Theory and Method syllabus
From Silvers
Theory and Method in the Study of Religion
Class Hours: W/F 10:10 to 11:30
Location: Tisch 204
Office Hours: Thursday 12-3 PM or by appointment
Contents |
Course Description
The course is an introductory survey of the major theoretical and methodological trends in the study of Religion. We will use Mark C. Taylor's edited volume Critical Terms in Religious Studies to organize our survey. Selected terms are treated in the volume. These terms provide an entry into key issues and questions in the contemporary study of religion, including an introduction to major figures and schools in the discipline. We will supplement Taylor's book with selections from primary theoretical and religious sources. We will read Myth of the Eternal Return by Mircea Eliade. Eliade's scholarship is arguably the most influential and most contested in the field. We will use our in-depth reading of this seminal work to contextualize the broader theoretical and methodological questions will will consider over the semester. We will also read selections of primary theoretical sources on the subject of Religious Experience and Ritual Performnce. The course work will focus on critical reading, discussion, and writing skills. The goal is for each of you to become a "good reader." To that end, students will produce succint outlines for each day of reading. Section papers will be straightforward summary analyses of the readings making use of those outlines. The final paper will be an original analysis of a theme covered in the course that will demonstrate the critical skills students have been honing all semester.
Required Readings
In Bookstore
Mark C. Taylor, ed. Critical Terms in Religious Studies
Mirea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return
On Wikisite
Steven M. Wasserstrom, selections from Religion After Religion
William James, selection from Varieties of Religious Experience
Proudfoot, selection from Religious Experience
Julia Butterfly Hill, selection from The Legacy of Luna
Plotinus, selection from "The Theology of Aristotle"
Roland Barthes, selection from Mythologies
Michael Muhammad Knight, "Bleeding for the Imam"
Course Requirements
Critical Readings and Discussion 40%
2 Survey Papers 30%
2 Event Reports 10%
1 Final Paper 20%
Critical Readings and Discussion
- Your class is required to produce outlines for each day's reading.
- Click through to the Critical Reading and Discussion page to see how this assignment works.
Event Reports
- There will be several events scheduled for the class during the semester. You are required to attend at least two of them and write reports on both. Reports can be in the form of notes taken during the lecture or a more formal response to the lecture.
Survey Papers
- There will be a short 3-5 page paper due twice during the semester. The paper will review and survey the major issues and trends in the sources covered in a section. The thesis will be a summary statement of your survey. The structure of your paper will follow the organization of an outline as described above. Your goal is to write a clear, transparently organized, and brief paper on a very complicated matter.
Final Paper
- The final paper will be a more in-depth analysis of an issue covered in class. Students choose a related article or a chapter from a book not used in class readings. Students will use their outlines and survey paper to construct the ground of the analysis
Paper Expectations
Click through for the following:
Course Schedule
Beginning
1/24 Introduction to the Readings and Requirements
1/26 Smith, "Religion, Religions, Religious"
Origins
1/31 Eliade, Ch. 1
2/2 Gill, "Territory"
2/7 Eliade, Ch. 2
2/9 Aveni, "Time"
2/14 college closed for snow emergency
2/16 Eliade, Ch. 3
2/21 Wasserstrom, "Collective Renovatio" and "On the Suspension of the Ethical"
2/23 Discussion Day
Experience
2/28 Sharf, "Experience"
3/2 College canceled class
3/7 James, "Mysticism"
- Survey Paper 1 due
3/9 Proudfoot, "Mysticism"
God
3/21 Fiorenza, Kaufman, "God"
3/23 Tracy, "Writing"
3/26 Silvers, "Qur'an, Orality, and the Problem of a Critical Edition"
- Survey Paper 2 due
3/28 Summary Discussion
3/30 Class Cancelled and Rescheduled on Monday 3/26
Ritual
4/4 Film: selections from Kaufman, "I'm from Hollywood," and WWE, Mankind vs The Undertaker "Hell in the Cell"
- Event: Aveni Lecture on the Maya
4/6 Knight, "Bleeding for the Imam"
- Guest Lecturer: Michael Muhammad Knight
4/11 Sum up of primary source material
4/13 "Performance"
4/18 "Sacrifice"
4/19 Event: "Blood Relative" Tickets available for this class at the box office.
4/20 "Body"
4/25 Barthes, "Wrestling"
4/26 Event: Spike Dudley/Matt Hyson Event: Emerson 7PM
- This event is required for all students
4/27 Summary Discussion
Final Papers
- 5/7 Seniors' Final Paper Due
- 5/11 Others' Final Paper Due
