RLB535 Religious conversion: conceptualisation and research

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Jakub Cigán, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Jana Valtrová, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Ivona Vrzalová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable of Seminar Groups
RLB535/Kombi: Fri 30. 10. 8:00–9:40 K12 nerezervovat, Fri 27. 11. 8:00–9:40 K12 nerezervovat, Fri 8. 1. 8:00–9:40 K12 nerezervovat, J. Cigán
RLB535/Prez: Tue 12:00–13:40 K21, J. Cigán
Prerequisites (in Czech)
( RLA01 Introduction to Religion || RLKA01 Introduction to Religion ) && ( RLA13 Introduction to Research || RLKA13 Introduction to Research )
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 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course introduces students to the research of the principal theme in the study of religions – religious conversion. The primary focus of the course lies in mapping different conceptualizations of the religious conversion and limits and possibilities of its research.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will be:
• acquainted with past and present trends in religious conversion research
• able to critically and impartially evaluate limits and possibilities of the different approaches to the study of religious conversion
• able to understand the link between the way religious conversion is conceptualized and the way it is researched
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the course and the study of religious conversion
  • 2. Religious conversion as a religious experience
  • 3. Religious conversion as a brainwashing and radical turning point
  • 4. Religious conversion as a gradual drift
  • 5. Convert as a role
  • 6. Complex models of religious conversion
  • 7. Narrative approaches to religious conversion
  • 8. Religious conversion in neuro-cognitive perspective
  • 9. Religious conversion as a change in a world-view
  • 10. Religious conversion as a change in a meaning-making system
  • 11. Religious conversion in an evolutionary perspective
  • 12. Anthropology of religious conversion
  • 13. Religious conversion and autobiographical memory
Literature
    recommended literature
  • BUCKSER, Andrew and GLAZIER, Stephen D. (eds.), 2003. Anthropology of Religious Conversion. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0-7425-1778-0.
  • BREMMER, Jan N., VAN BEKKUM, Wout J. and MOLENDIJK, Arie L. (eds.), 2006. Paradigms, Poetics, and Politics of Conversion. Leuven: Peeters Publishers. ISBN 90-429-1754-7.
  • PALOUTZIAN, Raymond, SWENSON, Erica L. and MCNAMARA, Patrick, 2006. Religious conversion, spiritual transformation, and the neurocognition of meaning making. In: Where God and science meet : how brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of r
  • GOOREN, Henri, 2007. Reassessing Conventional Approaches to Conversion: Toward a New Synthesis. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 2007. Vol. 46, no. 3, p. 337–353.
  • STROMBERG, Peter G. Language and self-transformation : a study of the Christian conversion narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2008, xvi, 148. ISBN 9780521031363. info
  • Handbook of religious conversion. Edited by H. Newton Malony - Samuel Southard. Birmingham, Ala.: Religious Education Press, 1992, vi, 314. ISBN 0891350861. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, readings, class discussion
Assessment methods
Criteria for course completion are 1) completion of two tests and 2) acceptance of seminar paper. Tests. Two trial terms for tests will be held during the semester, one in the middle for midterm test and another one at the end for the final test. Regular test terms will be held during the exam period. For the successful completion of the tests, a student needs to achieve minimally 120 points in a sum from 200 points for both tests. Seminar paper. A student will submit a seminar paper in an exam period in a length of 5 - 6 standard pages. In the seminar paper, student evaluates three different approaches to the religious conversion, their conceptualization strategies and methods. Seminar paper includes student's own analytical conclusion.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2020/RLB535