the SOCIOLOGY of RELIGION
Sociology 480/580 – Winter, 2006
Michael A. Toth, Ph.D.
Office: CH 271T
Phone: 725-3620 or email: tothm@pdx.edu
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: 12:30 - 1:30 pm
and by appointment
Syllabus
Special Prompt-Class Discussion Assignment for February 14
To paraphrase W.I. Thomas’ famous sociological maxim, “If people believe something to be true, it is true in its consequences.” People believe, and an especially significant portion of what they believe is rooted in what we talk about when we speak of religion. People also act, and they act on the basis of what they believe, although they do not necessarily or always act on the basis of what they say they believe; in fact, we often act on beliefs that we are not aware we hold. The premise we start with in this course is that in every society a crucial and core source of human belief and action in every society is found in the unique and distinctive beliefs and practices which comprise religion.
This course is a first attempt—a survey attempt, if you will—to come to grips with the peculiar human phenomenon of religion from the equally peculiar perspective of sociology, with a dash of the other social sciences thrown in. As such, it is not a course about religion in the sense of the history or the theology of different religions. It has almost nothing to do with whether or not any particular religion is true or false, if such a judgment might even be warranted. As Durkheim observed,“no religion is false”—and while this sociological observation is true, it does not enable us to come to any conclusion about the ultimate “truthfulness” of any specific religion. In fact, the sociology of religion is not about any particular religion at all, but rather about religion qua religion. Thus this course is not about Christianity or Buddhism, or about Catholics or Methodists or Jainists, but about the universal and complex category of human beliefs and practices that we collect under the rubric of religion. In that sense it is about religion “writ large” and thus about all religions.
What we will do in this course is develop a base of sociological concepts, theories, and insights to help us make sense of this phenomenon—these religious beliefs and actions, their origins, implications, and consequences. To do this we will attempt to navigate a tricky path, for the sociological perspective requires us to both appreciate and critique these human behaviors without either embracing them or disparaging them. What makes this particularly difficult is that religion is, by its own claim, the ultimate source of the Absolute, the absolute source of the Ultimate—of that beyond which one cannot go. Religion makes a unique ontological claim of access to the ultimate ground of being. The sociological study of religion demands the exceedingly difficult, if not impossible task of standing outside that ground of being. In doing so, one might rightly wonder, “Where then do I put my feet down…?” In other words, a religious claim to ultimate comprehensiveness is to be honored how can it be possible to view it from some other vantage point?
We are using two texts to help us in this endeavor:
The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, by Peter L. Berger
Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments, by Kevin J. Christiano, William H. Swatos, Jr., and Peter Kivisto (listed in the reading schedule as CSK)
We will also be engaging various illustrative materials via video, audio, and the web.
The course will move along the following lines, in a series of inter-leavening topics, and in (and among) three main phases:
Phase One: First, something about the course and its requirements and activities, together with my expectations for us all. Then, a brief background in some general sociological concepts and a look at the nature of human nature. We will want to develop a broad overview of the ways in which sociologists have tried to understand religion and the more specific concepts in terms of which they have attempted to make sense of it. Then we will look at some of the classical theoretical explanations and a closer and more detailed look at religion primarily in the West. Finally, we will come to grips with the modern dynamics of secularism and pluralism.
Phase Two: Generally following the sequence in the CSK text we will look at a series of what I have called “American particulars”—ways in which the American religious experience connects with other societal dynamics: class, status, and power; ethnicity and race; sexuality and gender; fundamentalism and evangelicalism; the mass media and popular culture. While specific to the U.S., these are dynamics that, in one way or another, relate to religion in every social context, and we will hopefully view these instances as instructive in that larger sense as well.
Phase Three: Finally, we will bring our learnings to bear in the broader context of national and world-wide social issues, locating them in relation to contemporary trends and tendencies, to our present American cultural, economic, political, and military hegemony, to the potential “clash of civilizations,” and to some tentative tension-filled “resting place” of where we are now.
The topics, readings, and other elements of each class meeting of these phases are spelled out in greater detail in the accompanying schedule.
Here is some of what I hope we will learn:
• Ways in which religion and religiousness is inherently human and therefore how it is
significantly present in some form in every society.• A range of organizing concepts through which we may better describe, analyze, and make sense
of religion and religiousness.• Various significant sociological theories, explanations, and accounts of religious phenomena.
• In particular, a solid grasp of Peter Berger’s seminal theory, theses, and insights—together with
those of Alfred Schutz and Ernest Becker—especially as they go beyond their application to
religion alone.• An appreciation of some of the historical, developmental aspects of the American experience.
• A greater understanding of socio-religious dynamics and issues in the current world situation.
A good academic experience should provide ways to encourage you in achieving these learning objectives—and in measuring that achievement. Here’s how we’ll do that in this class.
Comprehensive Course Journal
The Comprehensive Course Journal will include four distinct parts:
(1) Your reflective responses to specific prompts (questions, observations, etc.) that will be provided by the instructor during most class sessions;
(2) One article each week from the print news media that is concerned with religion in some way that you are able to connect up to the contents of the course. Included together with the article will be your one or two paragraph explanation of the way(s) in you make these connections.
(3) Based on the readings for each class session you are to write down a specific question based on the reading that you would like to pursue further and include this in your journal. Depending on how things work out, you may be asked to introduce one of these questions to the class for discussion.
(4) In addition, you will be encouraged to include reactions to other aspects of the course (readings, discussions, videos, etc.) as well occurrences which take place outside the classroom.
Exams
There will be two exams: a mid-term and a final. These will consist of a number of short essay questions with some choice as to which you questions you will answer. More information will be provided as the term proceeds.
A note on requirements for graduate students in Sociology 580:
In addition to the requirements described above, each of the graduate students will be expected to make a 15 minute presentation on a self-selected aspect of one of the five “American Particulars” (as listed in the schedule) during those respective class sessions. Prior to the presentation the topic will be vetted with, and a written outline of the material provided to, the instructor. In addition each of the graduate students, in consultation with the instructor, will select an additional work on the sociology of religion as an independent reading. The instructor will meet with each of the graduate students, either individually or together, for further discussion during the course at times to be mutually arranged.