Secularization: History, Religion, and Ideology

HDS 3120 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

What is the meaning of secularization? Do greater modernization, education, and existential security lead to the decline of religious belief? Or is such a conclusion an ideological construct? In this class, we will address these and many related questions taking an interdisciplinary and global approach. Our goal is to gain conceptual clarity regarding the meaning of secularization, distinguishing between the social process of institutional differentiation (church/state, faith/science, etc.) and the decline/privatization of religious belief. To do so, we will study key historical developments from the Reformation era to our time, in the context of Western Christianity; while paying attention to parallel developments in areas where Christianity was/is not dominant. We will examine how those key developments shaped multiple patterns of secularization in the globe and will try to ascertain their significance for religious faith and practice in our time. Readings include the work of social theorists and anthropologists such as Charles Taylor, José Casanova, Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Hans Joas, Talal Asad, Saba Mahmood, Marilyn Ivy, among others.

This seminar offers students an opportunity to write a research paper. No prerequisites.