autumn 2017 REL-1006 New Age and new religious Movements - 10 ECTS

Application deadline

Applicants from Nordic countries: 1 June for the autumn semester.

Exchange students and Fulbright students: 15 April for the autumn semester.


Type of course

The course is optional and can be taken by any student as part of a bachelor degree or independently. It is especially relevant for bachelor students in Religious Studies, and also relevant for students in other programmes within the Social Sciences and Humanities.

Prerequisites:  Knowledge of religion equivalent to the curriuculum in primary and high school.


Admission requirements

Nordic applicants: Generell studiekompetanse eller realkompetanse.

International applicants: Higher Education Entrance Qualification and certified language requirements in English.

Application code: 9199 (Nordic applicants).


Course content

The course provides an overview of the emergence of modern New Age spirituality, with particular focus on the Western context and the nature of a decentralized spiritual subculture. In addition to New Age, neo-paganism and certain types of occultism, this includes what Christopher Partridge terms "occulture" - namely, the interpenetration of popular culture and New Age religiosity. The emergence of the New Age is discussed in light of the development of society at large, and in relation to recent theoretical perspectives on secularism and identity formation.

Objectives of the course

By the end of the course the student has obtained the following:

Knowledge 

The student has

  • knowledge of key concepts and issues related to the study of New Age religiosity
  • relevant social-scientific knowledge about New Age religiosity, with emphasis on the New Age as a decentralized "subculture/movement" in the West.

Skills

Student should be able to 

  • analyze the subject matter of New Age and related movements
  • write a reasoned scientific text on the subject and master the discipline's standards of factual evidence. 

Competence 

The student

  • is able to plan and carry out tasks in the subject 
  • is able to further develop their knowledge, skills and understanding through further study of the subject 
  • is able to communicate with others about issues within the topic. 


Language of instruction and examination

The teaching language is English. The exam paper can be written in English or Norwegian.

Teaching methods

10 lectures a 2 hour. 4 seminars in conjunction with lecture topics. The seminars are exam-related and provide assistance to write religion, academic tasks and to structure them in a professional manner. 

Quality assurance of the course: The course will be evaluated once during the period of the study program. The board of the program decides which courses will be evaluated by students and teacher each year. 


Assessment

The following coursework requirements must be completed and approved in order to take the final exam: A written paper on a given topic, 3-5 pages (1000-2500 words).

The exam will consist of: 4-hour school exam.

The exam will be assessed on an A-F grades scale. Grades are A-E for passed and F for failed. The exam will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis.

Retake is offered in the beginning of the following semester in cases of grade F or Fail. Deferred examination is offered in the beginning of the following semester if the student is unable to take the final exam due to illness or other exceptional circumstances. Registration deadline for retake is January 15 for autumn semester exams and August 15 for spring semester exams.


Recommended reading/syllabus

- James R. Lewis and Jesper Aa. Petersen, Controversial New Religions (2014, Oxford University Press, pp. 496

- Ingvild S. Gilhus, Siv Ellen Kraft and James R. Lewis, New Age in Norway (2017), Equniox publishing, pp. 306  

Two articles: 

James R. Lewis. "Scientology: Up Stat, Down Stat." In Mikael Rothstein and Olav Hammer, eds. The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements, Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp. 133-149.  

James R. Lewis, "Who Serves Satan? A Demographic and Ideological Profile." Marburg Journal of Religious Studies 6:2. 2001, pp. 1-25.

Error rendering component

  • About the course
  • Campus: Tromsø |
  • ECTS: 10
  • Course code: REL-1006