SOC423 Religion in contemporary world: concepts and problems

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2016
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 10 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Roman Vido, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ladislav Rabušic, CSc.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 13:30–15:00 U34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The objective of this course is to make students acquainted with selected theoretical contributions from the curent sociological research on religion. The course is sociologically oriented with some cross-disciplinary overlaps to the fielads of religious studies, political science and political philosophy. After an introduction into basic elements of the secularization paradigm as the dominant theoretical scheme for understanding the fate of religion in modern societies until 1980´s, selected concepts related to the issues of religion´s position in the public sphere and the boundaries between the religious and the secular (deprivatization, post-secularity, secularism, deculturation) will be presented. For students, the key texts from the current sociological production will be available.
Syllabus
  • 1. Religion, secularization and modern society
  • 2. Pluralism and privatization of religion
  • 3. Secular age
  • 4. Deprivatization of religion
  • 5. Post-secular age
  • 6. Secularization, secularity and secularism
  • 7. Religion, the state and the public sphere
  • 8. Varieties of secularism
  • 9. A crisis of secularism?
  • 10. Secularism, multiculturalism and liberal democracy
  • 11. Europe, Islam and secularism
  • 12. Deculturation and deterritorialization of religion
Literature
  • Religion in public spaces : a European perspective. Edited by Silvio Ferrari - Sabrina Pastorelli. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2012, xv, 391. ISBN 9781409450580. info
  • TURNER, Bryan S. Religion and modern society : citizenship, secularisation, and the state. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011, xxvii, 344. ISBN 9780521675321. info
  • Rethinking secularism. Edited by Craig J. Calhoun - Mark Juergensmeyer - Jonathan VanAntwerpen. Oxford, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2011, ix, 311. ISBN 9780199796670. info
  • ROY, Olivier. Holy ignorance : when religion and culture part ways. Translated by Ros Schwartz. London: Hurst & Company, 2010, xiv, 259. ISBN 1850659923. info
  • Secularism, religion and multicultural citizenship. Edited by Geoffrey Brahm Levey - Tariq Modood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, xxiv, 274. ISBN 9780521695411. info
  • TAYLOR, Charles. A secular age. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007, x, 874. ISBN 9780674026766. info
  • CESARI, Jocelyne. When Islam and democracy meet : Muslims in Europe and in the United States. 1st Palgrave Macmillan pbk. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, x, 267. ISBN 1403971463. info
  • CASANOVA, José V. Public religions in the modern world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994, x, 320. ISBN 0226095355. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussions, assigned readings
Assessment methods
Students must submit written position papers from prescribed literature each week. They must also elaborate and present a paper with the use of the PowerPoint programme. Activity at classes is expected. The key output of the course is a written analytical essay and its public defense.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2012.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2016/SOC423