In this course we will approach religion as a purely social phenomenon. This should not be construed as an ontological statement about religion, but merely a statement about the methodological perspective that social scientists typically employ. Using the perspectives and methods of a sociologist, we will examine the common social dimensions of all religions including moral definitions, group membership and dynamics, prescribed ritual practices, and the life-cycle of religious institutions. We will survey the various attempts at a sociological definition of religion and also examine the major theoretical contributions to the field such as those of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. We discuss the relationship between religion and modes of both vertical stratification (e.g., race, class, and gender) and horizontal differentiation (e.g., sects, NRMs, and denominations) in the United States. We will also study the more recent debates between secularization theorists and religious-market theorists. Lastly, we will survey the sociological dimensions of six major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Samuel PerryAuthor
University of ChicagoInstitution
Private College or University Institution Type
Syllabus Resource Type
Undergraduate Course Class Type
2015 Date Published
Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology Discipline
General Comparative Traditions Religous Tradition
Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity Topics