RELG 700: Problems in Comparative Study of Religions
Designed for graduate students with an interest in the study of religion, the course is divided into two sections; During the first, students are introduced to formative thinkers in the development of the academic study of religion. Using primary and secondary texts, we will examine the views of E.B. Tylor and Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx, Mircea Eliade, Peter Berger, Clifford Geertz and Wilfred Cantwell Smith. The second section of the course is devoted to close reading and discussion of recent works that are of theoretical importance in the study of religion. The course is structured as a seminar, with students and instructor taking responsibility for presentations and discussion.
Course Requirements:
1 Seminar Presentations: Each student will be responsible for leading two seminars, one for each section of the course. For each seminar, the student makes a presentation (approx. 30 minutes) which summarizes and responds critically to the assigned readings, and then outlines topics for discussion by the class as a whole. Each presentation counts for 20 marks towards the final grade.
2 Take-home Examinations: There will be two take-home examinations, intended to foster general reflection on the materials of each section of the course. They will be administered at the end of each section, and each will count for 10 marks.
3 Interpretive Essay: Each student will prepare an essay (approx. 4000 words) discussing the work of the thinker examined by the student in the second seminar presentation. This will be an expansion of the seminar paper, but will include further reflections as a result of the class discussion and drawing on additional readings (book reviews/secondary studies of the work treated in the seminar, other works by the author, or more general discussions of the author's work). The essay will count for 30 marks towards the final grade.
4 Class Participation :10 marks will be assigned for attendance at classes and contribution to class discussions.
5 Textbooks:
- Daniel Pals, Seven Theories of Religion
- Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane
- Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy
- Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Modern Culture from Comparative Perspective
- Reader for RELG 700 (available from Universal Copies, 1120 College Street)
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES AND ASSOCIATED READINGS
PART ONE: FORMATIVE THINKERS
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* indicates a selection from the Reader
+ indicates additional materials available on 2-hour reserve at Thomas Cooper Library:
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Eric Sharpe, Comparative Religion: A History
Brian Morris, Anthropological Studies of Religion
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Introduction to the Course
Pals, Introduction
+Sharpe, Chapter 2
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E.B. Tylor
Pals, Chapter 1
*Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. 1, 1-35; Vol. 2, 443-453
+Morris, 91-105
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Sigmund Freud
Pals, Chapter 2
*Freud, The Future of an Illusion, chs. 3-7
+Morris, 151-174
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Emile Durkheim
Pals, Chapter 3
*Durkheim, Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
+Morris, 35-50
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Karl Marx
Pals, Chapter 4
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Mircea Eliade
Pals, Chapter 5
Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane
*Strenski
+Sharpe, 213-217
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Peter Berger
Berger, The Sacred Canopy
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Clifford Geertz
Pals, Chapters 6 and 7
*Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, 87-125, 142-169
+Morris 312-319
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