Module THEO3501: The Sociology of Conservative Protestantism

Department: Theology and Religion

THEO3501: The Sociology of Conservative Protestantism

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To introduce the history of conservative Protestant Christianity in western cultures since the onset of the modern age
• To place these developments within their cultural contexts.
• To describe and critically engage with key theorists of conservative Protestantism from the social sciences.
• To enable critical reflection on the concepts inherited from this scholarship, asking how far as they illuminate or obscure our understanding of contemporary religious phenomena.
• To develop understanding of Christianity as a cultural phenomenon.

Content

• This module begins with the seminal work of Ernst Troeltsch in setting out a framework for understanding how Christian tradition gives rise to particular forms of community. Beginning with Troeltsch also allows us to consider the relationship between theology, history and social scientific understandings of religion, the intention being to keep these three in tension rather than collapse emerging ideas into one at the expense of the other two. This initial theoretical framework (which leads into discussions of Bryan Wilson on sectarianism and Roy Wallis on world-rejecting movements) will be augmented by consideration of two other major thinkers: Alexis de Toqueville, whose reflections on religion and American culture set the tone of a debate that continues to this day, and Karl Mannheim, whose work on ideology and utopia offers valuable insights into how religious groups respond to cultural change and retain their quest for an ideal society. These thinkers provide the sociological and historical context for the module, especially as they emerge out of, and speak to, modernity, and offer strategies for understanding religion’s status within it. A second lecture on the The Evolving Contexts of Modernity focuses on changing visions of culture and its relationship to religion, from the optimistic progressivism of Victorian thinkers like James Frazer and E.B. Tylor, to the postmodernism of Zigmunt Bauman and the challenges of the current, globalising context.
• The remainder of the module will devote two lectures to a range of different topics, such as the following, roughly proceeding in a historically linear fashion up until the present day: The Restorationist Impulse (including Protestant separatism and the quest for an alternative society); The Rise of Modern Apocalyptic Movements (including the Brethren, Jehovah’s Witnesses and rise of rapture fiction); The Fundamentalist Controversy (the Scopes Trial and its aftermath in culture and popular imagination); Creationism and Intelligent Design (Creationist science in 1960s to ID and current debates on the legitimacy of different forms of knowledge); Political Engagement and the Christian Right (from the Moral Majority to British Israelism and white supremacist movements); Revolution, Protest and Violence (Dominion Theology and Liberationist movements, and violence as counter-cultural protest). The final six lectures will focus on 3 different dimensions of the debate about the relationship between Christianity and culture in the 21st century, such as: mass media and technology, commerce and capitalism, and the turn to the self. Appropriate examples from Christian movements will be considered along the way.
• Alongside lectures will be ten fortnightly seminars that each focus on a different thinker or influential figure in the movements to be considered in the lectures. Within this context students will offer presentations that will constitute part of their assessed work for this module.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of the work of key sociologists of religion and its significance for understanding late modern Christianity.
• Knowledge of several influential religious movements that have shaped the relationship between Christianity and western culture during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
• Awareness of the major contours of cultural change that have most impacted upon the status and expression of Christianity during this period.

• The ability to understand and critique the work of key sociologists of religion.
• The ability to apply emerging insights to an understanding of religion in the contemporary context.
• The ability to place western Christianity within a broader cultural context.

• The acquisition and analysis of information through reading and research.
• The structured presentation of information in both written and oral form.
• The generation of insight through both individual reflection and group discussion.
• The development of key research skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures convey information and exemplify an approach to the subject-matter, enabling students to develop a clear understanding of the subject and to improve their skills in listening and in evaluating information.
• Seminars enhance subject-specific knowledge and understanding both through preparation and through interaction with students and staff, promoting awareness of different viewpoints and approaches.
• Formative exercises develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the acquisition of information through reading and research, and in the structured presentation of information.
• Examinations assess subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the structured presentation of information in written form under time constraints.
• Presentations assess subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the structured presentation of information in oral form under time constraints.
• Summative essays assess subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the acquisition of information through reading and research, and in the structured presentation of information in written form.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1,000 word description of the theoretical perspective of a key thinker in the sociology of religion.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University