This course introduces students to the various methods used to study "religion" over the course of this century.  We will not try to define 'religion' or 'religious experience'.  Rather we will accept that certain phenomena are and have been studied by scholars, and we will concentrate on the methods they have used for analyzing and interpreting these phenomena.  We will balance this academic study with more informal discussion of our presuppositions of what is 'religion'.  By this approach the course sets out to accomplish the following objectives:
 

1. Begin the semester's conversation with student-generated descriptions of something 'religious' and with discussion of Silko's novel, Ceremony.
2. Canvass the major thinkers and approaches of the study of 'religion' through reading, lecture, and discussion.
3. Reflect formally (response papers, exams) and informally (class and e-mail discussion) on how the major texts of 'religious studies' inform and/or change the students' understanding of 'religion'.
4. End the semester with reflections on how 'religion' is used in current media and with an analysis of a second novel, The God of Small Things, using these venues to assess what change of perspective on 'religion' has been wrought..