Sociology of Religion

SOC 461/561
MWF 11:00am-11:50am
260 Condon Hall
University of Oregon
Spring 1999

Instructor: Sam Porter
Office: 729 PLC
Phone: 346-5013
Email: sporter@oregon.uoregon.edu or click here.
Office Hours: Monday 2:00pm-3:00pm; Wednesday 2:00pm-3:00pm or by appointment

Introduction

What do religious phenomena mean to their participants, seen as members of society? We will explore answers to this question through readings, lectures, discussion, films and firsthand research. We will look at classical theories (e.g., Marx, Weber, Durkheim) and contemporary research (e.g., Bellah, Geertz, Berger), first to probe the roots of religious experience and to test the social functions of ritual; and to consider religion as theodicy and symbolic synthesis of world view and ethic. Second, we will examine religious evolution in light of social modernization in the West, focusing on the rise of Protestantism and the spirit of capitalism. We will then turn to different types of religious organization and roles. And third, we will focus on the contempo-rary United States with an eye to race, class and gender as well as the dynamics of conversion, secularization and the religious refiguring of politics, conservative-liberal tensions, civil religion and religion in public life. In sum, the objectives of this course are, one, to introduce students to classical social thinkers and contemporary social theorists of religion, two, to familiarize students with major themes in the sociology of religion and, finally, to provide a basis for thinking sociologically about religion in public life as well as for informed action and further study.

Requirements

1. Careful reading of assigned material in advance of the class meeting for which it is assigned, attendance at class meetings and active participation in class discus-sions. Emphasis is on mastering, and responding critically and creatively, to the course’s material.

2. There will be an in-class midterm exam, MAY 3, 1999.

3. There will be a final exam, JUNE 7, 10 A.M., and two 6-8 page research papers. The first paper, DUE APRIL 26, will be based on a congregation you visit and rites you observe first-hand. A Second paper, DUE MAY 24, will be based on an analysis of course readings to support or criticize theories of secularization. Both paper topics will be discussed before hand in class and individually by appointment.

Grading: papers = 50%, exam = 33%, engagement (e.g., participation in class discussion) = 17% of course grade.

Required Reading

Casanova, José. Public Religions in the Modern World, 1994
McGuire, Meredith B. Religion: The Social Context, 1997
A course reading packet (course packet readings are –hyphenated below).
All readings are available at UO Bookstore & on reserve at Knight Library.

Schedule of Readings:

Week 1

3/29 M:
1. Course Introduction & Overview

3/31 W:
2. Religion as Social Story and Drama
-Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1915 translation by Joseph Ward Swain) in Lessa & Vogt, eds., Reader in Comparative Religion, pp. 27-35; and;
-Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1995 translation by Karen E. Fields 1995), pp. 418-425

4/2 F:
2. Religion as Social Story and Drama -- Film: “Holy Ghost People”
-Novak, “Religion as Autobiography and Story,” pp. 30-36 in McNamara, ed., Religion American Style, first edition;
McGuire, “The Sociological Perspective on Religion,” pp. 1-24 in Religion: The Social Context.

Week 2

5/5 M:
4. Rites and Representations: Religion and Social Order
-Bellah, “Civil Religion in America,” pp. 168-189 in Beyond Belief;
-Falwell, “Revival in America,” pp. 360-62 in Bellah et al., ed., Individualism & Commitment in American Life: Readings on the Themes of Habits of the Heart (referred to as I&C hereafter);
-Jackson, “The Courage of Conviction,” pp. 363-365 in I&C

4/7 W:
5. Ritual: Individual & Social
-Turner, “Liminality and Communitas,” pp. 102-113, 125-130 in The Ritual Process

4/9 F:
6. Individual and Social Dimensions of Religion – Film: “N/um Tchai”
McGuire, “Religion, Social Cohesion, and Conflict,” pp. 185-228 & “Shaping the Individual's Religion pp. 51-70 in Religion: The Social Context

Week 3

4/12 M:
7. Cultural Meaning of Religion I: Symbol
-Geertz, “Ethos, World View, and the Analysis of Sacred Symbols,” pp. 126-131, 140-141; in The Interpretation of Cultures;
McGuire, “Religion and Systems of Meaning,” pp. 26-31 in Religion: The Social Context

4/14 W:
8. Cultural Meaning of Religion II: Theodicy & Salvation
-Berger, “Religion and World Construction,” & “The Problem of Theodicy,” pp. 3-7, 53-80 in The Sacred Canopy
McGuire, “Crisis of Meaning,” “Community and Religious Belonging,” “Extended Application,” pp. 31-49 in Religion: The Social Context

4/16 F:
9. Religious Evolution & Social Change
-Bellah, “Religious Evolution” pp. 20-50 in Beyond Belief (1991) [1964]
-Bellah, “Prologue: The Contours of Religious Evolution,” pp. 1-15 (1999 manuscript)

Week 4

4/19 M:
10. Religion & Class
-Marx & Engels, extracts from “Contributions to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right”; “Theses on Feuerbach”; “On Morality”; “The Communist Manifesto”; “Introduction to the English Edition of Socialism: Utopian and Scientific”; “Kapital I”; pp. 53-54, 143-145, 725-727, 473-476, 489-491 in Tucker, ed., The Marx and Engels Reader and pp. 299-303, 135-137 in Niebuhr, ed., On Religion;
McGuire, “The Impact of Religion on Social Change,” pp. 229-272 in Religion: The Social Context

4/21 W:
11. Religious Organization: Church, Sect & Denomination
-Bellah et al., “Religion,” pp. 219-249 in Habits of the Heart;
McGuire, “The Dynamics of Religious Collectivities,” pp. 141-184 in Religion: The Social Context

4/23 F:
12. The Soul of the Modern World: The Protestant Ethic Thesis
-Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism excerpts, pp. 47-51, 155-83

PAPER #1 DUE MONDAY, APRIL 26

Week 5

4/26 M:
13. Tensions Between Religion & Modernity
-Weber, “The Religious Rejections of the World and Their Directions,” pp. 323-359 in Gerth & Mills, eds., From Max Weber

4/28 W:
14. Conflict of Value Spheres
-Bellah, “Max Weber and World-Denying Love: A Look at the Historical Sociology of Religion,” pp. 1-35 (manuscript)

4/30 F:
15. Secularization Debated
-Wilson, “Secularization: the Inherited Model,” pp. 9-20 in Hammond, ed., The Sacred in a Secular Age;
-Berger, “From the Crisis of Religion to the Crisis of Secularity,” pp. 14-24 in Douglas & Tipton, eds., Religion and America

Week 6

5/3 M:
16. Secularization as Differentiation, Decline & Privatization
Casanova, “Introduction,” “Secularization, Enlightenment, and Modern Religion,” pp. 1-39 in Public Religions in the Modern World;
McGuire, “The Religious Situation in the Modern World,” pp. 274-292 in Religion: The Social Context

5/5 W:
17. (De) Conversion and Socio-Cultural Change
-Tipton, “Conversion and Cultural Change,” pp. 347-360 in I&C;
-Hoge, Johnson, & Luidens, “Why Mainline Churches Are Declining,” pp. 175-202, 238-241 in Vanishing Boundaries;
McGuire, “Conversion,” “Commitment,” “Disengagement,” pp. 71-94 in Religion: The Social Context

5/7 F:
18. Religious Roles: Prophet & Priest
-Weber, “The Prophet,” pp. 46-59 in The Sociology of Religion;
-Campell & Petigrew, “Racial and Moral Crisis: The Role of Little Rock Ministers,” pp. 509-516 in American Journal of Sociology, vol. 64 (March 1959);
McGuire, “Religious Leadership,” “The Religious Group,” pp. 244-248 in Religion: The Social Context

Week 7

5/10 M:
19. Religion & Race
-King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” pp. 304-319 in I&C;
-Du Bois, “The Color Line and the Church,” pp. 216-18 in Paschal, ed., A W. E. B. Du Bois Reader, 1993 [1929]

5/12 W:
20. “Toward a Sociology of the Black Church”
-Lincoln and Mamiya, The Black Church in the African-American Experience, pp. 1-19, 196-204, 221-235, 271-273

5/14 F:
21. Religion & Gender
-Zuckerman, “Gender Regulation as a Source of Religious Schism,” pp. 353-373 in Sociology of Religion, vol. 58, no. 4;
McGuire, “Official and Unofficial Religion,” pp. 95-140 in Religion: The Social Context

Week 8

5/17 M:
22. Private and Public Religions
Casanova, “Private and Public Religions,” pp. 40-74 in Public Religions in the Modern World

5/17 W:
23. “From Private to Public Denomination”
Casanova, “Catholicism in the United States” pp. 167-207 in Public Religions in the Modern World

5/19 F:
24. The New Religious Right
-Marsden, “Preachers of Paradox,” pp. 150-168 in Douglas & Tipton, eds., Religion and America

PAPER #2 DUE ON MONDAY, MAY 24

Week 9

5/24 M:
25. “From Civil Religion to Fundamentalist Sect to New Christian Right”
Casanova, “Evangelical Protestantism” pp. 135-207 in Public Religions in the Modern World

5/26 W:
26. American Religion & Religious Dissent in Societal Perspective
-Bellah, “Unitarian Universalism in Societal Perspective,” pp. 1-24 (manuscript)

5/28 F:
27. Religion in Public
-Rorty, “Religion as a Conversation-Stopper,” pp. 1-6 in Common Knowledge vol. 3, no. 1 (spring 1994);
Porter, “The Pacific Northwest Forest Debate: Bringing Religion Back In?,” pp. 1-23 in Worldviews, vol. 3, no. 1 (1999)

Week 10

5/31 M:
NO CLASS: Memorial Day

6/2 W:
28. Religion in Public
Casanova, “The Deprivatization of Modern Religion,” pp. 211-234 in Public Religions in the Modern World

6/4 F:
29. Review

Grading Criteria

Papers and exam will be graded for:

1) clarity and vividness of description and expression;
2) your own insight (e.g., into ritual in a social context and into the secularization debate);
3) use of theoretical resources in the course; and,
4) clear composition, organization and style of writing.

ENGAGEMENT

Seventeen percent of the grade is based on engagement with the themes and substance of the course, including but not limited to class discussion. Of-fice visits to discuss readings, lectures and/or paper topics; e-mail exchanges; and, presence and attention during lectures and class discussion are forms of engagement as well.

PAPERS

Should include footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography. When quoting or referencing an author cite author’s name, date of publication and page number(s). Put page numbers on each page of your paper. Imagine you are writing for a culturally diverse, college educated audience, not one teacher. Back your assertions by citing evidence and provide concrete examples for your generalizations. Each student should make an appointment with me at least two weeks prior to the due date for each paper to discuss your plans and progress.