RLB29 Comparative Study of Religions

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2010
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Dalibor Papoušek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. David Václavík, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Lucie Čelková
Timetable
Fri 15. 10. 15:00–16:35 C31, Fri 12. 11. 15:00–16:35 C31, Fri 10. 12. 15:00–16:35 C31
Prerequisites (in Czech)
RLA01 Introduction to Religion || RLKA01 Introduction to Religion
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
Annotation
The course defines the academic framework of the comparative method, its use and importance in the study of religions. Then the attention is paid to basic general concepts used in the comparative study of religions. With regard to the intercultural level of comparison, the socio-cultural context of compared religious phenomena is stressed. Ample scope is given to discussions about students' seminar papers.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- define the theoretical and methodological framework of the comparative study of religions;
- apply the basic terminology used in the comparative study of religions;
- distinguish between academic and biased comparisons;
- apply theoretical and methodological instruments to a particular comparative case;
- prepare individual presentation on a given topic and defend it in a class discussion.
Syllabus
  • (0) Introduction to the course. (1) The comparative method in the history of the study of religions. (2) Biased comparison of religions: theologizing, racionalizing and univerzalizing comparisons. (3) Academic comparison of religions: compatible and contrast comparison, selection and reduction of compared phenomena, methodological constraints of intercultural comparisons. (4) The plurality of religious worlds as a starting point of the comparative study of religions: theory of worldmaking (N. Goodmann), authonomy of religious worlds as a starting point of comparison (W. Paden). (5) General terminology of the comparative study of religions I: Myth as a typical manifestation of religious language. (6) General terminology of the comparative study of religions II: Ritual a typical manifestation of religious behaviour, dichotomy of pure and impure. (7) New comparativism: the comparative study of religions in the controversy of culturalism and naturalism. (8-12) Class discussions on seminar papers.
Literature
  • HORYNA, Břetislav. Úvod do religionistiky. 1. vyd. Praha: Oikoymenh, 1994, 131 s. ISBN 80-85241-64-1. info
  • WAARDENBURG, Jacques. Bohové zblízka : systematický úvod do religionistiky : Des dieus qui se rapprochent : introduction systématique a la science des religions (Orig.) : Religionen und Religion : systematische Einführung in die Religionswissenschaft (Orig.). Translated by Břetislav Horyna - Dalibor Antalík. Vyd. 1. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1997, 163 s. ISBN 80-210-1445-8. info
  • ANTALÍK, Dalibor. Jak srovnávat nesrovnatelné : strategie mezináboženské komparace. Vyd. 1. Praha: Oikoymenh, 2005, 231 s. ISBN 8072981447. info
  • PADEN, William E. Religious worlds :the comparative study of religion. 2nd ed., with a new preface. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994, xiv, 192 s. ISBN 0-8070-1229-7. info
  • SMITH, Jonathan Z. Imagining religion : from Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982, xiii, 165. ISBN 0-226-76358-7. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussions, seminar paper, reader's report.
Assessment methods
Requirements for the colloquium:
(a) seminar paper defenced in a class discussion;
(b) reader's report to a paper of another participant in seminar.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2006, Spring 2008, Autumn 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2012.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2010, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2010/RLB29