RLB37 New Religious Movements

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. David Václavík, 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
RLB37/Kombi01: Fri 19. 3. 8:00–9:40 J21, Fri 16. 4. 8:00–9:40 J21, Fri 14. 5. 8:00–9:40 J21, D. Václavík
RLB37/Prez01: each odd Thursday 12:00–15:40 K32, D. Václavík
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 80 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/80, only registered: 0/80, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/80
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course is focused on basic information concerning to scientific study of contemporary religiosity. Main objectives can be summarized as follows: to understands methodological issues as study of conversion, membership, transformations of religious life in global society etc., to obtain short compendium of new religious groups and movements.
At the end of the course students should be able to:
define basic terms (for example new religious movements, sect, cult, church)
translate main theories of emergence of new religious movements
translate main models of conversions to new religious movements
analyze starting-points of main approaches (theological, sociological, psychological) to the study of new religious movements
judge medial discourse concerning new religious movements
create analyze of chosen new religious movement
Syllabus
  • (0) Introductory information.
  • (1) Limitation of basic terms I – religion, religious movements, new religious movements.
  • (2) Limitation of basic terms II – classical limitation of terms sect – cult – church (Weber, Troeltsch, Niebuhr).
  • (3) Limitation of basic terms III – innovation in using terms sect – cult – church (Johnson, Yinger, Stark & Bainbridge, Wilson).
  • (4) Creation and genesis of new religious movements I – secularization, secularization thesis and its critical reflection.
  • (5) Creation and genesis of new religious movements II – new religious movements as part of counterculture.
  • (6) Conversion and its interpretation in the kontext on new religious movements.
  • (7) Membership.
  • (8) Media image of new religious movements.
  • (9) Contracult movements.
  • (10) New religious movements and internet.
  • (11) Typologies and taxonomies of new religious movements.
  • (12) Limits and possibilities of the scientific study of new religious movements.
  • (13) Final summary
Literature
    required literature
  • LUŽNÝ, Dušan. Nová náboženská hnutí (New Religious Movements.). Brno: Masarykova univerzita Brno, 1997, 181 pp. sv. 3. ISBN 80-210-1645-0. info
  • VÁCLAVÍK, David. Sociologie nových náboženských hnutí (Sociology of New Religious Movements). 1st ed. Praha: Malvern, 2007, 152 pp. Proměny náboženství, sv. 5. ISBN 978-80-86702-22-3. info
  • LUŽNÝ, Dušan. Náboženství a moderní společnost: Sociologické teorie modernizace a sekularizace (Religion and Modern Society). Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1999, 183 pp. Religionistika, sv. 6. ISBN 80-210-2224-8. info
  • LYON, David. Ježíš v Disneylandu : náboženství v postmoderní době. Translated by Petra Vlčková. 1. vyd. Praha: Mladá fronta, 2002, 270 s. ISBN 8020409416. info
    recommended literature
  • STARK, Rodney and William Sims BAINBRIDGE. The future of religion : secularization, revival and cult formation. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985, vii, 571 s. ISBN 0-520-04854-7. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discusions, reading, critical reflections of texts
Assessment methods
Colloquium
(a) Conspectus
(b) Final written test (min. 60 %)
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2004, Spring 2006, Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2014, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2021/RLB37