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SOC 311 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
Full Course Title:
Sociology of Religion
Sociologija religije
Course Code:
Course Level/BiH cycle:
SOC 311
1st Cycle (Bachelor of Arts)
ECTS credit value:
6
Student work-load:
(Table with hours for: Lectures; Exercise; Other; Individual learning)
For the whole semester:
Length:
Faculty/School/Department:
Lectures
Tutorial /
Practical training
e.g.
Project
Individual
learning
TOTAL
45
15
30
60
150
One semester
FASS; Cultural Studies
Course leader:
Assist. Prof. Dr Tuba Boz
Contact details:
Office:
e-mail:
Office hours:
Phone:
tboz@ius.edu.ba
Site:
IUS main campus building
Host Study Program:
Social and Political Sciences (SPS) and Cultural Studies (CULT)
Course status:
Area Elective Course
Pre-requisites:
None
Access restrictions:
None
Assessment:
Presentations, group activities, consultations, quizzes, exams and take-home exams.
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Date validated:
Course aims:
Learning outcomes:
Indicative syllabus content:
June 2012
The aims of this course are to:
1. To develop students understanding of sociological theories of religion;
2. To enrich students knowledge of the various forms and functions of belief systems;
3. To enhance students knowledge of concepts concerning diversity management,
pluralism and secularisation,
4. To introduce students to the significance and techniques of interdisciplinary research
and cultural relativism;
5. To enrich student critical thinking, interpreting and understanding of religions
On successful completion of this course IUS student will be able to:
1. To explain the various sociological theories of religion;
2. To explain various forms and functions of religion;
3. To think about religion and society analytically and critically;
4. To employ interdisciplinary approaches when conducting research;
5. To think independently and formulate critical opinions.
This course is designed to introduce and equip CULT students with the fundamentals of the
sociological theories of religion. The main themes to be dealt with may include: Globalization;
Diversity Management; secularization; the Sacred and the Profane; Eurocentricism and Cultural
relativism; New Religious Movements; Cults; Subcultures; Youth and Spirituality; Collective
behaviour; Social Cohesion; Identity construction; Religious Symbols and Practice; Religious
Symbols in the Media; Religion and Education; Religious Conversion and Demography.
Teaching occurs via lectures, seminars and tutorials, individual and team- work in-class activities.
Learning delivery:
Assessment Rationale:
Assessment Weighting:
Essential Reading:
Recommended readings:
In order to provide solid undergraduate foundation in the CULT program and to enable students
to develop a critical and evaluative understanding of culture with the socio-political environment,
and to demonstrate commitment and diligence at any time, different assessment methods are
proposed for this module. Therefore, appropriate and diverse assessment methods include fieldwork project, presentations, group activities, consultations, exams and take-home exams with
the aim to help students to stay focused and active, and fully benefit from the module.
Attendance and participation 5%
Research paper 20%
Midterm exam 25%
Presentation 10%
Final exam 40%
1. James A. Beckford. Social Theory and Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2003.
2. Max Weber. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. London: Allen & Unwin,
1976.
3. Peter L. Berger. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of A Sociological Theory of Religion. New
York: Anchor Books, 1967
4. Emile Durkheim and Karen E Fields . The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York:
Free Press, 1995.
5. Inger Furseth and Pal Repstad. An Introduction to the Sociology of Religion: Classical
and Contemporary Perspectives. Burlington : Ashgate Publishing Company, 2006.
Additional/recommended reading:
1. Max Weber. The Sociology of Religion. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993.
2. Mircea Eliade. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. New York: A Harvest
Book. Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1957.
3. Nancy T. Ammerman, Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives. Oxford :
Oxford University Press, 2006.
Intranet web reference:
Important notes:
Students have to make sure to avoid plagiarism or even the vague possibility of plagiarism. Note
that copying from the internet or even taking ideas from internet sources without proper citation
is also a form of plagiarism, not only copying from paper based texts. Students are expected to
paraphrase the arguments whenever possible and add proper citations from the original text.
Each final essay will be checked against anti-plagiarism software.
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Failing to gain at least 30% from each assignment results in failing the course (that is students are
expected to undergo each of the four assignment forms (class participation, position paper, oral
presentation, final essay). Absence from class is allowed only with strong reason. Students are
allowed one “free miss” but more than one absence without documentation will negatively affect
the grade.
Quality Assurance:
At the study program Cultural Studies and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences special attention
is paid to quality assurance. A prerequisite for the application of quality assurance policy is to
develop awareness among academic staff, but also among students about the importance of
monitoring and improving the quality of teaching. It also implies an understanding that quality
monitoring is an evaluation of work, but the establishment of an institutional system with its full
implementation at all levels. Since the internal quality monitoring mission of the University or
Faculty within the University, this track will be given special attention, as follows:

Continuous improvement of policies and procedures for quality assurance due to the
specificity of the program,

Clearly established procedures and application of procedures in adoption of study
program in accordance with the guidelines. These procedures are established and there
is a need for further work on them,

Establishment of procedures for student evaluation and there is a need for its verbatim
and transparent application,

Selection of qualified and competent teaching staff,

Evaluation of efficiency of use of premises and equipment,

Regular information about the programs is done through the written and printed
materials,

Openness to external quality monitoring procedures established by the relevant
domestic and foreign institutions.
In addition to the above areas of quality assurance, students of IUS or a study program Cultural
Studies internally evaluate the quality of teaching and teachers in all courses at the end of each
semester. The evaluation is done electronically and anonymously. In addition, and evaluate the
quality of textbooks and instruments in the laboratory and used in practice. Academic staff
submitted an annual report on recent activities of the Vice-Rector for Education at the latest two
weeks after the final exam. The independent evaluator who is not a member of the academic
staff of Universities, administered evaluation questionnaire, and a member of the study program
(for each program separately) and Dean of the Faculty discusses the research findings as well as
student evaluations and together carried revising the plan for improving professional work.
Semesterally, the members of each program of study reviewed the sufficiency and adequacy of
available facilities, textbooks and teaching aids (instruments, technical equipment ...) and,
according to the findings of the report sent to the Dean, which contains proposals for the
purchase or repair of existing equipment/aids. Program members also reviewed the adequacy of
program information available on the website of the University, and send their proposals and
suggestions in the form of a letter to the Dean.
Course Schedule:
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Week
1
Lesson
/ Date
Topics to be covered
An introduction to the
sociology of religion
Sociological perspectives on
religion
2
The sociology of religion and
general sociology
Class activities
.
Problems/ Assignments
(Homework)
Relevant reading:
Learning objectives
(After this lesson
student will be able to:)
An introduction to the sociology
of religion: classical and
contemporary perspectives,
Inger Furseth and Pål Repstad
1. Define sociology as a
science
Pages 1-5
2. Enumerate and define
different sociological
perspectives on religion
Pages 5-13
1. Define the aim of
sociology of religion
The sociology of religion vs.
other disciplines that study
religion
2. Consider and define the
differences between
general sociology and
sociology of religion
2. Consider and define the
differences between
sociology of religion and
other disciplines that study
religion
3
Religion as phenomenon –
Pages 15-28
1. Define the phenomenon
of religion
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definitions and dimensions
2. Consider the effects of
religion on individuals and
societies
3. Explore and
understand the different
dimensions of religion
4. Define and understand
basic religious concepts
4
Classical sociologists and
their theories of religion
Karl Marx ; Religion as
projection and illusion
Contribution to the Critique Pages 28-32
of Hegel’s Philosophy of
Right, Karl Marx
1. Explore different
sociological theories of
religion and their authors
2. Understand Marx’s
theory of religion
3. Define and use Marxist
concepts of
superstructure, ideology,
historical materialism, etc.
4
Emile Durkheim: Religion as
integration
The Elementary Forms of
the Religious Life,
Emile Durkheim
Pages 32-34
1. Understand Durkheim’s
theory of religion
2. Define and use
Durkheim’s concepts of
mechanical social
solidarity, moral
individualism, the human
personality cult, etc.
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5
Max Weber : Social action,
rationality, and religion as
legitimation
Sociology of Religion, Max Pages 34-37
Weber
1. Understand Weber’s
theory of the evolution and
function of religion
2. Define and use Weber’s
concepts of social action,
rationality and legitimation
5
Student presentations
Student presentations
6
Georg Simmel : Individuality,
sociability and religion
A Contribution to the
Sociology of Religion,
Georg Simmel
Pages 37-40
1. Understand Simmel’s
theory of cultural evolution
and theory of personality
2. Define and use
Simmel’s concepts of
religion and religiosity
6
Sigmund Freud : Religion as
parental dependence and
instinct control
Totem and Taboo, The
Future of An Illusion or
Moses and Monotheism,
Sigmund Freud
Pages 40-42
1. Understand Freud’s
theory of religion as
projection of the inner
psyche
2. Define and use Freud’s
psychoanalytical concepts
of religion
7
George Herbert Mead; The
social basis of identity
formation
Mind, Self, and Society,
George Herbert Mead
Pages 42-44
1. Understand Meads’
theory of symbolic
interactionism
2. Define and use Meads’
concepts of “me”, “I”,
personality, and the
dialectic relationship
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between individual and
society
7
Talcott Parsons: The
individual and social functions
of religion
The Social System, Taclott Pages 44-48
Parsons
1. Understand Parson’s
theory of “the religion of
love”
2. Define and understand
Parson’s functions of
religion and society
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Midterm exam
Midterm exam
Religion in contemporary
sociology and cultural
analysis
Theory of Communicative
Action, Jurgen Habermas
Pages 49-53
Jürgen Habermas: The place
of religion in rational dialogue
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Niklas Luhmann: Religion as
function
1. Consider and
understand various
contemporary cultural and
sociological perspectives
on religion
2.Understand Habermas’
theory of “linguistification
of the sacred” and other
sociological theories of
religion
The Differentiation of
Society, Niklas Luhmann
Pages 53-55
1. Understand Luhmann’s
general theories of social
systems and modern
society
2. Define and analyze
Luhmann’s elements of
the dramatic range of
societal complexities and
the differentiation of
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societal systems
3. Consider Luhmann’s
analysis on trust,
risk, and power in modern
societies
4. Define the concepts of
institutional differentiation
and pluralistic
individual identities
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Erving Goffman: Everyday life
as drama and rituals
Peter L. Berger and Thomas
Luckmann: Religion as social
construction
The Presentation of Self in Pages 55-57
Everyday Life, Asylum or
Interaction Ritual Erving
Goffman
The sacred canopy;
Elements of a sociological
theory of religion, Peter L.
Berger
Pages 57-60
The Invisible Religion,
Thomas Luckmann
Pierre Bourdieu: Religion and
social practice
Distinction, Pierre Bordieu
2.Define and use
Goffman’s concepts of
ritual, social roles and
drama
1. Understand Berger’s
and Luckmann’s theory of
religion as social
construction
2. Define and use the
concepts of
“externalization”,
“objectification”,
“internalization”, nomos
and anomie
The Social Construction of
Reality, Berger and
Luckmann
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1. Consider Goffman’s
analysis of everyday
ritualized interactions
Pages 60-63
1. Understand Bordieu’s
theory of religious power
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2.Define and use
Bordieu’s concepts of
“habitus”, “capital”, “field”,
“doxa” and “orthodoxy”
11
Michel Foucault: Spirituality,
corporality, and politics
The Order of Things,
Michael Foucault
Pages 63-66
1. Acknowledge Foucault’s
critique of religion
2. Define and use
Foucault’s concepts of
episteme, religious
practice, religious
discourse, etc.
3. Analyze Foucault’s
notion of religion as a
system of power
11
Anthony Giddens: Religion in
late modernity
Modernity and SelfIdentity, Anthony Giddens
Pages 66-68
1. Understand Giddens’
theory of religious
comologies as modes of
belief and ritual practice
2. Define and use
Giddens’ concepts of trust
and risk
3. Analyze Gidden’s
notion of the loss of
tradition in high modernity
12
Zygmunt Bauman: Liquid
postmodernity
Liquid Modernity, Zygmunt Pages 68-76
Hauman
1. Acknowledge Hauman’s
critique of modernity
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2. Understand Hauman’s
theory of fundamentalism
as the religion of
postomodern society
12
The great narratives:
Modernity, postmodernity,
globalization, and
secularization
Pages 76-97
1. Consider the five
fundamental ideas of the
modern society (truth and
method, final instances,
disclosure strategies,
progress, liberty)
2. Enumerate and explain
the features of modern
society
3. Enumerate and explain
the features of
postmodernity
4. Define and explain the
concepts of globalization ,
secularization,
urbanization,
societalization, modernity,
postmodernity etc.
5. Distinguish and explain
the main interpretations of
secularization
13
Religion in the public sphere
Pages 98-109
1. Understand the
relationship between
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religion, politics and
political power
2. Understand the role of
religion in the public
sphere
3. Define the concepts of
civil religion, public
religion, religious
nationalism, etc.
13
Individual religiosity
The sacred and the
profane, Mircea Elliade
Pages 110-132
1. Understand various
theories of individual
religiosity (deprivation
theory, socialization
theory, rational choice
theory and theory of
religion as a search for
meaning and belonging)
2. Define various
hypotheses in studies of
religion in the
contemporary Western
world
3. Explain the social basis
of individual religiosity
4. Consider rituals and
music as carriers of
religiosity
5. Define secularization on
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the individual level
14
Religious organizations and
movements
Pages 133-151
1. Define various religious
typologies
2. Define the concepts of
church, sect and
mysticism
3. Understand the
dynamics of religious
organizations
4. Consider the role of
religious organizations as
active entities: Resource
mobilization theory
5. Understand different
forms of domination in
religious organizations
6. Explore sociological
studies of religious
movements and minorities
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Religion, social unity, and
conflict
Pages 152-165
Fundamentalism
Religious violence
2. Define the concepts of
fundamentalism and
religious violence
Social or religious sources of
conflict
Religion as a source of peace
15
Race, ethnicity, and religion
1. Understand the
relationship between
religion, social unity and
social conflict
3. Consider religion as a
source of peace
Pages 166-177
1. Define the concepts of
race and ethnicity
2. Understand the
classical and
contemporary theories of
race and ethnicity
3. Acknowledge the
relationship between
Immigration and religion
4.Define the concepts of
assimilation, pluralism,
and multiculturalism
15
Religion and gender
Pages 177-196
1. Understand the role of
religion in interpreting
gender and gender roles
2. Define women’s and
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men’s religious roles in
society
3. Explore the
relationships between
religion, feminism,
sexuality and family
orientation
16
Sociology, theology, and
religious faith
Pages 197-208
1. Understand the
conflicting perspectives of
sociology, theology, and
religious faith
2. Acknowledge the
relationship between
sociology and
methodological atheism
3. Analyze classical and
contemporary critique of
methodological atheism
4. Utilize research from
the inside and the outside
5. Understand and utilize
the sociology of religion as
an applied science
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Final exam
Final exam
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