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HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY

1.  / Course Title
Approaches to the Study of Religion
2. / Course Code
REL 1260
3. / No. of Units
3
4. / Offering Department
Department of Religion and Philosophy
5. / Aims & Objectives
(1)  To achieve a comprehensive understanding of various approaches to the study of religion;
(2)  To understand the pros and cons of different approaches and their impact on the study of religion;
(3)  To help students understand various methodological perspectives which provide useful ways to study religion;
(4)  To help students understand the multifarious phenomena of religion;
(5)  To arouse students’ interest in the typical issues concerning religious faith and practice in actual life.
6. / Course description/ Content
This course gives the student an introduction to the different approaches to the study of religion – the internal approach that includes textual, hermeneutical and theological studies; the different perspectival approaches, namely, the anthropological, psychological, philosophical, sociological; and religious dialogue that looks at religion and quasi-religions from different angles. The subject will consider a number of examples in which the combinations of these approaches, interacting with one another, help students understand what is happening in typical religious acts.
Outline Content:
A. Introduction
(i)  What is religion? Worldviews?
(ii)  The meaning and significance of religious study
B. Internal Approaches
(i)  Textual
(ii)  Hermeneutical
(iii)  Theological
C. Perspectival Approaches
(i)  Historical
(ii)  Anthropological
(iii)  Philosophical
(iv)  Phenomenological
(v)  Psychological
(vi)  Sociological
D. Religion and Dialogue
(i)  Inter-Religious dialogue
a)  Religious Particularism (Exclusivism & Inclusivism)
b)  Religious Pluralism
(ii)  Inter-disciplinary dialogue: Religion-Science Dialogue
E. Conclusion: The Significance of the Religious Quest in the Contemporary World
7. / Course Intended Learning outcomes (CILOs)
CILO No. / By the end of the course, the students should be able to:
CILO 1 / State in broad outline the different methodological approaches to the study of religion, and indentify their respective strengths and weaknesses
CILO 2 / Describe and compare the approaches of the various masters in their study of religion and the general outlines of their theories of religion
CILO 3 / Explain the cultural potential and consequence of religious faith and practices
CILO 4 / Explicate the multifarious nature of religion, and appraise different religious faiths and practices on their own terms
8. / Teaching & Learning Activities (TLAs)
CILO No. / TLAs
CILO 1, 2 / Attending lectures: students are requested to attend lectures attentively and actively, raising questions and offering their views and comments whenever appropriate.
Watching movies: the instructor will prepare a list of questions for discussion after the movie shows. Students are also encouraged to give their comments and raise further questions for discussion.
CILO 2 and 3 / Tutorial presentation: students will be formed into small groups. Each group will select an approach to the study of religion or a type of religious dialogue for a detailed study.
Short report: each student is asked to write a short report on the part he/she has presented during the tutorial session. This is to help the student organize his/her thoughts in a written format.
Active participation in tutorials: for students who are not presenting in the tutorials, they will be asked to participate actively by raising questions and giving comments/evaluations on the approaches/religious dialogues presented by their fellow classmates.
CILO 2, 3 and 4 / Individual paper: students will have to turn in an individual research paper on a specific approach to the study of religion, through which they will have to reflect and expound on the multifarious nature of religion as well as the cultural potential and consequence of religious faith and practices.
9. / Assessment Methods (AMs)
Type of Assessment / Weighting / CILOs to be addressed / Description of Assessment Tasks
Participation in classes and tutorials / 10% / 1-3 / Students’ questions and comments during lectures and tutorials will reflect if they have followed the lectures attentively and if they are acquainted with the contents of the assigned readings.
Tutorial Presentation / 20% / 2-3 / This group activity will assess how well students understand their selected approach to the studying of religion. Specifically, their presentation will reflect if they can identify the strengths and possible problems of that approach.
Short report / 5% / 2,3 / The short report will assess how well the student can consolidate his/her understanding of his/her oral presentation in an organized, written format.
Individual Paper / 25% / 2,3,4 / The content of the group paper follows from the tutorial presentation. In addition, this written counterpart also tests the students’ ability to organize their thoughts and ideas in a clear, coherent and formal manner. Also, the paper will show how well the student has grasped the very essence of the religious phenomena as well as the multifarious nature of religion.
Final Exam / 40% / 1-4 / This comprehensive examination aims to assess all learning outcomes achieved by students upon the completion of the course.
10. / Textbooks / Recommended readings
Banton, Michael, ed. Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion. London: Tavistock, 1966.
Beaver, R. Pierce et al, eds. A Lion Handbook of the World’s Religions. Oxford: Lion, 1994.
Bettis, Joseph D., ed. Phenomenology of Religion: Eight Modern Descriptions of the Essence of Religion. London: SCM Press, 1969.
Bowie, Fiona. The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
Braum, Willi & T. McCutcheon, eds. Guide to the Study of Religion. London & New York: Cassell, 2000.
Cain, Seymour. "History of the Study of Religion," in Encyclopaedia of Religion (New York: Macmillan), ed. Mircea Eliade, vol. 14, pp. 64-83, 1987.
Capps, Walter H. Religious Studies: The Making of a Discipline. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995.
Clarke, Peter and Stewart Sutherland, eds. The Study of Religion, Traditional and New Religions. London: Routledge, 1991.
Connolly, Peter. Approaches to the Study of Religion. London & New York: Cassell, 1999.
Eliade, Mircea. Myths, Dreams & Mysteries: The Encounter between Contemporary Faiths & Archaic Reality. London: Collins, 1968.
Eliade, Mircea & Joseph M. Kitagawa, eds. The History of Religions: Essays in Methodology. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 1959.
Holm. Jean. The Study of Religions. London: Sheldon Press, 1977.
Hughes, Dewi Arwel. Has God Many Names? An Introduction to Religious Studies. Leicester: APOLLOS, 1996.
Kitagawa, Joseph, ed. The History of Religions: Retrospect and Prospect: A Collection of Original Essays. NY: Macmillan, 1985.
Kitagawa, Joseph Mitsuo. The Quest for Human Unity: A Religious History. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990.
McGuire, Meredith B. Religion: The Social Context. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publication Company, 1997.
Morris, Brian. Anthropological Studies of Religion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Pals, Daniel L. Seven Theories of Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Patton, Kimberley C. & Benjamin C. Ray, eds. A Magic Still Dwells: Comparative Religion in the Postmodern Age. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 2000.
Sharma, Arvind, ed. Methodology in Religious Studies: The Interface with Women’s Studies. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002.
Sharpe, Eric J. "Methodological Issues in the Study of Religion," in Encyclopaedia of Religion (New York: Macmillan), ed. by Mircea Eliade, vol. 14, pp. 83-88, 1987.
Smith, Wilfred Cantwell. The Meaning and End of Religion. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991.
Stark, Rodney & Roger Finke. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. University of California Press, 2000.
Strenski, Ivan. Four Theories of Myth in Twentieth-Century History: Cassirer, Eliade, Levi-Strauss and Malinowski. London: Macmillan Press, 1987.
Van Der Leeuw, G. Religion in Essence & Manifestation. Vol. 2. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
Wach, Joachim. The Comparative Study of Religions. New York & London: Columbia University Press, 1958.
呂大吉，《西方宗教學說史》，北京：中國社會科學，1994。
卓新平，《世界宗教與宗教學》，北京：社會科學文獻出版社，1992。
崔默（William C. Tremmel）著，賴妙淨譯，《宗教學導論》台北：桂冠，2000。
福特（David F. Ford）著、李四龍譯，《神學》，香港：牛津大學出版社，2000。
陳慎慶，《諸神嘉年華：香港宗教研究》，香港：牛津大學出版社，2002。
黎志添，《宗教研究與詮釋學──宗教學建立的思考》，香港：中文大學出版社，2003。
羅德尼．斯達克(Rodney Stark) 、羅傑爾．芬克(Roger Finke) 著，《信仰的法則──解釋宗教之人的方面》，北京：中國人民大學出版社，2004。

[Revised by Lee CK]

REL1260 Approaches to the Study of Religion

23 November 2010