DI2011 Religion Today

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

20

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 8

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

10-11 Mon, Tues, Thurs

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Rev K Bosse

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr S Holmes & Professor S Hyland

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

The process of secularization has not put an end to public engagement with ultimate questions. Familiarity with religious/ideological convictions, with the inside perspective of religions, is essential for understanding cultural/political constellations worldwide. The module aims at skills in ‘reading religions’: understanding the tradition of a religion, some main concepts, the impact on ethics and politics, the internal structure and how religion shapes the understanding of being human. It looks at fundamentalist phenomena as the downsides of religious illiteracy. It does so from the internal perspective of one’s own religion, and, in analogy, with regard to other traditions to gain orientation in a religiously pluralist world. Familiarity with different dimensions of the internal structure/anatomy of religions (i.e. narratives, rituals, beliefs, organisation, ethics etc.) enables students to identify religious phenomena and their impact on everyday life, people’s ethos and politics.

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework = 100 %

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

3 lectures (x11 weeks), 1 tutorial (x11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

44

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

159

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • identify religious phenomena and perspectives in contemporary society
  • understand religions as complex structures in the dimensions of their beliefs, sacred texts and narratives, philosophies and practises, their institutions and communities, their ethos, and their relation to politics
  • differentiate and relate functional, social, philosophical, anthropological and theological approaches to the concept of religion
  • present critical approaches to the religions
  • describe and criticise fundamentalism with regard to its main characteristics
  • assess different approaches to religious pluralism and the concept of religious and interreligious tolerance