RLB513 The Historical Study of Religion in the Twentieth Century

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2016
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Leonardo Ambasciano, Ph.D., M.A. (lecturer), Mgr. Aleš Chalupa, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. David Zbíral, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Šárka Londa Vondráčková
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each odd Tuesday 14:10–15:45 B2.24
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to provide graduate students with a comprehensive overview of the origins, development, and critical issues concerning the academic discipline known as history of religions. Specifically, the course will focus on the twentieth-century debates among different disciplinary schools, providing a critical background for the most important theories of religion which dominated the past century (i.e., phenomenology and historicism), and contextualizing the inclusion of the discipline in the international academic curricula of the Humanities. Particular emphasis will be placed on shamanism as a case study to investigate the interactions between different historico-religious perspectives, on the international impact of the Italian school of history of religions, on the major works of the most important scholars and, finally, on the neverending clash with scientific approaches. At the end of the course, students will be able to understand the major issues posed by the academic study of religions from a historical perspective, to learn how to identify the major flaws and innovations of the various disciplinary schools, and to comprehend and collocate correctly in their context the paramount turning points that characterized the historical study of religion, e.g., postmodernism and evolutionary/cognitive sciences.
Syllabus
  • 1. Original sin: The birth of a discipline
  • o The roots of the academic study of religions from a historical perspective.
  • o analyzed cases: a quick-and-dirty guide to the first steps of the historical study of religion(s), from ancient precursors to modern pioneers; the concept of homo religiosus.
  • o main topics: history of historiography; methodology; epistemology.
  • 2. Do Italians do it better? The quest for the academic acceptance of the new discipline
  • o A chronological overview of the discipline’s Italian branch, highlighting its historical achievements.
  • o analyzed cases: the disciplinary distinction between phenomenology and historicism; the official role of the Italian school of History of Religions in establishing the field; the foundation of the IAHR (International Association of the History of Religions).
  • o main topics: history of historiography; methodology; epistemology.
  • 3. Eliadology: successful academic approach or a degenerating research programme?
  • o An in-depth analysis of the most famous, widespread, and important disciplinary school of the twentieth century, brought to fame by Mircea Eliade, with a specific stress on its shortcomings.
  • o analyzed cases: the academic works of Eliade; the concept of “pseudoscience”; Imre Lakatos’ methodology of scientific research programmes.
  • o main topics: history of historiography; philosophy of science; epistemology.
  • 4. Shamanism: The story of a concept and the limits of comparativism
  • o From prehistory to colonialism, from alleged historical survivals of ancient traditional knowledge to the fascination of the supernatural, the concept of “shamanism” has always occupied a paramount place in the disciplinary imagery. The lesson is dedicated to some of the most significant intellectual constraints that characterized its academic study.
  • o analyzed case: the concept of shamanism in Eliade as elaborated from Pia Laviosa Zambotti’s and Mehmet Fuat Köprülü’s works; criticism and paradigm shift.
  • o main topics: methodology; epistemology.
  • 5. Deconstruction, or the demolition of the status quo
  • o The devastating impact of postmodernism on the academic study of religions: its positive and negative effects (falsification of the previous paradigm, relativism, antiscientism, etc.).
  • o analyzed case: poststructuralism, gender studies, postmodernism.
  • o main topics: methodology; epistemology.
  • 6. The return of science and the cognitive (r)evolution: The end?
  • o The 2000s witnessed the explosion of scientific studies dedicated to the mind and the brain. Meanwhile, the evolutionary turn harked back to the very first scientific theories interested in the rational explanation of religion. Science finally returned. Yet, the very intuitive mechanisms of human cognition, with their biases and logical fallacies, may put the renewed discipline in jeopardy once again.
  • o analyzed cases: evolutionary and cognitive sciences of religion; limits and possibilities of the experimental turn for the historiographical study of religion(s); the misuse of science for non-scientific purposes.
  • o main topics: methodology, epistemology.
Teaching methods
Teacher-led classes. Students are strongly encouraged to interact and provide their feedback either during lessons and/or via email. Any relevant suggestion or clarification will be carefully taken in consideration in light of the final assessment.
Assessment methods
The concluding examination will consist of a term paper (ca. 10-15 pages long). The paper, an original research work, shall include bibliography and footnotes, and will focus on an outstanding topic discussed during the course. A list of themes and arguments to draw upon will be provided before the end of the course. Required readings for each class are supplied in the dedicated bibliography above (see “Syllabus”). Whenever possible, papers will be distributed during each class or uploaded on the course webpage. Strongly suggested additional readings useful to better address the essay will be available before the end of the course. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in any form.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught only once.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2016/RLB513