REL 20.05 What is Religion?
This course examines basic theoretical and methodological questions about the study of religion. We begin with several definitions and approaches to religion emerging from Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Cognitive science, to Comparative Religion. Next we explore the formation of World Religions, the emergence of New Religious Movements, and the problematic definitions of Asian religions. We also explore theoretical issues regarding ritual, mythology, sacred time and scared space, the body and the cosmos.