Religion in America:
An Introduction to the Sociology of Religion

Sociology 300T/580T
Winter 2003

Using the tremendous diversity of religious belief and practice in North America, but particularly new religious movements, this class will acquaint students with the academic study of religion as a social (and sociological) phenomenon. Students will learn how religion has been interpreted by sociologists in the past, and how evolving perspectives shape both the way academics perceive religion and how they study it. They will learn how religion permeates and affects virtually every domain of human culture and interaction. And they will gain experience in fieldwork, coming to understand in the process religious traditions other than those in which they may have been raised.

As we will discuss in Week Two, the motto for our class was given to us over a century ago by the eminent philologist, Max Müller: "He who knows one, knows none" (recalling, of course, that we mean both he and she).

Instructor Douglas E. Cowan
204C Haag Hall
(816)235-1492
cowande@umkc.edu
http://c.faculty.umkc.edu/cowande
Designation Sociology 300T (undergraduate):
#29817
Sociology 580T (graduate):
#30081
Location 201 Haag Hall
Time Tuesday / Thursday 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Office Hours Tuesday / Thursday 12:30-1:30 p.m., or by appointment
Required textbook Susanne C. Monahan et al, eds. Sociology of Religion: A Reader; plus other readings as assigned by Prof. Cowan, and placed on electronic reserve.
Online syllabus http://c.faculty.umkc.edu/cowande/introsoc.htm

Assignments and Class Evaluation | Electronic Reserve Readings | Course Syllabus | Attendance Policy | Academic Honesty
Graduate Students

Assignments and Class Evaluation

Two in-class tests Mixed short answer and essay questions (20% each) 40%
Field research and reporting (a) Interim written report on field work
(b) Class presentation on field work		 15%
10%
Final written report on field work 35%

There will be no registrar scheduled final exam for this course.

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To Access Electronic Reserve Readings:

The Electronic Reserve system (Eres) is designed to allow students to access reserve reading materials from their home computer or computer workstations here on campus. Once you have accessed the readings for the week, they can be downloaded in Portable Document Format (.pdf). This requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If this is not already installed on your computer, you can download it free of charge at (http://www.adobe.com). Click on the "Get Acrobat reader button" at the bottom of the home page, and follow the directions to the "Free Reader."

NB: Do not wait until the last minute.
Excuses regarding computer malfunction or failure will not be accepted.
YHBW.

To download and print Eres material:

1. Go to the Miller Nichols Library website (http://www.umkc.edu/lib/).
2. Click on "Miller Nichols Library."
3. Click on "Reserve Materials."
4. Click on "Eres" service.
5. Click on "Electronic Reserves and Course Materials." If you are reading this online, you can go right from here.
6. Under "Select an Instructor," choose "Cowan, Douglas." Click "Go."
7. Click hyperlink for "Introduction to Sociology."
8. Click "Accept."
9. Click hyperlink for appropriate reading (see Master List of Readings below); .pdf readings will open in a new window. Print readings using the "Print" function on the .pdf window.
10. Prepare a brilliant outline, and participate boldly in class.

Master List of Eres Readings:

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Course Syllabus

Date Topic Required Reading
Unless otherwise indicated, all readings are from Monahan et al, Sociology of Religion: A Reader.
Cells marked with a shaded background include electronic reserve readings available through the Miller Nichols Library.
Week One
January 14-16

 Introduction to the sociology of religion, and an introduction to "religion."

How to read a book.

  Monahan, pp.5-29
Week Two
January 21-23		 Studying "religion"; or how we do what we do.
Introduction to research and fieldwork.
  •  Susan Palmer, "Caught up in the cult wars"
  • Eric Sharpe, "He who knows one, knows none"
  • Eileen Barker, "The scientific study of religion? You must be joking!"
Week Three
January 28-30		  Belief and Ritual Monahan, pp.30-54
Week Four
February 4-6		  Religious Experience  Monahan, pp.55-77
Week Five
February 11-13		   Religious Authority and Institution

Monahan, pp.225-257

Week Six
February 18-20

Are the pews really empty? Are we less religious?

The secularization debate.

Monahan, pp.196-224

  • Jeffrey Hadden, "Desacralizing secularization theory"
  • Rodney Stark, "Secularization, R.I.P"
Week Seven
February 25-27
  Gender, Sexuality, and Religion

 Monahan, pp.115-143; pp.173-195 
Week Eight
March 4		    Politics and Religion Monahan, pp.337-373
March 6
In-class test #1
Week Nine
March 11-13
Spring break (no classes) 
Week Ten
March 18-20		 Class Presentations of Fieldwork in progress 

Week Eleven
March 25-27

 Class Presentations of Fieldwork in progress
Week Twelve
April 1-3		 Cults, Sects, and Alternative Religious Movements I Monahan, pp. 258-303
Week Thirteen
April 8-10		 Cults, Sects, and Alternative Religious Movements II
  • Susan Palmer, "Women in the Raelian Movement: New Religious Experiments in Gender and Authority"
  • Ronald Hutton, "Uncle Sam and the Goddess"
  • Aidan Kelly,"An Update on Neopagan Witchcraft in America"
Week Fourteen
April 15-17		  Religious Movements and Countermovements
  • Douglas Cowan, "Exits and Migrations: Foregrounding the Christian Counter-cult"
  • Douglas Cowan, "Precipitous Moments: The Platform of Reform and Renewal"
  • Mary Jo Weaver, "Pornography and the Religious Imagination"
  • Lisa Aldred, "Plastic Shamans and Astroturf Sundances"
Week Fifteen
April 22-24 		Media and Religion

Monahan, pp.304-336

  • Douglas Cowan and Jeffrey Hadden, "God, Guns, and Grist for the Mill" 

Week Sixteen
April 29

  Religion and the Internet
  •  Jeffrey Hadden and Douglas Cowan, "The Promised Land or Electronic Chaos? Toward Understanding Religion on the Internet"
  • Douglas Cowan, "Online and in the Grove: Ritual and Embodiment in Neopagan E-space"
May 1
In-class test #2

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Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend and participate in all class sessions. Only excused absences which have been arranged in advance with Prof. Cowan, or which are substantiated by medical documentation, will be accepted. As well, class will begin promptly at 11:00 and students are expected to be on time. Any more than two unexcused absences will result in a grade penalty of 1% per missed class. This policy is based on long experience which demonstrates clearly that students who attend class achieve far better command of the material than those who do not.

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Academic Honesty

Please note that Prof. Cowan has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty will result in a "0" for the assignment in question, and consequences can range from course failure (for undergraduate students) to a request for official dismissal from the program in which a student is enrolled (for graduate students). If you are unclear about what constitutes plagiarism, click here.

If you would like to know under what circumstances Prof. Cowan will exhibit leniency towards plagiarism, click here.

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Graduate Students

If students are taking this course for graduate credit (i.e., you are registered in Sociology 580T), there will be an increased workload. The essay portion of in-class tests will be graded at a graduate level, and you will be expected to write two book reviews based on outside reading that is related to the subject of your fieldwork project. It is imperative that you make an appointment to see Prof. Cowan during the first week of classes to discuss this.

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Douglas E. Cowan
University of Missouri-Kansas City