POLS120 Culture, Religion, Society
Annotation:
The course consists of 30 academic hours, with different forms of academic activities.
- theoretical aspects of the problems – 22 h.
- seminars (presupposes individual work on preliminary given topics and results in a paper on one of them) – 6 h.
- recapitulation on the academic activity during the semester
Evaluation – complex through evaluation of the whole activity of the student during the semester and his participation at the seminars.
The main goal of the course is to make the students familiar with the main notions in the sphere of Culture and Religious Studies, of the most prominent civilizations, values and norms, the cultural memory, social identity and cultural stereotypes.
At the same time the course gives knowledge on the main principles of the world religions and religious practices.
Lecturers:
Asst. Prof. Veronika Azarova, PhD
Course Description:
Competencies:
After completing successfully this course the students will:
1) know: new point of view towards the problems of Culture and Religion
2) be capable of: to implement their knowledge at specific situations; to analyse specific behavioral models from the perspective of the specific culture and religion
3) job opportunities, according to the National Register of Jobs and Positions in the Republic of Bulgaria:
Prerequisites:
Excellent English language
Types:
Full-time Programmes
Types of Courses:
Lecture
Language of teaching:
English
Topics:
- What is Culture. From term to notion. Different notion of Culture. Culture and Civilization
- Normative character of Culture. Values and norms.
- Culture as Symbolic World. Symbol, myth, ritual.
- Social Identity and Cultural Stereotypes. Mass Culture. Subcultures.
- Cultural Memory. Cultural Tradition. Tradition and Modernity. “Creation” of Traditions
- The Role of subcultures in Modern Society
- What is Religion. Religious Worship. Approaches towards study of Religion: Theosophical, Phenomenological, Philosophical, Sociological.
- Hinduism. The religions of the East.
- Zoroastrism. Judaism.
- Buddhism. Islamic Religion.
- Christianity – Orthodoxy.
- Christianity – Catholicism
- Christianity – Protestantism
- Non-traditional religions and new religious movements
- Contemporary challenges towards modern culture.
Bibliography:
A handbook of living religions. N.Y., 1984.
A new handbook of living religions (ed. by Hinnels), Oxford, 1969.
Bennett, M. J. (1993). 'Towards ethnorelativism: a developmental model of intercultural sensitivity'. In: Paige, R. M. (ed) (1993) Education for the Intercultural Experience. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press.
Brislin, R. W. (1981) 'Cross-Cultural Encounters: Face-to-Face Interaction'. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon.
Fowler, S. M. & Mumford, M. G. (eds) (1995) Intercultural Sourcebook: Cross-Cultural Training Methods. Vol.1, Yarmouth: Intercultural Press, Inc.
Humphrey, D. (1993). 'Culture as a noun, Culture as a verb, National culture or Individual culture, which Approach?' In: Killick, D. & M. Parry (eds.). (1993) Languages for Cross-cultural Capability, Promoting the Discipline: Marking Boundaries Crossing Borders. Leeds Metropolitan University, December 1993.
Seelye, H. N. (1997). Teaching Culture: Strategies for Intercultural Communication. Third Edition Chicago: National Textbook Company.
Schmeman, A. The historical road of eastern orthodoxy. London, 1963.
Singer, M. R. (1975). 'Culture: A Perceptual approach'. In: Hoopes, D. S. (ed) (1975) Intercultural Communication Workshop: Readings in Intercultural Communication 1. Pittsburgh, PA: Intercultural Communications Network.
Triandis, H. C. (1972). The Analysis of Subjective Culture. New York: John Wiley.
The Oxford dictionary of Christian church (ed. by F. Cross and E. Livingstone). London, N.Y., 1974; и др.
The Penguin dictionary of religions. L., 1997
Wach, J. Types of religious experience: christian and non-christian. London, 1951.
Assessment:
PARTICIPATION IN SEMINAR - 40%
ESSAYS - 60%
During the semester, the students are required to submit at least three (3) essays on a given subject. Achieving an average grade of 4.50 or above, they could be skip the final exam