Religion in Britain: Interfaith Encounters in a Secular Age

Code

THEO2066

School

Philosophy

Level

2

Credits

20

Semesters

Spring UK

Summary

"This module invites students to explore the landscape of religions in modern British society, with particular emphasis on Christianity, Judaism, Islam, secularism and nonreligion. Lectures will introduce leading theories of the sociological study of religion, including models for interfaith contact and dialogue, and examine how these theories and approaches developed. This will enable students to (1) recognise the legacy of classic theories of religion in contemporary theoretical debates, and (2) analyse and assess the usefulness of the various theories and approaches for making sense of the religious landscape today.

Initial seminars will be devoted to class discussion of selected texts on religious pluralism and the study of religion. In the remaining seminars, students will work together in small groups to research a topic relevant to the study of religion and interfaith relations. Each group will present their research to their seminar through one or more short presentations, including at least one in the form of a podcast. Students will be provided with guidance on how to give presentations, including training in media presentation skills. Students will receive guidance on where to look for resources to research their presentations.

The group presentation is formative and unassessed. Students will evaluate their own and others' presentations. Assessment of this module will be based on two portfolios: one collection of written reflections on the process of making and evaluating presentations, and one collection of short essays responding to the lecture content."

Target Students

Available to all Level 2 students including subsidiary, Liberal Arts, and exchange students

Classes

• One 1-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks
• One 2-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks

Activities may take place every teaching week of the Semester or only in specified weeks. It is usually specified above if an activity only takes place in some weeks of a Semester.

Assessment

• 40% Coursework 1: Portfolio 1: 2000 words (max)
• 60% Coursework 2: Portfolio 2: 2000 words (max)

Assessed by end of spring semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

a) Knowledge and understanding: to be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various social-scientific theories of religion and interfaith relations; to gain a sense of the historical development of social-scientific approaches to religion; to be able to show good knowledge of what makes a presentation successful.
 

b) Intellectual skills:
to engage critically with the ideas presented in the lecture sequence and apply them to texts discussed and debated in the seminar series; to be able to plan a group research project; to be able to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of students' own presentations and those of others.
 

c) Professional practical skills:
to be able to communicate and discuss ideas and interpretations and develop arguments by written means; to be able to attend to, interpret, reflect on and interact with the ideas and arguments of others; to be able to collaborate effectively with others; to be able to give a clear, interesting, well-paced presentation/podcast, suitable for its audience.
 

d) Transferable (key) skills:
to be able to deal with complex ideas; to organise and articulate a coherent and justified written argument, demonstrating an ability to integrate interpretation with evidence; to gain confidence and poise in public speaking and podcasting; to be able to work effectively in a group.

Conveners

• Dr Tim Hutchings