RELG 391: Theory and Method
Every description invoking “religion” contains a set of assumptions with complex intellectual genealogies. When we draw distinctions between “the sacred” and “the profane,” “the magical,” “the occultist,” or “the superstitious,” we are making critical judgments on plausible levels of reality and ascribe specific value to our own cultural notions and perceptions. Why do we easily think of the Bible as “a religious text,” but we consider The Iliad only an epic story? What allows some people to perceive saint veneration as legitimate, but communication with dead ancestors as occultist or even demonic? Why are churches, mosques, or synagogues protected as “religious shrines,” but other sites such as trees, water springs, or boulders are often disclaimed as “primitive,” and “pagan” cultural remnants? What makes a specific event or its narrative “miraculous” as opposed to “magical,” “fabulous,” or “fabricated”? Which “religious rights” should we legally protect, and how do we determine their legitimacy?
RELG 391: Theory and Method in the Study of Religion explores these questions and more. This course is a COLL 400 Capstone course for our majors. In it, we examine major theoretical texts that have shaped our inherited concepts of “religion” and have framed our analytical engagement with the academic field itself. We then position the classical texts in the broader context of Western philosophical thinking and travel all the way to our own intellectual, interdisciplinary, and cultural climate. We conclude with some of the most recent theoretical approaches to religious studies and discuss our own research and independent theoretical frameworks.
Professor Alexander Angelov, who taught this fall's COLL400, is proud to present his students' research projects!
