RELT10311 Religions and Theology Core Course

 

Meeting times: Autumn 2008, Tue 9 - 9.50am, Thu 12 - 12.50pm, and Fri 11-11.50am

Tutor: Timothy Stanley, timothy.stanley@manchester.ac.uk, Samuel Alexander WLG5

Course requirements:

  • assigned readings
  • learning journal worth 30% of your grade (due bi-weekly)
  • one 1500 word essay worth 30% of your grade (due Tue Nov  11)
  • one group presentation worth 40% of your grade (to take place Wed Dec 17 and Thur Dec 18)
  • mandatory participation which includes all seminars and lectures as per university policy

Key texts: the readings can be found in two sources: 1) a course pack which can be purchased from the school office (A6) as well as, 2) The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, which can be purchased at the precinct centre Blackwells or found in the John Rylands Library.

Overview: In each week of this eleven week first semester course we will cover one methodological approach to the study of religions and theology. We will discuss key readings for each approach in two weekly tutorial seminars. This course is designed to be an introduction to your Religions and Theology degree at the University of Manchester. It should therefore enable you to make the transition into higher education by developing study and other transferable skills as a basis for later learning. As such, bi-weekly lectures on key study skills will occur throughout the semester. By the end of this course you should be aware of the intellectual history of ways of studying religion and theology and start to be able to demonstrate some understanding of different theoretical and analytical approaches.

 

Introduction to the Study of Religions and Theology Core Course

 

 

Week by Week Guide to the Course

 

Orientation Week

  • Tue, Sept 23, Meet and greet your Tutor over coffee
  • Fri, Sept 26, 10-11.30am, The core course convenor, Dr. Anne Kurdock, will give a brief overview lecture for the course.
  • Fri, Sept 26, 12-12.50pm, Tutorial session in my office (WLG5) to discuss, Smart, Ninian. "Religion." In A New Dictionary of Christian Theology, edited by Alan Richardson and John Bowden. London: SCM Press, 1983.

Introducing the Question, "What is Religion?"

  • Tue, Sept 30, 9 - 9.50am, Fitzgerald, Timothy. "Introduction." In The Ideology of Religious Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, pgs, 3-10.
  • Thur, Oct 2, 12 - 12.50pm, McCutcheon, Russell T. "The Category 'Religion' in Recent Publications: A Critical Survey." Numen vol 42, no. 3 (1995).
  • Fri, Oct 3, 11 - 11.50pm,  Lecture by Dr. Anne Kurdock on Using the John Rylands University Library

Approaching the Study of Religion

  • Tue, Oct 7, 9 - 9.50am, Hinnells, John R. "Why Study Religions?" In The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by John R. Hinnells. London: Routledge Press, 2005.
  • Thur, Oct 9, 12 - 12.50pm, Sharpe, Eric J. "The Study of Religion in Historical Perspective." In The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by John R. Hinnells. London: Routledge Press, 2005. 
  • Fri, Oct 10, 11 - 11.50am, Visit to Manchester City Art Gallery (Tutorial Groups A-D) 

Anthropological Approaches

  • Tue, Oct 14, 9 - 9.50am, Hackett, Rosalind I. J. "Anthropological Approaches." In The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by John R. Hinnells. London: Routledge Press, 2005.
  • Thur, Oct 16, 12 - 12.50pm, Geertz, Clifford. "'Religion as a Cultural System." In Reader in Comparative Religion: An Anthropological Approach, 4th edition, edited by William A. Lessa and Evon Z. Vogt. London: Harper & Row, 1979.
  • Fri, Oct 17, 11 - 11.50pm, Visit to Manchester City Art Gallery (Tutorial Groups E-H)  

Sociological Approaches

  • Tue, Oct 21, 9 - 9.50am, Riesebrodt, Martin, and Konieczny, Mary Ellen. "Sociological Approaches." In The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by John R. Hinnells. London: Routledge Press, 2005.
  • Thur, Oct 23, 12 - 12.50pm, (Reading 1) Marx, Karl. "Contributions to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right." In Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970. (Reading 2) Giddens, Anthony. "Theories of Religion." In Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
  • Fri, Oct 24, 11 - 11.50am, Lecture by Dr. Anne Kurdock on Critical Essay Writing Skills (Part 1)

Psychological Approaches

  • Tue, Oct 28, 9 - 9.50am, Merkur, Dan. "Psychological Approaches." In The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by John R. Hinnells. London: Routledge Press, 2005.
  • Thur, Oct 30, 12 - 12.50pm, (Reading 1) Freud, Sigmund. "The Future of an Illusion." In The Freud Reader, edited by P. Gay. London: Vintage, 1995. (Reading 2) Jung, Carl. "Freud and Jung: Contrasts." In Modern Man in Search of a Soul. London: Routledge Kegan and Paul, 1945.
  • Fri, Oct 31, 11 - 11.50pm, Lecture by Dr. Anne Kurdock on Critical Essay Writing Skills (Part 2)

Reading Week

  • Nov 2 - 8, This is a chance to catch up on reading for the course and focus on completing your essay which is due on Tuesday, November 18 by 4pm to the school office A6.

Textual Approaches

  • Tue, Nov 11, 1500 word essay due to the school office (A6)
  • Tue, Nov 11, 9 - 9.50am, Graham, William A. "Introduction." In Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
  • Thur, Nov 13, 12 - 12.50pm, (Reading 1) Holy Bible. "Esther."  In The New Revised Standard Version, Anglicized Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. (Reading 2) Clines, David J. A. "Reading Esther from Left to Right: Contemporary Strategies for Reading a Biblical Text." In The Bible in Three Dimensions: Essays in Celebration of Forty Years of Biblical Studies in the University of Sheffield, edited by David J. A. Clines et. al.  Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990.
  • Fri, Nov 14, 11 - 11.50am Tour of the Rylands Library on Deansgate (Tutorial Groups A-D)

Historical Approaches

  • Tue, Nov 18, 9 - 9.50am, Cunningham, Andrew, and Grell, Peter Ole. "Introduction." In The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Religion, War, Famine, and Death in Reformation Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
  • Thur, Nov 20, 12 - 12.50pm, (Reading 1) Rothmann, Bernard. "A Restitution of Christian Teaching, Faith and Life (October 1534)." In The European Reformations Sourcebook, edited by Carter Lindberg. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000. (Reading 2) Foxe, John. "History of Christian Martyrs to the First General Persecutions Under Nero." In Foxe's Book of Martyrs: A History of the Lives, Sufferings and Triumphant Deaths of the Early Christian and the Protestant Martyrs. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1967.
  • Fri, Nov 21, 11 - 11.50am, Tour of the Rylands Library on Deansgate (Tutorial Groups E-H)

Phenomenological Approaches

  • Tue, Nov 25, 9 - 9.50am, Allen, Douglas. "Phenomenological Approaches." In The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by John R. Hinnells. London: Routledge Press, 2005.
  • Thur, Nov 27, 12 - 12.50pm, Otto, Rudolph. "On Numinous Experience." In Experience of the Sacred: Readings in the Phenomenology of Religion, edited by Wumner B. Twiss and Wlater H. Conser Jr. London: University Press of New England, 1992.
  • Fri, Nov 28, 11 - 11.50am, Lecture on Giving Good Oral Presentations by Dr. Anne Kurdock

Approaching Sacred Space

  • Tue, Dec 1, 9 - 9.50am, Veikko, Anttonen. "Sacred." In Guide to the Study of Religion, edited by Willi Braun and Russel T. McCutcheon. London: Continuum, 2006.
  • Thur, Dec 4, 12 - 12.50pm, Eliade, Mircea. "Approximations: The Structure and Morphology of the Sacred." In Patterns in Comparative Religion. London: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.
  • Fri, Dec 5, 11 - 11.50am, Tutorial groups will visit sacred spaces in Manchester, e.g. St. Mary's or The Manchester Buddhist Centre

Approaching Sacred Space

  • Tue, Dec 8, 9 - 9.50am, Group study day to prepare oral presentations on space
  • Thur, Dec 10, 12 - 12.50pm, Group study day to prepare oral presentations on space

Sacred Space Presentations

  • Tue, Dec 15, 9 - 9.50am, Groups will present on sacred space to each other.
  • Thur, Dec 17, 12 - 12.50pm, Groups will present on sacred space to each other.