2020-21 Academic Catalog

From the discipline’s earliest days, sociologists have considered religion a fascinating and perplexing object of study. Classical sociologists devoted enormous attention to the topic of religion, famously linking it to the development of capitalism and Western modernity (Weber), to social solidarity and symbolic classification systems (Durkheim), to political passivity and social conservatism (Marx), and to the varying forms of social, economic, and political life found in the world’s great civilizations. This course focuses on special topics in the contemporary sociology of religion, with a particular emphasis on religion in public and political life in American and global civil society. Prerequisite: The department recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses number 200 or above