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Import FS
REL-3015: Contemporary challenges in the study of indigenous religions Work Load
10 credits (ECTS) | Type of course
Theoretical | Level of course/Year of study
3000-level | Language of instruction
English | Objectives
The general objective of this course is to provide advanced knowledge about fundamental ethical, epistemological, methodological and theoretical challenges in relation to studies of indigenous religions. Thus it will offer critical tools for analyzing developments and complexities of the religious diversity found among different indigenous peoples, historically as well as contemporarily. In doing so, it aims at enabling students to approach indigenous religions in ways that 1) contextualize the religions as well as scientific approaches to them, 2) account for social and cultural dynamics both locally and globally, and, last but not least, 3) reflect on ethical issues of prime concern. As this can only be accomplished through advanced empirical knowledge about specific indigenous religions in particular, and about specific indigenous societies and cultures in general, it is of course also a central objective to provide such knowledge. | Contents
The reading material is composed of selected papers on empirical, ethical, methodological and theoretical issues, based on or derived from case studies done among indigenous peoples in different parts of the world. These texts illustrate the particular contexts and complexities of the fields they describe and analyze. They raise highly relevant issues concerning ethical considerations, epistemological perspectives, methodological challenges and theoretical perceptions. At the same time they provide thorough insight into religious traditions, practices, diversities and dynamics of specific indigenous communities. The papers will serve as point of departure for lectures and critical discussions. Local and global perspectives on indigenous religions will be examined, historically as well as contemporarily. | Form of teaching
Lectures/seminars, 20 hours | Recommended reading/syllabus
Readings - Contemporary challenges in the study of indigenous religions (REL-3015) Brock, Peggy (ed.). 2005. Indigenous Peoples and Religious Change (Studies in Christian mission 31). Leiden: Brill. (262 pp.) Cox, James L. 2007. From Primitive to Indigenous: The Academic Study of Indigenous Religion (Vitality of indigenous religions series). Aldershot: Ashgate. (194 pp.) Harvey, Graham & Charles D. Thompson Jr. (eds.). 2005. Indigenous Diasporas and Dislocations (Vitality of indigenous religions series). Aldershot: Ashgate. (199 pp.) Olupona, Jacob K. (ed). 2004. Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous Religious Traditions and Modernity. New York: Routledge. (348 pp.) | Homepage
http://uit.no/religion/1990/72
| Timetables
http://timeplan.uit.no/emne.php?year=2008&department=ALLE&module=REL-3015-1 |
Teaching spring 2008
Orientation meeting: 11 January at 13:15, room D-0134 | | Lecture | Lecture in English.
First lecture: 14 January at 12:15, room C-1003
Foreleser Bjørn Ola Tafjord
| | Exam | Exam:
Distribution: 2 June at 09:30, Expediton Sv-fak
Handing in: 9 June at 14:00, Expediton Sv-fak
Exam paper: in English or in Norwegian. |
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