SCY3290

Spiritualities, faiths and religions: society and the transcendent

Gary Bouma

8 points - 2 hours per week - Second semester - Clayton - Prohibitions: SCY2290/RLT2290/RLT3290

Objectives Students completing this subject successfully will encounter the diversity of spirituality in religiously plural Australia; become sensitive to the ways in which spiritualities and modes of interacting with the transcendent are socially organised; understand the complex interplay between religion and society; appreciate the social underpinning and structuring of religious belief and the ways in which religious belief shapes society; and become aware of the sociological perspectives on spirituality and religious belief, practice and organisation in Australian society.

Synopsis Are Australians spiritual, religious or what? Is Australia Christian, monotheist, secular or polytheist? Why are Islam, Buddhism and Witchcraft growing? Is there a future for the churches? Does it make any difference? Focusing on religion in Australia, this option examines the problem of religious meaning, the emergence and maintenance of religious systems of meaning, and the interaction between religion and and other aspects of society.

Assessment Research report (4000 words): 70% - Short paper (1000 words): 15% - Class test (1 hour): 15%

Prescribed texts

Bouma G D (ed.) Many religions, all Australia CRA, 1997
Bouma G D Religion: Meaning, transcendence and community in Australia Longman, 1992
Kurtz L Gods in the global village: The world's religons in sociological perspective Forge, 1995

Recommended texts

Beckford J A Religion and advanced industrial society Unwin Hyman, 1989
Bouma G D The religious factor in Australian life Marc, 1986
Beyer P Religion and globalization Sage, 1994
Hughes P Religion: A view from the census CRA, 1993

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