Course description:

Despite a century of social scientific speculation on the demise of religion, religious belief and practice continue to increase, both in numbers of practitioners and in varieties of belief.  No where is this more the case than in Southern California, one of the most religiously diverse and pluralistic areas in the country.  This course is intended to provide you with an introduction to the varieties of new religious movements in our area, and an introduction to methods of analysis in Religious Studies

Because there are so many different kinds of alternative religions, this course can only survey a few specific religions.  It will also place the phenomenon of NRMs in the larger social and religious context, particularly as NRMs are perceived and understood by the dominant culture.  Our exploration of NRMs will employ several scholarly perspectives.  In terms of specific NRMs, we will interrogate belief systems, as well as describing and interpreting practice and organizational structures through sociological methods of analysis. You will be asked to utilize a variety of sources including the internet, the media and popular press, as well as scholarly journals in an attempt to understand the ways in which knowledge about NRMs is created.  We will also examine several critical issues that shape popular perceptions of NRMs, including “brainwashing,”  childrearing practices, gender roles, and NRMs and violence.

Our purpose is not to judge the merits, truths, or validity of any of the groups that we study, but rather to gain an understanding of the ways in which others organize their lives and belief systems.  We will rely heavily on fieldtrips as an important means of acquiring knowledge and each student will be expected to bring an attitude of tolerance and an open mind.  Course goals are that in the future you will be able to encounter religious diversity without apprehension, and that you will have the requisite skills to analyze religious organizations.

Required readings:

Dawson, Comprehending Cults:  The Sociology of New Religious Movements

Zablocki & Robbins, Misunderstanding Cults:  Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field

My Whittier.edu 

Course requirements:

Attendance and full class participation.  I expect that you will attend class regularly and that you will be prepared to discuss the day’s readings.  The readings are not onerous and they are relatively interesting.  Therefore, a good class discussion requires your full participation.  Excessive absences will lower your final grade.

Attendance at required field trips and special events.  Field trips are an essential part of this class and you must attend them in order to be able to complete your written assignments.  Please put these events on your calendar.  If your schedule does not permit you to participate in all of our field trips, you should drop the course.  There are no adequate means for making up missed field trips.

Ø      January 11:  ISKCON: International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna) Sunday evening at 5:00-8:30, Los Angeles

Ø      January 13:  Bookstore fieldtrip during class hours

Ø      January 14:  (tentative)  evening event on witchcraft, on campus

Ø      January 16:  Church of Scientology:  Friday Jan 16, 9:00-1:00, Los Angeles

Ø      January 20:  (tentative)  guest speakers on Scientology

Ø      Independent fieldtrip: to be done between Jan. 16 and Jan 27

Ø      Jan 27:  Joint class with Sociology through Photography, 12:00-1:00

3.  On-line course participation.  My out-of-class communication with you will take place on-line on our course page.  If you are not accustomed to using your Whittier web page, please begin to use it.

 Assignments:  There are 10 formal assignments due for this class.  They are:

#1:  Short response paper (1-3 pages) based on reading

#2:  In-class group presentation on HK research prior to FT visit, 2-3 summary

#3:  Short response paper (1-3 pages) based on reading

#4:  Formal field trip paper based on assignment criteria (5-6 pages)

#5:  On-line group presentation of Scientology research, plus individual response

#6:  Short response paper based on reading

#7:  Class presentation and debate based on reading

#8:  Short response paper based on readings

#9:  Research notes on groups discussed in reading

#10:  Final project on NRM of your chosing:  group class presentation and individual paper (7-10 pages).    As a class we will select 4-6 NRMs that we are interested in exploring.  Then, in groups you will research the group using a full range of sources:  internet, scholarly journals, popular press and media, books, and, if you can arrange it, personal observations. You will be receiving an assignment sheet about this paper, but please plan on writing a scholarly paper based on academic sources rather than a report that draws largely on internet materials.

Grading:

4 short response papers                                      4 x 25                 100 points

3 research presentations                                     2 x 25                  75 points

1 debate participation                                         1x 50                   50

1 formal field trip paper                                        1 x 50                  50

1 final project                                                    1 x 100                 100

class participation and attendance                                                    50

                                                                        Total                425 points

Schedule and readings:

Week One

 

WEEK TWO
 

WEEK THREE
 

WEEK FOUR