Please note that this is a draft syllabus and may change slightly before the semester begins.
Sociology of Religion – Sociology 129a
Brandeis University
Summer 2016 Session II
July 11 – August 10
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Margaret Clendenen
Pearlman 104
Tuesdays, 1:30pm – 3pm
mclende@brandeis.edu
Class meetings:
Location:
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 11am – 1:30pm
TBA
Course Description
How do people live and experience religion in their day-to-day lives? Why do people decide to
convert and how do they adopt new religious identities? How do LGBT people understand and
relate to religion? How do people with different religious identities, including atheists and
agnostics, interact with each other?
This course will encourage you to think through these, and many other, questions, by providing
an introduction to the sociological study of religion. Over the course of our summer semester,
we will think and talk together about what spirituality and religion are, and how they shape
public and private life in the United States.
By the end of the semester, you will be able to:
- Understand what it means to study religion sociologically, and be able to analyze and
discuss debates within the field.
- Analyze how religion and spirituality are present in public and private life in the
United States.
- Describe how religion and spirituality are experienced by people across the life
course, and how these experiences vary based on people’s social locations.
As sociologists, we’ll focus on how people live and experience religion(s). We’ll pay particular
attention to people’s religious communities, their practices, and the religious identities that they
develop. We will think critically about how people develop their religious identities, and the
spaces in which they experience religion (both in and outside of formal religious community).
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Please note that this is a draft syllabus and may change slightly before the semester begins.
Course Readings
The following books are required for the course:
Davidman, Lynn. 1991. Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox
Judaism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Erzen, Tanya. 2006. Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the ex-gay
Movement. Berkeley: University of California Press.
All other required course readings are available through Latte.
Course Requirements and Grading Policies
Attendance and Participation – 15 points
You are expected to attend all class sessions, and come to class prepared to participate actively.
Asking questions, discussing the readings, sending out relevant current events to the class via
email, taking notes, and coming to chat about the class in office hours are all examples of active
participation. I will reduce your participation grade for texting, using computers for non-class
related purposes, etc.
Absences will only be excused for religious observances or documented illnesses. Each
unexcused absence will result in a two-point deduction to your grade. As summer classes cover
a lot of material in each class, more than three unexcused absences will result in failure.
Papers – 2 papers, 20 points each
You will be required to write two papers over the course of the semester. Each paper should be
between 5 and 6 pages, double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font. Questions for papers
will be distributed on the Thursday before they are due. I will deduct two points for every day
that papers are late, including weekends. For the first paper, you are required to schedule an
individual meeting with me before the paper is due. You may submit a draft of your paper on the
Monday before the paper is due, no later than 12pm.
Site Visit - 15 points
Before Monday, July 25th, you will attend a service or gathering at a religious center in the
greater Boston area. You are highly encouraged to attend a religious center outside of the
religious tradition(s) in which you were raised and/or currently belong. We will brainstorm
potential sites in class. Please come to class on July 25th prepared to discuss your experiences,
and with any materials that you may have gathered while there (bulletins, brochures, etc.) (5
points).
You will submit a 4-5 page, double-spaced reflection on your experiences by Thursday, July 28th
(10 points). You may submit a draft of this assignment on the Monday before it is due, no later
than 12pm.
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Please note that this is a draft syllabus and may change slightly before the semester begins.
Final – 30 points
Your final exam will be due Friday, August 12th by 12pm. The prompt will be distributed on
Thursday, August 4th. The exam will consist of two essay questions, worth 15 points each. The
total, combined length of the essays should be between 6-8 pages, double-spaced, 12 point Times
New Roman font. Late final exams will not be accepted. You may not submit drafts of your
essays.
Grades are calculated as follows. All assignments must be completed to receive a passing grade
for this course.
98 – 100
94 – 97
90 – 93
87 – 89
84 – 86
80 – 83
A+
A
AB+
B
B-
77 – 79
74 – 76
70 – 73
67 – 79
64 – 66
60 – 63
<60
C+
C
CD+
D
DF
University Policies on Academic Integrity
You are expected to be familiar with and to follow Brandeis University’s policies on academic
integrity. I will refer any suspected instances of alleged dishonesty to the Office of Student
Development and Conduct.
University Policy on Academic Accommodations
If you are a student who needs academic accommodations because of a documented disability,
please contact me and present your letter of accommodation as soon as possible.
Visiting students who have questions about documenting a disability or requesting academic
accommodations should contact Gwenn Smaxwill, Summer School Director (x63424) or
smaxwill@brandeis.edu . Current Brandeis students should contact Academic Services (x63470)
for assistance.
Letters of accommodation should be presented at the start of the semester to ensure provision of
accommodations. Accommodations cannot be granted retroactively.
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Please note that this is a draft syllabus and may change slightly before the semester begins.
Course Outline
Week 1 : How do sociologists think about religion?
July 11
Introductions and Overview of the Course
July 12
Classics and Neoclassics
Berger, Peter. 1967. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of
Religion. New York: Anchor Books
Chapter 1, “Religion and World Construction”
Durkheim, Emile. 1995 [1912]. Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York:
Free Press.
Chapter 1, “Definition of Religious Phenomena and of Religion”
July 14
America’s Changing Religious Landscape
Putnam, Robert D. and David Campbell. 2010. American Grace: How Religion
Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Chapters 2-4
Bender, Courtney. 2007. “Religion and Spirituality: History, Discourse,
Measurement.” Social Science Research Council Essay Forum on the Religious
Engagement of American Undergraduates
Week 2 : How do religious identities change over time?
July 18
The New Paradigm
Warner, R. Stephen. 1993. “Work in Progress toward a New Paradigm for the
Sociological Study of Religion in the United States. American Journal of
Sociology. 98(5): p. 1044-1093. (Please skim)
July 19
Changing Religious Traditions
Davidman, Lynn. 1991. Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox
Judaism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chapters 1-3
July 21
Changing Religious Traditions
Paper 1 due
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Please note that this is a draft syllabus and may change slightly before the semester begins.
Davidman, Lynn. 1991. Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox
Judaism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chapters 4-6
Week 3 : Where do people experience religion?
July 25
Religion in Congregations
Site Visit Due
Pattillo-McCoy, Mary. 1998. “Church culture as a strategy of action in the black
community.” American Sociological Review 63.6: 767–784.
Marti, Gerardo. 2010. “Ego-Affirming Evangelicalism: How a Hollywood Church
Appropriates Religion for Workers in the Creative Class.” Sociology of Religion
71(1): 52-75.
July 26
Lived Religion and Religion Outside of Congregations
Cadge, Wendy. 2013. Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Chapter 6
Bender, Courtney. 2003. Heaven's Kitchen: Living Religion at God's Love We
Deliver. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Chapter 5
In class film: The Dhamma Brothers
July 28
Religion in Public Life
Site Visit Report Due
Bellah, Robert. 1970. Belief: Essays on Religion in a Post-traditional World.
New York: Harper & Row.
Chapter 9, “Civil Religion in America”
Edgell, Penny, Joseph Gerteis and Douglas Hartmann . 2006. “Atheists as
‘Other:’ Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society.”
American Sociological Review, 72(2):211-234.
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Please note that this is a draft syllabus and may change slightly before the semester begins.
Week 4 : How are identities shaped by religious traditions?
August 1
Ex-gay Identities
Erzen, Tanya. 2006. Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the
ex-gay Movement. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chapters 1-3
August 2
Ex-gay Identities
Erzen, Tanya. 2006. Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the
ex-gay Movement. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chapters 4 – 6 and Conclusion
August 4
LGBT identities
Paper 2 due
Final Exam Distributed
Wilcox, Melissa M. 2002. “When Shelia’s a Lesbian: Religious Individualism
among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Christians” Sociology of
Religion 63(4): 497-513.
In class film: A Jihad for Love or Trembling Before G-d
Week 5 : How do young adults experience religion?
August 8
Religion in Emerging Adulthood
Kelner, Shaul. 2010. Tours That Bind: Diaspora, Pilgrimage, and Israeli
Birthright Tours. New York: New York University Press.
Chapters 1, 6-7
In class film: Soul Searching
August 9
Religion on Campus
Schmalzbauer, John. 2013. “Campus Religious Life in America: Revitalization
and Renewal” Society 50(2): 115 – 131.
The final will be due on Friday, August 12 by 12pm.
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Please note that this is a draft syllabus and may change slightly before the semester begins.
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