REL 100-002/003
Introduction to the Study of Religion

Professor:
Dr. Russell McCutcheon
Email:
russell.mccutcheon@ua.edu

Office: Manly Hall 211
Office Hour: by appointment
Class Times: 001: MTWTh 10:00-11:45 a.m.; 003: 2:00-3:45 p.m.
Classroom: Manly 210

The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion (1995) was edited by Jonathan Z. Smith

We will also be reading Plato's Euthyphro online; want to learn more about the Euthyphro? Then try here, here, and here.

Friedrich Max Müller
(1823-1900)

"When students of Comparative Philology boldly adopted Goethe's [1749-1832] paradox, "He who knows one language knows none," people were startled at first, but they soon began to feel the truth which was hidden beneath the paradox. Could Goethe have meant that Homer did not know Greek, or that Shakespeare did not know English, because neither of them knew more than his own mother tongue? No! What was meant was that neither Homer nor Shakespeare knew what that language really was which he handled with so much power and cunning. Unfortunately the old verb 'to can,' from which [we derive such words as] 'canny' and 'cunning,' is lost in English, otherwise we should be able in [just] two words to express our meaning, and to keep apart the two kinds of knowledge of which we are speaking. As we say in German, können is not kennen, we might say in English, 'to can,' that is to be cunning, is not 'to ken,' that is to know; and it would then become clear at once, that the most eloquent speaker and the most gifted poet, with all their command of words and skillful mastery of expression, would have but little to say if asked what language really is! The same applies to religion. He who knows one, knows none. There are thousands of people whose faith is such that it could move mountains, and who yet, if they were asked what religion really is, would remain silence, or would speak of outward tokens rather than of the inward nature, of the faculty of faith."

- Lectures on the Science of Religion (1893)

Emile Durkheim
(1858-1917)

"A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden--beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community ... all those who adhere to them."

- The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912)

A statue of one of the many
Hindu gods, Shiva

A statue of the
Buddha teaching (evident from his hand gesture, known as the Dharmachakra mudra)

Description

As a general introduction to the academic study of religion, REL 100 examines the function of religion in relation to human beliefs, social practices, and culture in general. The course surveys a broad number of important debates in the history of religious studies, such as the definition of religion, the insider/outsider problem, theories on the origins of religion, the comparison of religions, religion's psychological, sociological, and political functions, and the manner in which human communities authorize systems of behavior. As a "Core" Humanities course, Rel 100's goal is for all students to learn to define, accurately describe, and compare in a non-evaluative manner so as to discover significant similarities and differences in various forms of human behavior.

Note: This course is not an introduction to world religions; rather, it is an introduction to the study of religion and its tools, in which religion is conceived as an observable aspect of human culture and history.

Syllabus

Summer 2008 (PDF)

Books

• Russell T. McCutcheon, Studying Religion: An Introduction

• Jonathan Z. Smith (ed), The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion

Online Readings

The readings on this site are placed in a "secure" folder, which means that you can only access them by clicking each link below and then entering your Bama User Name and Password, just as if you were logging onto bamamail.ua.edu to check your email.

If you have difficulty accessing these readings, contact the instructor by email.

If you have forgotten your Bama ID, but know your Campus Wide ID (CWID), go here.

Films

Some of the films viewed in this course are available to be seen in the Music Library, on the 3rd floor of Gorgas Library; they are all on 4 hour reserve and each film is approx. 55 minutes in length. The information on these film guides counts as testable material. The films, along with their Gorgas Library catalog numbers, are:

The Thin Line Between Faith and Fanaticism VCR 2001-56 (No Film Guide); watch this film looking for the methodologically agnostic position among the journalists and experts (or lack of)

Hinduism: 330 Million Gods VCR 2001-71 Film Guide (PDF)

Footprint of the Buddha VCR 2001-73 Film Guide (PDF)

Japan: Land of the Disappearing Buddha VCR 2001-70 Film Guide (PDF)

Does Classification Matter?

Fruit or Vegetable?
Nix. v. Hedden (149 US 304 [1893])

Religion or Politics?

Studying Religion: An Introduction (PDF; this is the second proof of the entire book's manuscript, but without an index)

Defining Religion

Plato's Euthyphro (online version)

Rudolf Otto,"Religion is an Experience of Awe and Mystery" (PDF)

Paul Tillich, "Religion is an Expression of Ultimate Concern" (PDF)

    Learn more about essentialism.

Karl Marx and Fredrick Engles, "Religion is the Opium of the People" (PDF)

Sigmund Freud, "Religion is an Illusion Produced by Psychological Projection" (PDF)

    Learn more about functionalism.

Jean-Paul Sartre, "Religion is an Attempt to Escape Responsibility" (PDF)

Albert Camus, "The Myth of Sisyphus" (PDF)

    Learn more about existentialism.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, "Philosophical Investigations, 66-70" (PDF)

Readings for the Insider/Outsider Problem

Horace Miner, "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" (PDF)

Example: Heaven's Gate

Mark Muesse, "Making the Strange Familiar and the Familiar Strange" (PDF)

Looking for scholarly, descriptive information on the Heaven's Gate group, as well as samples of archived media reports on covering this event? Then try the University of Virginia's site.

Looking for some information on Jainism?

Describing Religions I

Hinduism Handouts (PDF)

Bhagavad Gita Handout (PDF)

Describing Religions II

Buddhism Terms (PDF)

The Buddha's Enlightenment (PDF)

The Buddha's First Sermon (PDF)

Comparing Religions

In order to compare any two things, there must be a third element in terms of which the two items are juxtaposed (that is, placed beside each other to make previously unseen similarities and differences apparent). For example, two people can be classified and compared in terms of a third element, their "height." Or two objects can be classified by means of a third category, as in both apples and oranges being categorized as "fruit."

Throughout the history of the study of religion, two dominant comparative categories have been used to classify, compare, and study aspects of those cultural systems that we know as religions: myth (understood as a specific sub-set of narratives) and ritual (understood as a specific sub-set of behavioral practices).

We will end the course by looking at different uses of these two technical, etic, and therefore experience-distant categories, as applied to the Barry Levinson film, "Avalon" (1990).

Bruce Lincoln, "Mythic Narrative and Cultural Diversity in American Society"