Method and Theory Syllabi

Last blog ever, so sad....really I think I'm going to miss it.

http://www.as.ua.edu/rel/pdf/rel105sylspr2005.pdf
Honors Intro to the Study of Religion
University of Alabama

So this isn’t an advanced undergraduate or graduate course, but I thought that an exception could be made because it’s taught by Russell McCutcheon and it was the closest thing that I could find to theory that he teaches/taught. I really liked that the class had a balance and something of a separation between method and theory: the year is divided into three sections the first about classification; the second approaches to the study (anthropology, feminism,etc); and the third contemporary politics of classification. This last section makes it seem like the course is grounded in practical application of the study. And also, because of the way it is organized it seems like discussion would be less likely to become muddled and more focused.

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/mpoceski/Sylllabi/methodtheorysyllabusf03.htm
Method and Theory I
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida

I really like the assignments for this course: for example introduction to practical method like interviewing and also an interview with a member of faculty about their method/theory. But, I wasn’t a fan of the reading list – it seems rooted in the early to mid-20th century. And I would think that at the graduate level these would not be new theorists for students, so I don’t know why reading Future of an Illusion would be beneficial, besides the fact that the list doesn’t seem critical enough.

http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/historyandclassics/pdfs/Relig475_575Landy.pdf
RELIG 475/575 (THEORY AND METHOD IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION)
University of Alberta

The course is actually focused on ritual studies and skewed towards anthropology, but I think that it is a good introduction to both understanding and applying method and theory for undergraduates. The assignments are similar to ours, but more structured. I also liked the reading list which includes Bell and Orsi.

http://rels.queensu.ca/rels802.php
RELS 802* Core Course II: Theory and Method in Religious Studies
Queen’s University
The syllabus for this graduate course is pretty sparse, and quite frankly I find the idea of making a presentation on method and theory pretty intimidating. But that’s just me. I included it because I think the assignment to review both of the course texts is a good one, because I think that it would require students to demonstrate in a context outside of their expertise the extent to which they have understood and internalized the course material.

http://www.aarweb.org/syllabus/syllabi/c/carlson/integrating_seminar-carlson.htm
Integrating Seminar Religious Studies 390
DePaul University, 2000
“This is a course about all the other courses. This is a meta-course; it’s reflexivity 101.”
And reflexivity is the word here: student’s are required to write a paper based on their own liberal arts education and study of religion.

http://www.aarweb.org/syllabus/syllabi/d/desjardins/re476/METHOD.html
Method and Theory in the Study of Religion Wilfrid Laurier University
There is a large amount of reading for this course, but I like the mix which included the close to home:
Remus, Harold, "Religious Studies in Ontario, 1992 to 1999: State-of-the-Art Update." Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 28 (1999): 197-208.