On Making a Shift in the Study of Religion and Other Essays

Russell T. McCutcheon

Published by De Gruyter 2021

On Making a Shift in the Study of Religion and Other Essays

Russell T. McCutcheon

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110721713

Overview
Contents

About this book

Although many would today argue that the onetime dominance of the phenomenology of religion has receded, and with it the traditional approach to studying religion as a unique and deeply-felt experience that defies explanation, the essays collected here take quite the opposite stand: that this approach has merely been re-branded and continues to characterize much work being done in the field today. Offering a different way forward—one that is based on experiences gained by the members of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama, a program that has successfully reinvented itself over the past 20 years—the book includes a variety of practical suggestions for how members of Religious Studies departments can revise their approach to studying and teaching about religion. Seeing religion instead as mundane but always exemplary of basic social elements found all across cultures, the volume argues that the way forward for this field lies not in the specialness of its object of study but, instead, the fact that thinking and acting as if something is special is itself an ordinary aspect of history and culture. Making just this shift helps the scholar of religion to contribute to wide, interdisciplinary conversations all across the Humanities and Social Sciences, demonstrating the practical relevance of their work.

Documents the continued dominance of the phenomenological approach to the study of religion

Describes practical innovations in a department at a public US R-1 University

Offers practical examples for reviving religious studies

Author / Editor information

Russell McCutcheon, University of Alabama, USA.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	XIII
Sources Publicly Available Download PDF	XV
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I Current State
1 The Enduring Presence of Our Pre-Critical Past Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Part II Critical Shift
2 Classification Matters or, Why You Should Care About Scholarship on the Category Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
3 Shifting From Experience to the Discourse on Experience Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
4 “There’s No Original in This Business” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
5 What Happens After the Deconstruction? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Part III Institutional Implications
6 Theses on Creating Successful Religion Programs in an Anti-Humanities Age Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
7 Growth, Identity, and Branding: An Interview with Religious Studies News Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
8 Reinventing the Study of Religion in Alabama: An Overview Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	138
9 Learning to Code: Digital Pebbles and Institutional Ripples Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
10 On Making a Shift in the Study of Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
Afterword: Five Examples Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	204

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars, students, institutes of religious studies, secondary education.
Pages
- Front matter: 13
- Main content: 210
Keywords: Religious Studies; Methodology; Humanities; Institutional History

eBook

Published: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 9783110721713

Hardcover

Published: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 9783110721423

Paperback

Published: July 18, 2022
ISBN: 9783110995510