This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

ATS2724 - Religion, spirituality and society

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

Sociology

Coordinator(s)

Associate Professor Anita Harris

Offered

Not offered in 2016

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? How do we compare with other places around the world? This unit examines the current state of religion and spirituality in Australia, compares this with the rest of the world, and offers a sociological interpretation of these developments.

Outcomes

Students completing this unit will:

Develop a critical awareness of contemporary religion and spirituality;
Be introduced to different sociological approaches to the study of religion and religious change;
Develop their analytical skills to critically understand and interpret recent religious developments.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 75%
Exam: 25%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Associate Professor Anita Harris

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Anthropology
Religious studies
Sociology

Prerequisites

Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units. It is highly recommended that students only take this unit after they have completed two gateway units in Sociology.

Prohibitions

AZA3724, AZA2724, ATS3724