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Cursus: FRRMV16405
FRRMV16405
Materiality and Corporeality of Lived Religion
Cursus informatie
CursuscodeFRRMV16405
Studiepunten (EC)5
Cursusdoelen
The course seeks to (1) offer an introduction to theories and concepts regarding the central role of material objects and the body in everyday lived experience, (2) convey the advantages and limits of a material approach for the study of religion and (3) enable students to apply the insights gained to religious phenomena in the world around them. 
Inhoud
The structure of the course has four parts. In the first part, we will address the complex relation of "Religion and Materiality" in a historical perspective. This involves studying literature about a) materialism as the basis for a critique of religion (from 18th/19th century approaches to the new atheists), b) the implications of a de-materialized, "Protestant" understanding of religion (e.g. Talal Asad, Webb Keane), and c) a first encounter with new approaches to religion as a material and corporeal phenomenon (e.g. David Chidester, David Morgan, Birgit Meyer, Manuel Vásquez, Hent de Vries). The second part is titled "Corporeality: body and senses" and looks at the phenomenology of religion (from Rudolf Otto to Thomas Csordas), the new aesthetics of religion and insights from the neuro-sciences and cognitive biology for grasping the  cultivation of religious sensations. Part three, "Religious Material Culture" investigates recent research on a) religious topographies, sites and buildings, b) sacred objects, c) new and old media, d) religion at home, e) food, f) dress, and g) sound and music. In the fourth and last part, titled "Lived Religion in Diverse Societies", the insights gained so far will be related to
current conflicts triggered by clashes about the material and bodily manifestations of religion in diverse socities in Europe and elsewhere, involving debates about religious pluralism, legal implications of the freedom of religion, and ethics of diversity. The overall idea which the course seeks to convey is that a material and corporeal approach to religion brings into the picture aspects of religion that are often overlooked if a conventional take on religion as belief is taken as a starting point. 
 
Career orientation:
Training in high level of academic thinking, speaking, and writing.  
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