-ordinator: WILLIAMS MJ Mr (Sociology)
Number of credits: 15 Number of ECTS credits: 7.5
 
Module Availability
Semester 2
Assessment Pattern

Unit(s) of Assessment

 
Weighting Towards Module Mark( %)

 

2 hour exam

 

100

 

Qualifying Condition(s) 

 

A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module.

 
Module Overview
This module examines sociological explanations of religion beginning with the Enlightenment thinkers of the 18th century and proceeding through classic thinkers such as Marx, Durkheim and Weber to contemporary debates about secularisation. It also looks at cognate psychoanalytic and social anthropological explanations of religion. It considers primitive religions and phenomena such as magic, witchcraft and millenarianism as well as the great world religions.
Prerequisites/Co-requisites
None
Module Aims

·         to provide an overview of sociological interpretations of religion since the Enlightenment

·         to convey an appreciation of related psychoanalytic and social anthropological theories of religion

·         to convey an appreciation of sociological theories of religion in all its manifestations from primitive religions to the great world religions such as Christianity and Islam

 

  • to provide an introduction to contemporary debates about the relation between religion and modernity
Learning Outcomes

Students completing this module should be able to:

 

·         Demonstrate a familiarity with different sociological interpretations of the general nature of religion since the Enlightenment

·         Demonstrate a familiarity with related psychoanalytic and social anthropological theories of religion

·         Demonstrate an understanding of sociological theories of religion in all its manifestations from primitive religions to the great world religions

·         Demonstrate an awareness of current debates about the relation between religion and modernity

 

  • Draw on the range of material covered in the module in order to construct arguments and explanations in an essay on a chosen topic and in exam conditions
Module Content

·         classic sociological interpretations of religion (Marx, Durkheim and Weber)

 

·         psychoanalytic theories of religion deriving from Freud and social anthropological theories including Levi-Strauss and Mary Douglas

 

·         sociological explanations of the full range of religious phenomena including so-called primitive religions, magic, witchcraft and millenarianism as well as the great world religions

 

  • contemporary debates about religion and modernity (the so-called secularisation debate)
Methods of Teaching/Learning

11 lectures and 11 seminars

 

Weekly reading and seminar preparation

 

Short formative assignment
Selected Texts/Journals

Aldridge, A (2007) Religion in the Contemporary World: A Sociological Introduction, Polity

 

Bruce, S (2002) God is Dead: Secularisation in the West, Blackwell

 

Cohn, N (1970) The Pursuit of the Millennium, Paladin

 

Durkheim, E (1948 [1912]) The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Free Press

 

Freud, S (1985) Civilisation, Society and Religion, Penguin

 

Marx, K & Engels, F (2008) On Religion, Dover

 

Micklethwaite, J & Wooldridge, A (2010) God is Back: How the Global Rise of Faith is Changing the World, Penguin

 

Thomas, K (1971) Religion and the Decline of Magic, Weidenfeld & Nicolson

 

Weber, M (1992 [1904-05]) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Allen & Unwin
Last Updated
April 2011