Religious Diversity in Historical Perspective

2024/2025

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

Кто читает:

Департамент истории

Статус:

Курс по выбору

Когда читается:

1-й курс, 4 модуль

Преподаватель

Масагутова Мария Рустэмовна

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course is aimed to demonstrate the dynamics between the dominating religious traditions and the emerging religious movements as well as the transformations in perception of the religious “others”. Although mostly focused on the Christianity, this course will provide a broader cross-cultural and cross-temporal perspective for understanding religious diversity, which is of particular importance in the modern globalized world. The course will touch upon some of the historical aspects of relationships of power between the states, the churches, and the religious groups, the matters of religious (in)tolerance, the tensions between official and vernacular levels of worship, the struggles of missionary approaches, the eschatological imagination of different religious traditions, and the specificity of multireligious dialogue in the post-secular world.

Learning Objectives

• The main aim of this course is to provide students with information about the dynamics between the dominating religious traditions and the emerging religious movements.
• Another aim of this course is to explore the relation between the long-established religious traditions with the newer ones and the impact this relation has on both traditions.
• The additional aim of this course is to get students acquainted with the contemporary academic tradition of writing about the situation of religious pluralism in the diachronic and synchronic perspective.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• The students acquire the knowledge about the key definitions of this course such as religion, denomination and sect, as long as religious diversity and religious pluralism.
• The students explore the uniqueness of Ancient Greek religious situation in terms of its position between the unifying and diversifying influences.
• The students learn to work with ancient and contemporary sources regarding the questions of antique religious situation including Ancient Egyptian and early Christian traditions.
• The students obtain the practical skills and theoretical basis for analyzing the establishing Christian canons in the light of Christianity’s growth.
• The students gain the knowledge of social and ritual life of the early Christianity in its relation to the Roman and Jewish religious systems.
• The students get acquainted with academic theories about the perception of ancient Egyptian, Geek and Roman gods in early Christian literature.
• The students can distinguish key events associated with the European Inquisition and medieval heresies.
• The students recollect the historical details of the Reformation and its many regional variations across Europe.
• The students are able to analyze eschatological narratives in the context of 20th century’s history.
• The students are capable of navigating through the turmoil of Christianity becoming the global religion.
• The students procure the data about the new religious movements in the late soviet and post-soviet context.
• The students apply the knowledge acquired during the course to analyze the religious revival in the post-soviet Russia.

Course Contents

• Introducton
• Ancient Greek “religion”: unity vs diversity.
• Ancient Egypt. Akhenaten and his reforms. Perception of ancient gods in early Christian literature.
• The emergence of Christianity.
• The growth of Christianity and the establishment of the Christian canons.
• Medieval heresies and the Inquisition(s)
• The many Reformations.
• Managing the diversity: the missionaries and the “heretics”
• Religion in the long” 20th century: eschatological expectations and the new directions.
• The Globalization of Christianity.
• New Age and Millennialism in (Post)Soviet Russia.
• Some Notes on the religious situation in contemporary Russia.

Assessment Elements

• Seminar activity
  Participation in seminar discussions is graded. Merely the presence at the seminar guarantees a minimum grade of 5, while the involvement and contribution to the critical discussion leads to a higher grade. The absence at the seminar without a confirmed valid reason is graded with a 0.
• Presentation
  A seminar where each student will present the chosen book (10-15 minutes speech and visual presentation (pptx or pdf)), share the information about the author and the main contents of the book, the key questions it rises, etc. The grade for the presentation will be accounted as follows: 70%*presentation+30% the participation in discussion of your colleagues’ presentations.
• Review
  An analytical review essay on a book of your choice relevant to the general topic of the course. General requirements for the choice of the book: • Relevant to the general topic of the course • Placed in the field of history/anthropology of religion • Written by 1 author • Published between 2010 and 2025 • At least 150 pages • The book or its parts were not included as the seminar readings General requirements for the review • 15-20.000 characters long • Referencing at least 2 other articles/books including at least 1 text besides the seminar readings. • Your paper should not be a mere retelling but an original analytical response to the book you’ve chosen.

Interim Assessment

• 2024/2025 4th module
  0.3 * Presentation + 0.4 * Review + 0.3 * Seminar activity

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• A history of ancient Egypt, Grimal, N., 2008
• A history of Ancient Greek : from the beginnings to Late Antiquity, , 2007
• Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt : the one and the many, Hornung, E., 1996

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Ancient Egyptian temple ritual : performance, patterns, and practice, Eaton, K., 2013
• Animal sacrifice in Ancient Greek religion, Judaism, and Christianity, 100 bc-ad 200, Petropoulou, M.-Z., 2012

Authors

• Dzhafarova Alina Tagirovna
• Masagutova Mariia Rustemovna