RELG 391: Theory and Method in the Study of Religion (COLL 400)
Fall 2021, Prof. Annie Blazer
The religious studies major provides in-depth study of religious traditions, spiritualities, and lived experiences in a variety of historical, cultural, and experiential contexts. Through studying religions, we gain insight into important aspects of social life: gender and sexuality, race, power, art, literature, and media, to name a few. Religious Studies is a uniquely interdisciplinary field, employing theories and methods of disciplines from history, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and literary studies.
The COLL 400 capstone experience requires students to take initiative in synthesis and critical analysis, to solve problems in an applied and/or academic setting, to create original material or original scholarship, and to communicate effectively with a diversity of audiences. As the capstone of the religious studies major, students in this course had the freedom to apply theories and methods to aspects of the study of religion that most interested them. They created original scholarship that demonstrated critical analysis of an aspect of religion, religious tradition, or the study of religion.
Student Abstracts
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I'm Already Here: Queer Sex as Christian WorshipNewly married, radically Christian, and visibly queer, Maggie and Devin are looking for a church. At first, they opt for one with a vaulted ceiling and booming organ, silver-haired ushers and a white guy at the pulpit. But when progressive Protestant acceptance falls short of spiritual nourishment, they decide to piece together their own kind of worship. Along with three other queer Christians, they trade pews for lawn chairs and communion wafers for chicken pot pie. Free from the surveillance of church authorities, they discover the power of performative, erotic, activist worship, all while bathed in the glow of string lights and with garden weeds tickling their ankles. While their home church pushes the boundaries of what it means to be Christian, the group also expands its definition of queerness by grappling with racism, agism, and xenophobia. Eventually, however, Devin longs for the stability and institutional power of a mainstream congregation, even though that congregation hurt them. Devin’s sense of attachment to the Protestant church clashes with Maggie’s trauma-motivated rejection of its structure, and the two must decide whether to fix something broken or forge something new. Based on a combination of ethnographic research and queer theory, this novella imagines the next phase in Christianity’s progress toward queer liberation—celebration of queer sex as a valid form of Christian worship. |
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Texas Forever: The Alamo Crucifixion, Country Music Canticles, and the Religiosity of Texas Exceptionalism in PoliticsTexceptionalism - the cheeky moniker for “Texas Exceptionalism” - describes a unique cultural zeitgeist. Texans have long believed in and espoused a distinct specialness and superiority over other states, boasted by an excess of state flags, a prideful state anthem, and of course, “Everything’s bigger in Texas.” The well-known ideological phenomenon of Texceptionalism is subject of political and historical scholarship, yet few have interpreted Texas Exceptionalism in a religious context. Employing prior scholarship of American Exceptionalism as well as the study of sacralization of politics, this paper contends that religious rhetoric and the perpetuation of myth feature prominently in the political agendas of Texas policymakers as a means of identity building. The examination of campaign promotional material and speeches from state elections in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century elucidates the sanctified history of early Texas and the enduring elements of ritual, doctrine, and ethical codes of Texceptional culture. Political candidates glorifying of the Battle of the Alamo and founding fathers of the state provide the creation myth for a particular sense of electness and alluding to cultural practices of Texas-centered education, sport in football and rodeo, and patriotic country music serve as the ritual devotion thereto. Religious Texceptional allegory serves as a rhetorical appeal to primarily Anglo-Texan voters, combining familiar Judeo-Christian influence with regional culture, and politicians aim not only to solidify a common entity but also to promote a divine obligation of individual service to the sacred whole. Understanding the rhetoric of Texas Exceptionalism in a religious context explains how sacralized politics continue to function as an effective appeal and unifying agent in modern Texas politics. |
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Fundamental Differences: The Variety, Complexity, and Perception of Plural Marriage in the Mormon Context
This paper will explore the ways in which the legal and cultural spheres interact with polygamy and the larger concept of Mormon Fundamentalism in North America, and how the perception and portrayal of these by outsiders affects the structure and function of plural marriage via the use of sociocultural and anthropological analysis. It will utilize a variety of scholarly sources as well as examples of Government’s interaction with Fundamentalism such as The Primer: A Guidebook for Law Enforcement and Human Services Agencies who offer Assistance to Fundamentalist Mormon Families and illustrations of polygamy in popular culture. Plural marriage in particular is often perceived and described as morally insupportable and definitionally Other to the American cultural mainstream, but it is not productive or reasonable to generalize such a varied context so broadly and absolutely. Ultimately this research will show that those controlling the narrative about plural marriage and Mormon Fundamentalism know less about the practice and its cultural character than those within the context, and that polygamy is far more complex and varied than it is sensational and universal. This will prove critical to constructing an understanding of Mormon-context polygamy in which the Protestant American bias does not play a key role, and which reflects the intricacies of the practice. |
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Heartfulness and Liberation, Through the Life and Teachings of Sharon Salzberg
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I Arise Today: Saint Patrick and Celtic Religion
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Suffering, Self-Transcendence, and the Spirituality of Long-Distance RunningHuman beings have been running since the dawn of our species. It is a feature quite literally built into our evolution and has contributed heavily to our survival. The practice can serve a higher purpose, however, than simple survival. Across cultures, continents, and traditions, distance running has served as a deep spiritual practice for many, from legendary Tibetan monks to certain Indigenous nations of the Americas to high schoolers around the world. More than any other sport, distance running has a unique and complex relationship with pain, not simply accepting suffering as a necessity but intentionally seeking it out. Though experiences of this pain vary from high schoolers putting all they have into a half-mile to participants in a 3100-mile race around a single block in Queens, but these athletes must gain something from these voluntary experiences of pain. This project will analyze distance running’s relationship to suffering through the lens of religious asceticism, especially its implications as to the nature of the connection between suffering and spirituality. |
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The Development of Pure Land Buddhism Against the Japanese Kenmitsu InstitutionStarting in the 11th century, medieval Japanese society experienced so much instability that the Buddhist community referred to it as mappō, the time of the final dharma. Kamakura era monks figured that there was essentially no chance for lay Buddhists to achieve enlightenment on their own. Thus, a new wave of Pure Land Buddhism emerged. Revolutionary figures like Hōnen and Shinran posited that the only thing necessary for awakening was complete unwavering faith in Amida Buddha, coupled with recitation of the nembutsu. Amidism rejected the old religious hierarchy and replaced it with a belief system that revolved around the individual practitioner, regardless of their caste. Many scholars have already commented on the social changes that Amidism brought about, in particular the empowerment of women and laymen previously excluded from religious practice. However, there remains a significant lack of academic research on the direct relationship between Amidism and Japanese society. In particular, it is unclear whether Amidism actually succeeded in facilitating long-lasting social changes or if it only appears that way. Using historical articles, letters sent between monasteries, and primary sources from Kamakura monks, this research paper will analyze the grave threat that Pure Land Buddhism posed to Kenmitsu Buddhism, while evaluating the limitations to its success in sparking social change as a result of later historical developments. |
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The Uproar Over Religious SneakersThe American sneaker industry uses religious symbols and images to be creative and at times, to tell a story. This design creativity sparks controversy between Christians that feel their values and beliefs are threatened by sacrilegious sneakers and people that are not concerned about honoring religious imagery. MSCHF, an American Art Collective, created a sneaker called Jesus Shoes in 2019. Kanye West, a fashion designer and music producer, designed his own Jesus Shoes with Nike in 2019. Rapper Lil Nas X designed Satan Shoes in 2021; MSCHF manufactured them. In 2021, Nike, politicians, religious leaders, and athletes responded with outrage to Satan Shoes. The shoes were controversial because they contained a drop of human blood and had multiple symbols of satanic imagery. Jesus Shoes did not create the controversy that Satan Shoes did. Lil Nas X’s Satan Shoes fueled religious controversy while MSCHF and Kanye West’s Jesus Shoes only fueled pricing controversy. In the 1980s and 1990s, Satanic Panic was the fear and suspicion of anyone that looked like they were associated with Satan or the occult. Panic was fueled by the media and public opinion that Satanism was associated with sexual abuse and deviance. The negative reactions to Lil Nas X’s Satan Shoes showed that fear and distaste towards Satanism exists today. This video explores the controversy about Satan Shoes and the reason for the difference in public opinion of Jesus Shoes versus Satan Shoes, which is, American Christians believe Christianity is a positive influence and Satanism is not. (Greg Cuffey) |
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The Ramayana Controversy and the Threat of Hindu Nationalism in IndiaSouth Asia has long been populated by a Hindu majority, but it is also a region full of diversity, and most Indian religious groups have lived in relative harmony for centuries. However, in recent decades, India’s relative ethnic and religious diversity has sparked conflicts between minority groups and the religious mainstream. Renditions of the story of the Ramayana reflect Indian religious diversity, with hundreds of interpretations ranging from puppet shows, to oral tellings, to comic books. Modern Hindu nationalists believe that only one interpretation of the Ramayana is accurate. They have attempted to erase other versions of the story from history and unite all Hindus into a cohesive community of like-minded believers. Historically speaking, that desire for cohesion is not a staple of Hinduism or South Asian religion; it instead represents a new ideology, inspired by colonialism and Western religious thought, that has gained a great deal of support in the past one hundred years. I will explore the historical development of Hindu nationalism and juxtapose its ideals with the long history of religious diversity in India, best represented by renditions of the Ramayana. I will first present three different interpretations of the Ramayana from varying regions and traditions, which will convey the story’s history of diversity. I will then explore the Hindu nationalist desire to erase that diversity, as well as the origins of the Hindutva belief system in the era of colonialism. I will demonstrate that Hindu nationalism began both as a product of colonialism as well as a reaction to it. Renditions of the Ramayana will illustrate the beautiful diversity of Hinduism as well as the threat posed by nationalistic ideals, and analyzing productions of the myth can shed light on the lingering effects of colonialism and nationalist rhetoric that drive the Hindu nationalist movement. (Jack Otero) |
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Fluid Yoga & Modern Interpretations
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Not for Pleasure Alone: Religiosity Embodied in Ballet
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Communism and the Politics of Cultural Labeling: The Maintanence of Patriotism and Piety in American Life
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The Metaphysics of Suffering: A Dialogue Between Schopenhauer and VasubandhuArthur Schopenhauer and Vasubandhu (a 4th-5th century Buddhist philosopher) offer striking metaphysical positions that ingrain suffering as foundational to the existence of all conscious beings. Schopenhauer was a continental European philosopher from the 1800’s who stands apart from his contemporaries in his being influenced by the Upaniṣads, a text considered to be the philosophical soil of the Vedic traditions as well as a provider of historical context for Buddhism’s emergence. Interestingly, Schopenhauer follows along this line of thought to agree with what appears to be a Buddhist conclusion: that piercing insight into the nature of reality faces us with the revelation that all beings experience unmitigable suffering. In order to critically explore and evaluate this parallel, I will examine each thinkers’ understanding of what entails piercing insight into reality and how they derive the ultimacy of suffering from this insight. This paper will analyze Schopenhauer’s most iconic work, The World as Will and Representation, in conjunction with Vasubhandu’s The Twenty Verses (and its commentary), The Thirty Verses, and the Treatise on the Three Nature to this end. It will then observe that Schopenhauer’s affirmation of the will as the most supremely real thing is the basis of his understanding of suffering while Vasubandhu holds that suffering is born predominantly from ignorance as to the non-duality of the perceived world. Examining the paths each thinker takes within (and beyond) their traditions creates a unique space for reflection about the assumptions of different cultures as well as—when taken seriously on each thinker’s own terms—about reality itself and the human condition within it. (Matthew Grayson) |
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A Modern Answer to the Ageless Call to Universal Holiness: Sanctification Through Ordinary Work
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Legislating Morality: The Influence of the Religious Right on U.S. Abortion Law
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Embracing the Absurd: What Monty Python Teaches Us About Religion Dogmatism
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