Sociology of Religion (Fall 2009)
REL 390/SOC 390
Professor John Schmalzbauer
Office: Strong Hall 263
Email: jschmalzbauer@missouristate.edu
Phone: 836-5918
Over the past century, sociologists have made an enduring contribution to the study of religion and American society. From Max Weber and Peter Berger to Robert Wuthnow and Nancy Ammerman, they have earned a place in the canon of religious studies. Without their theories, concepts and findings, scholarship on American culture would look very different. This course provides an introduction to the sociology of religion, focusing on classic and contemporary approaches to the field. Rather than attempting a comprehensive overview, it focuses on several recurring themes that have preoccupied contemporary sociologists of religion: secularization and fundamentalism, market models of religion, religious diversity, and spirituality and the American self. Along the way, we will explore such topics as Ozarks fundamentalism, religion and American art, and the “branding” of religious faith.
Goals
Introduce students to key concepts and narratives in the sociology of religion
Apply the sociology of religion to contemporary American culture (cultural competence)
Understand the diversity of American religious life (cultural competence)
Relate the study of sociology to Ozarks religion (community engagement)
Required Texts
Susanne C. Monahan, William A. Mirola, Michael O. Emerson, ed., Sociology of Religion: A Reader (Prentice Hall, 2001).
Nancy Tatom Ammerman, Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World (Rutgers University Press, 1987).
Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age (Routledge, 2008).
Robert Wuthnow, Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist (University of California Press, 2001).
Attendance Policy: Attendance is required at all class meetings. The only acceptable excuses for absences are emergencies, official university activities (with a written excuse) or illness (please contact the instructor in such cases).
Participation (25 points): Students will be evaluated on their participation in class discussions. Students will be assessed on their familiarity with the readings.
Discussion Questions (25 points): Twice in the semester, each student will be required to come up with four focusing questions for class discussion. Questions must refer to the reading. The instructor will pass around a signup sheet early in the semester.
Extra Credit Points (Possible 15 Points): Students may earn up to 15 extra credit points for attending campus lectures and cultural events approved by the instructor. The events must be relevant to the academic study of religion. Students will receive 5 points for each event they attend. To receive the points, students must write a two paragraph summary.
Paper #1: (150 Points) Ozarks Fundamentalism Paper
Students will write a 4-5 page paper reporting on observations of a local fundamentalist church service. The goal of the paper will be to relate first-hand observations and impressions to the ethnographic account of a fundamentalist Baptist church found in Nancy Ammerman’s Bible Believers. See separate handout. Due Monday September 28.
Paper #2: (150 Points) Ozarks Religious Marketplace Paper
Students will write a 4-5 page paper reporting on observations of a local religious bookstore. The goal of the paper will be to relate first-hand observations and impressions to account of religious marketing found in Mara Einstein’s Brands of Faith. See separate handout. Due Monday October 19.
Paper #3: (150 Points) Springfield Art Walk Paper
Students will write a 4-5 page paper reporting on observations from Springfield’s First Friday Art Walk. The goal of the paper will be to relate first-hand observations and impressions to the discussion of religion and the arts found in Robert Wuthnow’s Creative Spirituality. See separate handout. Due Monday December 7
Examinations (500 points total; 250 points each): There will be two examinations in this course. They will test students only on the units leading up to the examination. The final will not be cumulative. Examinations will be a mixture of matching, multiple choice, short answer and essay questions.
Total Number of Points: 1,000
The following grading scale will be used:
4.0 A: Outstanding Work (95-100)
3.7 A- : Excellent Work (90-94)
3.3 B+: Near Excellent Work (87-89)
3.0 B: Very Good Work (83-86)
2.7 B-: Good Work (80-82)
2.3 C+: Slightly Above Satisfactory Work (77-79)
2.0 C: Satisfactory Work (73-76)
1.7 C-: Slightly Below Satisfactory Work (70-72)
1.3 D+: Passing Work (67-69)
1.0 D: Minimum Passing Work (63-66)
0.0 F: Failed—No Credit (0-62)
0.0 I: Incomplete
If a student is on the border of a grade, the instructor will take into consideration the overall performance of the student, class participation, and amount of improvement.
Academic Honesty Policy: Academic Honesty Policy: Missouri State University is a community of scholars committed to developing educated persons who accept the responsibility to practice personal and academic integrity. You are responsible for knowing and following the university’s student honor code, available at www.missouristate.edu/assets/provost/AcademicIntegrityPolicyRev-1-08.pdf and also available at the Reserves Desk in Meyer Library. Any student participating in any form of academic dishonesty will be subject to sanctions as described in this policy.
Non-Discrimination Policy: Missouri State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution, and maintains a grievance procedure available to any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against. At all times, it is your right to address inquiries or concerns about possible discrimination to the Office for Equity and Diversity, Park Central Office Building, 117 Park Central Square, Suite 111, (417) 836-4252. Other types of concerns (i.e., concerns of an academic nature) should be discussed directly with your instructor and can also be brought to the attention of your instructor’s Department Head. Please visit the OED at www.missouristate.edu/equity/.
Policy on Disability Accommodations: To request academic accommodations for a disability, contact the Director of Disability Services, Plaster Student Union, Suite 405, (417) 836-4192 or (417) 836-6792 (TTY), www.missouristate.edu/disability. Students are required to provide documentation of disability to Disability Services prior to receiving accommodations. Disability Services refers some types of accommodation requests to the Learning Diagnostic Clinic, which also provides diagnostic testing for learning and psychological disabilities. For information about testing, contact the Learning Diagnostic Clinic, (417) 836-4787, http://psychology.missouristate.edu/ldc.
Religion at a State University: Consistent with Supreme Court decisions regarding the teaching of religion at public institutions (Abington v. Schempp 1963), this course approaches the study of religion from a non-confessional standpoint. We will focus on describing and analyzing the place of religion in American culture, rather than arguing for one religious tradition or another. Students are free to express or not to express their own beliefs in class. Students will be evaluated strictly on the quality of their written work and class participation, not their religious views.
Office Hours for Professor Schmalzbauer: Mondays and Wednesdays 3-5 p.m.; and Thursdays 10:00 a.m.-12 noon in Strong Hall 263 (Religious Studies Department).
Introduction: Setting the Stage
Monday August 24: Introducing the Course
Wednesday August 26: Is Sports a Religion?
Reading: Russell Chandler, “Team Spirit: U.S. Sports Mania Called Folk Religion.”
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-12-31/news/mn-1459_1_folk-religion
Reading: Joseph L. Price, “More Than a Game.”
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/inpraiseofplay/price-essay.shtml
In-Class Audio Presentation: Excerpts from “In Praise of Play” (Speaking of Faith)
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/inpraiseofplay/index.shtml
Friday August 28: Sacred and Profane
Reading: Daisy Rooks, “How to Read Sociological Theory.”
www.umt.edu/sociology/faculty_staff/rooks/documents/455_howtoreadtheoryhandout_s09.pdf
Reading: Emile Durkheim, excerpt from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 9-15. Bring your reader to class.
Monday August 31: Religion as Meaning System
Reading: Clifford Geertz, “Religion as a Cultural System,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 16-23.
Wednesday September 2: Opiate or Heart of a Heartless World?
Reading: Karl Marx, excerpt from Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Law in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 15-16.
Reading: Liston Pope, “Millhands and Preachers,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 150-156.
Friday September 4: Competing Stories of Religion in America
Reading: Spickard, “What is Happening to Religion? Six Sociological Narratives.”
www.ku.dk/satsning/Religion/indhold/publikationer/working_papers/what_is_happened.PDF
Monday September 7: Labor Day Holiday (No Class)
Part I: Fundamentalism or Secularization?
Wednesday September 9: The Secularization Storyline
Reading: Susanne C. Monahan, “Introduction to the Secularization Debate,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 196-200.
Reading: Peter Berger, “Secularization and Pluralism,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 201-204.
Reading: Bryan Wilson, “Secularization and Its Discontents,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 204-213.
Friday September 11: Studying Fundamentalism
Reading: Nancy Ammerman, Bible Believers, vi-16.
Monday September 14: Fundamentalism 101
Reading: Nancy Ammerman, Bible Believers, 17-39.
Reading: “Defining Evangelicalism,” Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals.
http://isae.wheaton.edu/defining-evangelicalism/ (read through all the screens)
Wednesday September 16: Theoretical Interlude—Religion and World-Maintenance
Reading: Peter Berger, “The Sacred Canopy,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 23-29.
Friday September 18: World-Maintenance in a Fundamentalist Church
Reading: Nancy Ammerman, Bible Believers, 40-71.
Monday September 21: Social Boundaries and Fundamentalism
Reading: Nancy Ammerman, Bible Believers, 72-102.
Reading: Scott Thumma, “Negotiating a Religious Identity: The Case of the Gay Evangelical,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 189-195.
Wednesday September 23: Gender and Fundamentalism
Reading: Nancy Ammerman, Bible Believers, 134-146.
Reading: “Male God Imagery and Female Submission: Lessons from a Southern Baptist Ladies’ Bible Class,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 141-143.
Friday September 25: Changes in Conservative Protestantism
Reading: Alan Wolfe, “The Opening of the Evangelical Mind,” Atlantic online.
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/10/wolfe.htm
Reading: John Schmalzbauer, “Big Shots, Born Again,” Wall Street Journal,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119266095219762611.html
Monday September 28: Fundamentalism in the Ozarks
Discussion of Fundamentalist Congregation Papers (Due Today)
Part II: The American Religious Marketplace
Wednesday September 30: Religion and Business in America
Reading: Max Weber, “The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism.”
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/world/sect/sect_frame.html
Film: “Max Weber Visits America.”
http://www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v42/wise.htm
Friday October 2: The Market Model of Religion
Reading: Roger Finke, “An Unsecular America,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 213-224.
Reading: Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, “The Churching of America: Why ‘Mainline’ Denominations Decline,” in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 236-241.
Monday October 5: The Business of Religion, Part I
Reading: Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith, ix-36.
Wednesday October 7: The Business of Religion, Part II
Reading: Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith, 37-66.
Friday October 9: The Business of Religion, Part III
Reading: Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith, 67-119.
Monday October 12: The Business of Religion, Part IV
Reading: Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith, 120-146.
Reading: Bobby Alexander, “Televangelism: Redressive Ritual Within a Larger Social Drama,”
in Sociology of Religion: A Reader, 318-326.
Wednesday October 14: The Business of Religion, Part V
Reading: Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith, 147-172.
Friday October 16: Fall Break (No Class)
Monday October 19: The Ozarks Religious Marketplace
Discussion: Ozarks Religious Retailing Paper (Due Today)
Wednesday October 21: Debating the Business of Religion
Reading: Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith, 192-210.
Reading: “What Do You Think, Mara?”
http://newbreedofadvertisers.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-do-you-think-mara.html
Friday October 23: Examination #1
Part III: Religious Diversity, Spirituality, and the American Self
Monday October 26: Surveying Religious Diversity in America
Reading: “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey—Religious Affiliation: Diverse and Dynamic,”
1-35. http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf
Wednesday October 28: Religious Diversity on Campus
Reading: John Schmalzbauer, “Campus Ministry: A Statistical Portrait.”
http://religion.ssrc.org/reforum/Schmalzbauer.pdf
Reading: Diane Winston, “iFaith in the Amen Corner: How GenY is Rethinking Religion on Campus.” http://religion.ssrc.org/reforum/Winston.pdf
Reading: Prema Kurien, “Hindu Student Organizations.”
http://religion.ssrc.org/reforum/Kurien.pdf
Reading: Rebecca Y. Kim, “Asian-Americans for Jesus: Changing the Face of Campus Evangelicalism.” http://religion.ssrc.org/reforum/Kim.pdf
Friday October 30: Spirituality and American Teenagers
Reading: Christian Smith, Robert Faris, and Melinda Lundquist Denton, “Are American Youth Alienated from Organized Religion?” www.youthandreligion.org/publications/docs/Alienation.pdf
Film: “Soul Searching: A Movie About Teenagers and God.”
Monday November 2: Spirituality and Individualism
Reading: Robert Bellah, “Individualism and Commitment in American Life.”
http://www.robertbellah.com/lectures_4.htm
Reading: Robert Bellah, “Habits of the Heart: Implications for Religion.”
http://www.robertbellah.com/lectures_5.htm
Wednesday November 4: Spirituality and Religion in America
Reading: Wade Clark Roof, “Today’s Spiritual Quests.”
http://www.ptsem.edu/iym/lectures/1997/Roof-Todays.pdf
Reading: Stephen Ellingson, “The New Spirituality from a Social Science Perspective.”
http://centauro.cmq.edu.mx/dav/libela/paginas/infoEspecial/pdfArticulosLaicidad/100101219.pdf
Friday November 6: Spirituality and Social Justice
Reading: “Spirit Wars: American Religion in Progressive Politics.” Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=94
Reading: Vincent Harding, “Dangerous Spirituality.” www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&mode=printer_friendly&issue=soj9901&article=990120
Monday November 9: Spirituality and the Arts, Part I
Reading: Robert Wuthnow, Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist, vii-41.
Wednesday November 11: Spirituality and the Arts, Part II
Reading: Robert Wuthnow, Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist, 42-106.
Friday November 13: Spirituality and the Arts, Part III
Reading: Robert Wuthnow, Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist, 107-138.
Monday November 16: Spirituality and the Arts, Part IV
Reading: Robert Wuthnow, Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist, 139-168.
Wednesday November 18: The Fugitive Catholicism of Richard Rodriguez
Reading: Paul Elie, “A Fugitive Catholicism,” Commonweal. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_19_131/ai_n13667629/
Film: “Faith and Reason: An Interview with Richard Rodriguez.”
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/portraits_rodriguez.html
Friday November 20: The Jewish Imagination of Maurice Sendak
Reading: Interview with Maurice Sendak.
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript311_full.html
Reading: “Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak.” Jewish Museum exhibit materials.
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/5aa/5aa307.htm
Film: PBS Now Program on Maurice Sendak
http://www.pbs.org/now/arts/sendak.html
Monday November 23: Spirituality and the Arts, Part V
Reading: Robert Wuthnow, Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist, 169-232.
Wednesday November 25 and Friday November 27: Thanksgiving Break (No Class)
Monday November 30: Religion, Art, and the Culture Wars, Part I
Reading: Camille Paglia, “Religion and the Arts in America.”
http://www.bu.edu/arion/Paglia.htm
Reading: Eleanor Heartney, “Art, Religion, and the Culture War.”
http://www.mobia.org/doc/art_religion_and_the_culture_war.doc
Wednesday December 2: Religion, Art, and the Culture Wars, Part II
Reading: Stephen Tepper, “Culture, Conflict and Community: Rituals of Protest or Flairs of Competition.” http://www.princeton.edu/~artspol/workpap/WP23%20-%20Tepper.pdf
Friday December 4: The Creative Class, Religion, and the Arts
Reading: Richard Florida, “The Rise of the Creative Class,” Washington Monthly.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0205.florida.html
Reading: Robert Marus, “Upsurge of Urban ‘Creative Class’ Poses Challenge to Evangelicals.”
www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9209&Itemid=53
Reading: Gerardo Marti, “Evangelicals and the Creative Class.”
http://praxishabitus.blogspot.com/2009/02/evangelicals-and-creative-class.html
Monday December 7: Religion and Art in the Ozarks
Discussion: Springfield Art Walk Papers (Due Today)
Wednesday December 9: Sociology of Religion—The Big Picture
Reading: John Schmalzbauer, “Sociological Approaches,” Encyclopedia of Religion in America.
Monday December 14: Final Examination, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Strong 205