Online Course Format
Our courses are asynchronous, so you can log in any time of the day or night to access the course materials, but they have a weekly Zoom meeting that all are encouraged to participate in (they will be recorded and posted). To facilitate the flow of discussion in the online course forums, each course is divided into units. You will be encouraged to progress through the course alongside the other course participants. A two-week period at the end of the course is provided for you to reflect on what you have learned, to consider how your learning can be applied to your daily life, to give feedback on your learning experience, and to complete any outstanding readings or assignments.
Faculty
Moojan Momen
Peter Smith
Introduction
This course attempts to distill some of the knowledge about the social and historical aspects of religion that has been accumulated through the study of religion in the past 200 years. In this course, the following subjects will be studied: Comparative Religious History; the foundations and evolution of religious ethics; the phenomenon of liberalism and fundamentalism; the differences between official religion and popular religion; religion, power and government; religion and gender; religion and art; religion in the modern world. In order to participate in this course it will be necessary to have obtained a copy of Moojan Momen, Understanding Religion (second-hand copies of this book are available on the Internet under the title The Phenomenon of Religion).
Tuition: $150 (tuition discounts available)