RLBcB549 Religion as a System of Social Regulation: An Evolutionary Perspective

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2024

The course is not taught in Autumn 2024

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Radim Chvaja, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jan Horský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Kateřina Koppová (lecturer)
Mgr. Dan Řezníček, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. et Mgr. Radek Kundt, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Kristýna Čižmářová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
RLBcA001 Introduction to Religion || RLA01 Introduction to Religion || RLBcKA001 Introduction to Religion || RLKA01 Introduction to Religion
The course is primarily recommended to bachelor students at The Department for the Study of Religions. However, students from other departments at the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Social Studies, and Faculty of Science are also welcomed. As the academic discussion on the course's theme takes place almost entirely in the Anglo-Saxon milieu, the English language is a necessary prerequisite for finishing the course successfully.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The Science magazine listed the problem of cooperation (especially between genetically unrelated individuals) as one of the 25 most essential questions that contemporary science is facing. The goal of this course is to present the latest findings on one of the possible solutions to this problem – the socio-regulative function of religion. The course mainly draws on the perspective of cultural evolution and thematically focuses on two mutually intertwined functions of religion in the facilitation of cooperation: (1) excluding un-cooperative individuals, and (2) increasing group cohesion. By attending lectures and seminars, the students will get familiar with the topics of the course, with the basic terminology in empirical and experimental methods used in the evolutionary research on religion, and get acquainted with several key papers in the fields of cognitive and evolutionary study of religion, and other related fields. Simultaneously, the students will learn practical academic skills, including basic scientific literacy, and designing and presenting a conference poster.
Learning outcomes
Upon the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- orient themselves in contemporary research on the socio-regulative function of religion in an interdisciplinary and evolutionary grounded perspective;
- adequately use basic concepts used in the hypothesis-driven research on religion;
- interpret basic tables and graphs used in evolutionary literature focused on religion;
- individually create and present a poster presentation with all its specifics.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction, course requirements, and sylabus
  • 2. An evolutionary approach to the study of humans
  • 3. Cooperation as a problem
  • 4. Religion, morality, and evolution
  • 5. Religion and the exclusion of un-cooperative individuals I: Costly signaling
  • 6. Religion and the exclusion of un-cooperative individuals II: CREDs
  • 7. Religion and the exclusion of un-cooperative individuals III: Moralizing gods
  • 8. Religion and increasing group cohesion I: Changes in group borders
  • 9. Religion and increasing group cohesion II: Group cohesion and endorphins
  • 10. Religion and increasing group cohesion III: Group cohesion, coordination, and (narrative) art
  • 11. Workshop: Designing academic posters
  • 12. Reading week
Literature
    required literature
  • The cognitive science of religion : a methodological introduction to key empirical studies. Edited by D. Jason Slone - William W. McCorkle. First published. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019, xv, 294. ISBN 9781350033696. info
Teaching methods
Lectures; home-reading; workshop focused on poster designing; individual preparation of poster and its presentation.
Assessment methods
1. Students choose one of the pre-selected research articles.
2. Students study the research article in its popularized form in the textbook (Slone & McCorkle, 2019) and write a summary (one standard page; 25% of the assessment).
3. Based on previous preparation, students create a poster presentation (40% of the assessment).
4. During the exam period, students present the poster (35% of the assessment).
To successfully finish the course, it is necessary to submit all assignments in time with an overall score of at least 66%.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Course is no more offered.
The course is taught: every week.
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