Methods/Issues in the Study of Religion

Catalog description

This course examines a variety of methodologies that have been, and continue to be, used to study religion. Scanning a range of religious phenomena, from the mystical experience, to myth and ritual, sacred image, word, space, and more, we explore the writings of scholars who have drawn on philosophical, sociological, comparative, feminist, and postmodern methodologies. The aim of the course is as much to build a theoretical foundation for the further study of religion as to provide a forum to examine and develop our own understanding and definitions of the religious life.