RELG 280DUFO Religions

Catalog

This course surveys UFO religions (and, to a lesser degree, Ufology and UFO enthusiasm) from the 1950s to the present. How do popular science and religion mix? What is the role of science fiction in the rise of modern religious movements that purportedly preach scientific "fact"? How has the rise of the internet and social media impacted UFO religions in the 21st century? Topics include the rise of the New Age, scholarship on cults and new religions, Raelianism, the Aetherius Society, the Church of All Worlds, Heaven's Gate, and so-called invented religions like Matrixism and Jediism.