BEXP 15A07 -

This course is an introduction to the study of religion in the social sciences. It examines what people do with religion and what religion does to people. The guiding thread of this course is to investigate how “religion” itself as a category is debated and contested. A question we will regularly return to is: what counts as religion and who gets to decide? The course is divided into three parts. Part 1 explores the definitions of religion that have been provided by classical authors. Part 2 analyzes the intersections of religion with other social categories such as class, gender and race. Part 3 interrogates the politics of religion and how States, international organizations, political actors and citizens grapple with religion, how they seek to regulate it or use it to further political ends. The course is interdisciplinary and exposes students to various approaches of religion rooted in political science, sociology, and anthropology. By the end of this course, students will be equipped with theoretical and methodological tools to best appraise the place of religion in contemporary societies and discuss such complex and debated issues as secularism, religious freedom, religious discrimination, religious violence.

There is no prerequisite for this course. Students should have some general knowledge in social sciences and be ready to engage in collective discussions on topics related to religion, secularism, inequality.

Participation (10%): oral participation in class and posting very short comments on Moodle about weekly readings.

Analytical note (50%): Students will have to identify a contemporary event related to religion in the news and write a 4-page analytical note using one reading from the syllabus to analyze this event.

Collective case study (40%): Students will gather in groups to work on a case study of their choice (a predetermined list of topics will be provided). The case study will focus on a controversy involving different actors over the category of religion. The group will analyze the arguments made about religion by each side of the controversy.