CURE1111 THE STUDY OF RELIGION First Term Lecture: Tu 2:30PM - 4:15PM (William M W Mong Eng Bldg 407)

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1 CURE1111 THE STUDY OF RELIGION First Term Lecture: Tu 2:30PM - 4:15PM (William M W Mong Eng Bldg 407) Teacher: Tutors: Prof. YEUNG Kwok Keung (Dept of CRS) Office: KKL 322; kkyeung@cuhk.edu.hk Mr. HU Jiechen (Dept of CRS) 1. Course Description This course introduces students to the different understandings of religion and the key theories and concepts in the study of religion. It is an introductory course and expects no prerequisite knowledge from students. It will explore a variety of main themes such as sacred power, myth, ritual, human existence, religious experience, morality, and religious institution. It is the aim of this course to prepare students to learn some of the basic analytical tools and embark in their studies of different forms of religious phenomenon in history and in contemporary society. 2. Learning Outcomes Knowledge outcomes 1. To become familiar with the basic vocabulary of the field of religious studies 2. To develop an understanding of the key theories, concepts, and issues in the study of religion 3. To be able to reflect on the relationship between religion and the human condition 4. To be able to engage in a critical analysis of religious phenomena in the perspectives of the key theories and concepts, taking into account of the key issues involved Attitude outcomes 1. To develop a critical yet sympathetic attitude in understanding religious phenomena. 2. To develop a sensitivity to religious dimension of human life. 1

2 3. Course Content and Schedule Week Topic Basic Readings 1 Course overview Kessler, Ch.1 Sept 5 Key concepts: Studying religions: purposes and attitudes; religious studies and theology 2 Sept 10 Defining religion (1) Key concepts: Functional, substantive and cluster definitions; superstition, magic and religion; working definitions Kessler, Ch.3; Tylor (2006); Marx (1995); James (2006) 3 Sept 17 4 Sept 24 5 Oct 1 6 Oct 8 7 Oct 15 8 Oct 22 9 Oct Nov 5 11 Nov 12 Defining religion (2) Key concepts: Understanding and explaining; goals and methods Sacred Power Key concepts: Spirits, ancestors, and totems; Goddesses and Gods; monotheism, deism, dualism, pantheism, monism, agnosticism, and atheism Public holiday National Day Religious Experience Key concepts: The nature of religious experience; mystical experiences Myth as Sacred Story Key concepts: Types and functions of myth; theories of myth; myth and science Field Study: ( , 10:00am-12:00pm, Oct 26) No Class on campus Ritual as Sacred Action Key concepts: Types and functions of ritual; myth and ritual Sacred Space and Time Key concepts: Features of sacred space and time; religion and art and architecture Religion and Morality Key concepts: Identifying and legitimating moral norms; retribution and guilt Kessler, Ch.2; *Freud (1995); Smart (2006); Eliade (2006) Kessler, Ch.4; Otto (2006); *Durkheim (1995) Kessler, Ch.8; James (2006) Kessler, Ch.5; Eliade (1960) Kessler, Ch.6; Malinowski (1995) Kessler, Ch.7; *Eliade (1995) Kessler, Ch.11; *Weber (1995) 2

3 12 Nov Nov 26 Human Existence and Destiny Key concepts: Salvation, religious values, and human existence Conclusion Kessler, Ch.10; *Berger (2006) 4. Required Readings General Introduction Kessler, G. E. (2003) Studying religion: an introduction through cases. 2 nd McGraw-Hill. ed. Boston: Theories of Religion: Readers Greeley, A. (ed.) (1995) Sociology and Religion: A Collection of Readings. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, c1995. Kunin, S. D. with Miles-Watson, J. (eds.) (2006) Theories of Religion: A Reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 5. Assessment Scheme Tasks Weight Reading Journal 15% Tutorial 15% Quiz 30% Final Paper 40% 5.1 Reading Journal & Tutorial A. You will submit 5 entries of reading journal on the assigned readings listed below. Each entry should be around 800 Chinese words or 500 English words and should be handed in to your tutor at least 1 day before the corresponding tutorial. A guideline for writing the journal will be given later. B. You will attend 5 tutorials, with each on one of the assigned reading listed below. In each tutorial, a group of 4 or 5 students will make a presentation on that reading and lead the discussion. All students will share the viewpoints in their reading journal. Assessment will be based on participation and viewpoints brought up in discussion. Assigned Readings: 1. Durkheim, E. (1995) The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life in (Greely, 1995: 20-26) 2. Freud, S. (1995) Moses and Monotheistic Religion in (Greely, 1995: 9-19) 3. Marx, K. (1995) Contribution to the Critique of Hegel s Philosophy of Right and Theses on Feuerbach in (Greely, 1995: 2-8) 3

4 4. Weber, M. (1995) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in (Greely, 1995: 68-79) 5. Eliade, M. (1995) Sacred Time and Myths and Sacred Space and Making the World Sacred in (Greely, 1995: ) 5.2 Quiz There are 2 quizzes, in the form of multiple choices, based on course readings and lectures. The dates of the quizzes will be announced later. Students are expected to spend around 4 hours out-of-class each week on course readings. 5.3 Final Paper Each student will write a literature review paper on a topic of religious studies. The length of the paper should be around 2,000 to 2,500 English words or 3,000 to 4,000 Chinese words. Detailed guidelines for the paper will be given in the first few tutorials. The paper should be submitted on or before 6 Dec 2011 (Fri). Note on paper submission A soft copy of each paper/ report should be submitted to both Blackboard Learn and VeriGuide. Without prior permission, one mark will be deducted for each day of late submission. 5.4 Learning Activities Lecture Tutorial Group Projects Final Paper in /out class in /out class in /out class in /out class M M M M NA M NA M M: Mandatory activity O: Optional activity NA: Not applicable 6. Further Readings 6.1 Basic Theories Otto, R. (2006) The Idea of Holy (Kunin, 2006: 78-85). Eliade, M. (1960) The Myth of the Modern World in Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries New York: Harper. Eliade, M. (2006) Approximations: The Structure and Morphology of The Sacred in (Kunin, 2006: ). Marx, K. (1995) Contribution to the Critique of Hegel s Philosophy of Right and Theses on Feuerbach in (Greely, 1995: 2-8) James, W. (2006) Circumscription of the Topic in (Kunin, 2006: 63-69). Malinowski, B. (1995) Death and the Reintegration of the Group in (Greely, 1995: 27-31). 4

5 Saler, B. (2006) A Prototype Approach in (Kunin, 2006: ). Smart, N. (2006) The Nature of a Religion in (Kunin, 2006: ). Southwold, M. (2006) Buddhism and the definition of religion in (Kunin, 2006: ). Tylor, E. B. (2006) Animism in (Kunin, 2006: ). 6.2 Case Studies Ammerman, N. T. (1987) Chapter eleven: fundamentalism in the modern world. In Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World. New Brunswick; London: Rutgers University Press. Ammerman, N. T. (1997) Golden rule Christianity: lived religion in the American mainstream, in Lived religion in America, edited by D. Hall, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chan, Y. K. (2008) Popular Buddhist ritual in contemporary Hong Kong: Shuilu Fahui, a Buddhist rite for saving all sentient beings of water and land, Buddhist Studies Review, 25, 1: Chryssides, G. and Geaves R. (2007) Phenomenology and its critics, in The Study of Religion: An introduction to Key Ideas and Methods, London: Continuum. Darley, J. M.; Batson, C. D. (1973) "From Jerusalem to Jericho": A study of situational and dispositional variables in helping behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 27(1): Eliade M. (1984) Cosmogonic myth and sacred history. In Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth Berkeley: University of California Press. ( ) Fiorenza, F. S. (1998) God, in Critical Terms for Religious Studies, edited by M. C. Taylor, Chicago: Chicago University Press. Gustav K.K. Yeung (2011) Constructing sacred space under the forces of the market: A study of an upper-floor Protestant church in Hong Kong, Culture and Religion, 12:4, ( (2012)..) Hick, J. (2007) Soul making theodicy, in Philosophy of religion: selected readings, edited by Michael Peterson, et al., 3rd ed New York: Oxford University Press. Huang, C. J. (2003) Sacred or profane? The Compassion Relief Movement s transnationalism in Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, and the United States, European Journal of East Asian Studies, 2, 2: Stark, R. (1965) A taxonomy of religious experience, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 5, 1: Teiser, S. F. (1996) The spirits of chinese religion, in Religions of China in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Princeton University Press. 5

6 ( Yao, X. (1994) Chinese religions, in Sacred Place, edited by J. Holm and J. Bowker, London: Continuum. (Martin Repp). (2008) (2002) : 硏 (2002) (1998) 26: (2002) : 硏 (2005),., (2002) 硏 Learning resources for students The basic readings for the course are stated above. Other suggested readings, if any, will be given in class and through Blackboard Learn. 8. Feedback for evaluation Students are welcome to give comments and feedback on the course through s in Blackboard Learnor personal exchanges with instructor and/or tutors. An end-of-term university wide course evaluation will be conducted in class. 9. A facility for posting course announcements Course announcements, assignment, and feedback will be given through Blackboard Learn. All questions with regard to the course could be posted on the discussion forum or via s within the Blackboard Learn. 10. Academic honesty and plagiarism Each student must upload a soft copy of the completed final paper to the plagiarism detection engine VeriGuide, at the URL: The system will 6

7 issue a receipt which also contains a declaration of honesty, which should be signed and handed in to the tutors. 7