Religion 200-Approaches to the Study of Religion-Fall 2011

 

Joel Kaminsky (Wright Hall 113, ext. 3608, jkaminsk@smith.edu)

Office Hours: 1:30-2:25 T and F, or by appt.

 

 

Grading percentages:

 

Regular and thoughtful classroom participation which will include occasional short presentations and submission of your daily preparation work= 25% of your course grade.

 

A 2-3 page paper=15% of your course grade.

 

A 4-5 page paper=20% of your course grade.

 

A final 10 page paper due in three parts=40% of your course grade.

 

 

Fuller Explanation of each Requirement:

 

1) Class participation: Each class some students may be asked to initiate discussion on the reading, or provide background information on a particular book or author.  All students will be expected to have done the reading and to be ready to discuss the material in a thoughtful fashion. To facilitate matters, for each class session EVERY STUDENT will type up the following and print it out to bring to class: any questions you have on that day's reading, a brief list of things you found useful or problematic in the reading, and one or two important quotations from the reading you think are worthy of in-depth discussion. You will turn in an extra copy of this sheet of questions and notes at the end of each class session.

 

2) Your 1st paper is due on Wednesday September 28th. Write a short paper, approximately 2-3 pages double-spaced (600-800 words) articulating a few key strengths and a few key weaknesses in the approach to the study of religion taken by James. You need not cover all of James' ideas but rather focus on one or two and critically evaluate their usefulness and limits. A century later, how, in your opinion has this writer's thinking held up?

 

3) Your 2nd paper is due Wednesday November 2nd (but extensions are possible if needed).  You will write a short paper, approximately 4-5 pages double-spaced (1100-1300 words) in which you compare and contrast 2 of the 4 following thinkers' approaches to one aspect of the study of religion: Freud's Geertz's, Berger's, Doniger's. Here you will need to hone in on a specific aspect of each thinker's approach that makes for useful and productive contrast and comparison.

 

4) Your final paper due is three parts. Take a religious text, ritual, visual image, or historical event that was not discussed by the books we read this semester and utilize two of the theorists discussed in this class to analyze this material. The material you choose can come from another class you may have taken in Religion or an allied area like Anthropology or History, or it may even be drawn from your own encounters with a living religion. All topics must be cleared with the Professor in advance.

 

Part 1) By Wednesday November 9th, after having consulted with Professor Kaminsky, you will e-mail both Professor Kaminsky and librarian Bruce Sajdak a brief description of your final paper topic. You do NOT need to know exactly which 2 theorists you will use at this early date. The point here is to leave adequate time to research the topic so as to produce a thoughtful draft over the coming weeks.

 

Part 2) By Friday December 2nd you will e-mail everyone in class a rough draft consisting of at least 5 pages double-spaced plus your annotated bibliography explaining what primary and secondary sources you are using and why they are relevant to your project. These will be discussed and critiqued in class the week of December 5th and 7th.

 

Part 3) By Friday December 16th (or at latest if you seek an extension by Monday December 19th) you will submit your final 10 page paper that will include a final annotated bibliography as well as footnotes.

 

 

 

Required books available at Grecourt Bookstore:

 

1) William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (Dover, 2002; 978-0486421643)

 

2) Sigmund Freud, Moses and Monotheism (Vintage, 1955; 978-0394700144)

 

3) Peter Berger, A Rumor of Angels. (Anchor 1st edition, 1970, 978-0385066303).

 

4) Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Other Peoples' Myths: The Cave of Echoes (Chicago, 1995; 978-0226618579).

 

5) Gananath Obeyesekere, Medusa's Hair: An Essay on Personal Symbols and Religious Experience (Chicago, 1984; 978-0226616018).

 

6) Ritual and Its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity by Adam B. Seligman, Robert P. Weller, Michael J and Simon (Oxford Univ. Press, 2008; 978-0195336016).

 

7) Bruce Lincoln, Holy Terrors, Second Edition: Thinking About Religion After September 11 (Chicago, 2006; 978-0226482033)

 

 

 

TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE

 

September 12th--1st meeting-go over syllabus and get organized

 

Psychological Approaches to Religion

 

September 14th, 19th, 21s and the 26th – Read selections from William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience. (1-77, 78-165, 189-258, 379-429 and 485-519).

 

September 28th, October 3rd and October 5th —Read Sigmund Freud's, Moses and Monotheism.

 

For Bible background read Exodus 1-20, 32-34, Numbers 11-14, 16-17, 20.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Anthropological Approach to Religion

 

October 12th— Read C. Geertz, "Religion as a Cultural System"

 

 

A Sociological Approach to Religion

 

October 17th and 19th —Read Peter Berger, A Rumor of Angels.

 

 

Eclectic Approaches to the study of Religion

 

October 24th 26th and 31st—Read Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Other Peoples' Myths.

 

 

November 2nd , 7th- and 9th—Read Gananath Obeyesekere, Medusa's Hair.

 

 

NOTE: November 14th—Session with Bruce Sajdak in the Neilson teaching classroom.

 

 

November 16th, 28th and 30th—Read Ritual and Its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity.

 

NOTE: NO CLASS MONDAY NOVEMBER 21st —THIS IS THE TIME TO WORK ON YOUR PAPERS!!!

 

 

December 5th and 7th—Discuss and critique final paper drafts

 

 

December 12th and December 14th— Read Bruce Lincoln's Holy Terrors

Final class wrap up possibly over a pizza lunch after our session on the 14th.

 

 

 

GUIDELINES FOR THE READINGS IN THIS COURSE

As you read these important theoretical works on the study of religion, keep the following suggestions and guidelines in mind.

 

1) What is the context in which the author is writing? When and where does he/she live? What field is he/she in? What is happening in the world at that time? How does the book fit into the overall life work of this thinker? If you do not know any of this, for certain writers you might consult the Encyclopedia of Religion. For others you might use library sources to see what other books they produced.

 

2) What primary sources does a particular author interrogate or rely upon? Can you obtain this evidence to test the author's readings of the primary material against your own readings of this same material? What modern framework of ideas and evidence does the author rely upon?

 

3) What parts of religion does a particular theorist of religion deal with?: Individual or communal, textual, artistic, ritual, legal, mythological, daily religion versus special extreme religious states, philosophical or theological versus popular practice by the masses. These are just some of the many areas that you might keep in mind. You will see that some theories treat certain dimensions of religion better than others.

 

4) Can you clearly articulate what theoretical insights are of continuing value and what should be criticized or abandoned in a given theorist? Can you construct a careful argument explaining why an idea is misguided, or of continuing value?

 

5) Always try to see in what ways later books we read build upon, nuance, or seriously diverge from approaches in the earlier books we are reading.

 

6) Write down ideas as you are reading through various books or make notes in the margins.