The Sociology of Religion

3 credits · Divinity School

This course is an introduction to the sociological study of religion. We all have extensive personal experience with religion. Religion exists in a social context. It is shaped by and shapes that social context. Moreover, religion is always a socially constituted reality; that is, its content and structure are always formed, at least partially, out of the "stuff" of the sociocultural world (language, symbols, norms, interactions, organizations, inequality, conflict and cooperation). In this class, we seek to understand both the "socialness" of religion itself and the mutually influencing interactions between religion and its social environment. We will examine religious beliefs, practices, and organizations from a sociological perspective, with a primary (but not exclusive) focus on religion in the contemporary United States. [3]