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Sociology of Religion
5577 - Grad seminar
Fall 2016
Tues 12-2 30
415 McGuinn

Prof. Gustavo Morello SJ
[email protected]
Office hours by appointment

Inscriptions by department permission

Description
This is a grad seminar designed for students in Sociology or related fields (like
Theology, Social Work, Political Sciences, and History). Students will gain knowledge
on the classics of the Sociology of religion, the main theoretical discussions, and the
contemporary trends in the field. It will cover some theoretical and methodological
perspectives as well as research literature, and will include three geographical
areas: U.S., Europe and Latin America.
We will start exploring the current discussions in the field. Then we will devote time
to read the classics; What have the ‘Founding Fathers’ of sociology (Marx, Durkheim,
and Weber) said about religion? After that we proceed to study the main theoretical
frameworks to understand religion from a sociological perspective: Secularization
and Rational Choice theories. We will also look at other alternative analyzes, like
cultural theories, popular religiosity and lived religion.
The course is designed to be a complement and be enriched by a research project
about the transformation of Latin America religious experience. We will work as a
group on a collective project on ‘The lived religious experience of Latinos and Latin
Americans immigrants’.

Finally, the course is designed to include many (but not all!) core readings in the
field that you will need if you are preparing a ‘specialty area exam’ on Sociology of
Religion.

Goals
By the end of the semester you will be able to:
1. Recognize the central discussions of the Sociology of Religion
2. Describe the main theoretical concepts of the field
3. Recognize the current debates in the sub-discipline, and take a position.

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4. Participate in a collaborative research project on the lived experience of religion
among Latinos and immigrants from Latin America.

Requirements
1. Discussion papers
a. For 10 of the classes, students will be required to read materials and discuss them
in class. Each student will read the material (approximately 150 pages per class)
and come prepared to discuss it in class. The student will come prepared to
intervene in each session.
b. The student will submit 8 critical reading summaries and discussion questions to
the course website. (No paper will be graded if the student isn’t in class) Read well,
think hard and creatively, and show all of that in your response. Pose discussion
questions.
For some readings I will provide some questions that might guide you in the
process of writing the response.
c. For each of these 10 discussion-based classes, one student will present a summary
of the responses, and present to the class the main points, problems and questions.

2. Final paper/collaborative research project
a. A major paper will be required. The remaining 4 classes will be devoted to work
on it.
b. The paper will be a collaborative research project that will explore Latinos/Latin
American migrants’ religiosity.
c. The paper must be based on three in-depth interviews with Latino or immigrants
from Latin America on the person’s religious practices.
d. The students will pursue the IRB certification (if they haven’t do so before), set
the interviews, transcribe and analyze them using appropriate software for
qualitative research, applying the theoretical categories we have discussed in class.
e. Finally, the paper will be presented to the rest of the class.

Grading
1. Discussion papers
a. Interventions in class 5%
b. Reading summaries 40 % (5 points each)
c. Summary of responses 5%
2. Final paper
a. IRB on time (5%)
b. Interviews and transcriptions on time (5%)
c. Coding and analyze on time (5%)
d. Presentation (5%)

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 e. Paper (30%)


Syllabus

1. Presentation
Explanation on the syllabus and the dynamics of the class. The collaborative
research project, the IRB process, and the final product.
Conversation about students’ expectations.

2. The current situation
Bender, Courtney, Wendy Cadge, Peggy Levitt and David Smilde. 2013. “Religion on
the Edge: De-centering and Re-Centering.” In Religion on the Edge: De-
centering and Re-centering the Sociology of Religion. New York: Oxford
University Press, p. 1-22.

Edgell, Penny. 2012 “A Cultural Sociology of Religion: New Directions.” Annual
Review of Sociology, 38: 247-65.

Sherkat, Darren E. and Christopher Ellison. 1999. “Recent Developments and
Current Controversies in the Sociology of Religion.” Annual Review of
Sociology 25: 363-94.

Smith, Christian. 2008. “Future Directions in the Sociology of Religion.” Social Forces
98(4):1561-1589.

Smith, C; Vaidyanathan, B; et alii (2013) ‘Roundtable on the Sociology of Religion:
Twenty-Three Theses on the Status of Religion in American Sociology—A
Mellon Working-Group Reflection’ Journal of the American Academy of
Religion, December 2013, Vol. 81, No. 4, pp. 903–938

Stark, Rodney and Roger Finke (1994). Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of
Religion, Introduction; pp. 1-23.

What are some of the core debates within the modern sociology of religion?
What are some of the core agreements within the sociology of religion?
Which approaches are most appealing to you as a junior scholar?
How might you utilize some of this material in your own work?

3. Classical theories

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Durkheim, Emile The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life --“Introduction” (note,
before Book 1); Book 1, Chapter 1 (“Definition of Religious Phenomena and
of Religion”); “Conclusion” (note, after Book 3)

Weber, Max The protestant ethics and the spirit of Capitalism, Ch. 1, 2, 5. (55p)

Marx, Karl, Marx on Religion http://www.jstor.org.proxy.bc.edu/stable/j.ctt14bt016
"Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right," (pp. 170-181)
"Theses on Feurbach," (pp. 182-184) "German Ideology" (pp. 93-101)

How do Marx, Weber and Durkheim differ in their approaches to religion?
What is each of them “responding to” in their approach of religion?
Who do you personally agree with more and why?
How would you see each being useful in your own approach to scholarship?

4. The interview on religious practices
I will present the project “The Transformation of Lived Religion in Urban Latin
America: a study of contemporary Latin Americans’ experience of the transcendent”,
explain the aim of the research, and the research protocols. We will work on in-depth
interviews on religious practices and object elicitation meetings.

Students have to schedule and start to do the interviews in the next 15 days

Readings:
Rubin, H & Rubin, I (1995) Qualitative interviewing. The art of hearing data, Ch 6 (p.
122-144)

Ammerman, Nancy. Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes. Finding Religion in Everyday Life.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Ch. 1 (1-22)


5. Secularization
Berger, P (1990) The Sacred Canopy. Elements of a sociological theory of religion.
New York: Anchor Books, Ch. 1, 2, 5 (pp. 3-51; 105-125)

Bruce, Steve. Secularization. In Defence of an Unfashionable Theory. Oxford: Oxford
Univerity Press, 2011. Ch. 1-2 (pp. 1-56)

Casanova, J (2009) ‘The Secular and Secularism’, in Social Research; 76, 4;pp.1049-
1066.

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Gorski, P and Altinordu, A (2008) ‘After Secularization?’, in Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2008.
34:55-85.

The IRB process. Students have to submit their certificate before the next class.

6. Secularization
Berger, P (2014). The many altars of Modernity. Toward a paradigm for religion in a
pluralist age. Boston: De Gruyter, 2014. Preface and chapter 4 (9-13; 51-67)

Casanova, J (1994). Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago, Il: The University
of Chicago Press. Ch. 1, 2, 8 (pp. 11-66; 211-234)

Chaves, Mark. "Secularization as Declining Religious Authority." Social Forces 72, no.
3 (1994): 749-774.

Davie, G (2002). Europe: The Exceptional Case. Parameters of Faith in the Modern
World. London: Darton, Longman and Todd. Ch. 1 (1-26)

7. Rational choice
Stark, R and Finke, R (1994) Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion,
Berkeley, University of California Press, Part 1 and Part 4. (27-41; 193-217)

Warner, Stephen. "Work in Progress toward a New Paradigm for the Sociological
Study of Religion in the United States." American Journal of Sociology (The
Univerity of Chicago) 98, no. 5 (March 1993): 1044-93.

Chestnut, A (2003) Competitive spirits. Latin America’s new religious economy; New
York, Oxford University Press. Intro + Ch. 5 (pp. 3-16; 102-127)

Cleary, E (2011) The rise of Charismatic Catholicism in Latin America, Gainsville,
University Press of florida. Intro (pp.1-29)

How do sociologists of religion engage with economistic approaches to understanding

religion in society and individual lives?
What kind of methodological and theoretical leverage does this approach provide?

8. Cultural
Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures Ch. 4: ‘Religion as a Cultural System.’
Pp. 87-125. http://quod.lib.umich.edu.proxy.bc.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-

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05.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000097;node=heb01005.0001.001%3A6.1

Wuthnow, Robert. 1992. Rediscovering the Sacred: Perspectives on Religion in
Contemporary Society. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans (Selections) (37-58)

Ecklund, Elaine Howard, Jerry Z. Park, and Katherine L. Sorrell. “Creating and
Crossing Boundaries: How Scientists View the Relationship between Religion
and Science.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 50(3): 552-569.

Knott, K (2005) The location of Religion. A Spatial Analysis. Equinox, London. Ch. 4, 5
(94-130)

What is a cultural approach to studying sociology of religion?
What kinds of factors does a cultural approach deal with?
How does studying religion contribute to sociology of culture?

9. Popular religiosity
Possamai, Adam. "Popular and lived religions." Current Sociology Review 63, no. 6
(2015): 781-799.

Levine, D (1992) Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism. Princeton, Princeton
University Press. Ch. 9, 10 (317-374)

Parker G, Cristián. "Identity and Diversity in Urban Popular Catholicism." In Popular
Catholicism in a World Church, by T Bamat and J Weist, 19-55. Maryknoll, NY:
Orbis Books, 1999.

Parker G, Cristián. "'Magico-popular religion' in contemporary society: Towards a
Post-Western Sociology of Religion." In Theorising Religion. Classical and
Contemporary Debates, by James and Wallis, John Beckford, 60-74. Aldershot:
Ashgate, 2006.

Interviews should be done

10. Lived Religion
Ammerman, N (2014). Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes. Finding Religion in Everyday
Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Ch. 2,3,9 (pp. 23-90; 287-304)

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McGuire, M (2008). Lived Religion. Faith and Practice in Everyday Life. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2008. Ch. 1, 2 (pp. 3-44)

Martín, Eloísa. "From Popular Religion to Practices of Sacralization: Approaches for
a Conceptual Discussion." Social Compass 56, no. 2 (2009): 273-285.

Sent at least one transcribed interview

11. Analysis
We are all going to work with one transcript and do the coding using the software
(Nvivo, Dedoose, or Hyper-research).

Before the class, do a light coding in advance. Look for categories that emerge, topics
that keep appearing.

Rubin, H & Rubin, I (1995) Qualitative interviewing. The art of hearing data, Ch 10,
pp. 226-256

Strauss, A & Corbin, J (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research. Grounded Theory
Procedures and Techniques, Newbury Park, Sage. Ch. 5, 7. (pp. 61- 74; 96-115)

12. Embodiment and materiality
McDannell, C (1995) Material Christianity. Religion and popular culture in America.
New Heaven & London: Yale University Press, 1995. Ch. 1, 2 (Pp. 1-66)

Engelke, M (2011) "Material Religion." In The Cambridge Companion to Religious
Studies, by Robert Orsi, 209-229. NY: Cambridge Univerity Press.

Hughes, Jennifer Scheper. Biography of a Mexican Crucifix: Lied Religion and Local
Faith from the Conquest to the Present. NY: Oxford Univeristy Press, 2009. Ch.
13

Day, Katie. Faith on the Avenue. Religion on a City Street. New York, NY: Oxford
University Press, 2014. Ch., 2,7 (Pp. 29-59, 187-219)

13. Migration
Orsi, R (1985) The Madonna of 115th Street. Faith and Community in Italian Harlem,
1880-1950. New Haven: Yale University Press. Ch. 4, 5 (pp. 75-149)

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Levitt, P (2001) The Transnational Villagers, Berkeley, University of California Press,
Ch. 6, & Conclusion (Pp. 159-179; 199-216)

Williams, Philip, Manuel Vásquez, and Timothy Steigenga. "Introduction:
Understanding Transnationalism, Collective Movilization, and Lived Religion
in New Immigrant Destinations." In A Place to Be. Brazilian, Guatemalan, and
Mexican Immigrants in Florida's New Destinations, by Philip Williams and
Timothy, and Vásquez, Manuel Steigenga, 1-29. New Brunswick, New Jersey:
Rutgers Univerity Press, 2009.

14. Presentations