Sociology of Religion (SOC 246.1) Dr. Richard N.

Pitt
Buttrick Hall 101 311 Garland Hall
Class Hrs Tuesday/Thursday 2:35 to 3:50 pm
Office Hrs Monday/Wednesday by appt.

Webpage: http:/majorsmatter.net/religion

“Man is the religious animal. He is the only religious animal. He is the only animal that
has the True Religion – several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as
himself and cuts his throat, if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the
globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.”
(Mark Twain, The Lowest Animal)

COURSE DESCRIPTION
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.
We hope to help you cultivate an understanding of the distinctively sociological approach to studying
religion. Legitimate approaches to studying religion abound: historical, psychological, theological, etc..
Because we take a sociological approach, a most basic goal is to develop an understanding of and
appreciation for the kinds of questions sociologists ask and the kind of explanations they offer. By the
end of the semester, you will have read, wrestled with, worked with, applied, disagreed with, and debated
various sociological theories. Ideally, you will come to see how your own faith is shaped by these
processes. Finally, we will require you to apply basic research skills in the sociology of religion.
Sociology is an empirical discipline that constructs theories and draws conclusions based on observable
evidence. You will go beyond merely reading about religion to actually engaging in sociological research
on religion.

TEXTS
The texts in this course are listed below. The books are available for purchase at the Vanderbilt
bookstore. Readings should be done before you come to class that day and are intended as an aid to
understanding that day's lecture or class discussion. Any readings not located in these books will be
linked to on the webpage and are marked with a superscript “web”.

Durkheim, Emile. (1995). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life: A New Translation by Karen E
Fields. New York, NY: The Free Press.
Johnstone, Ronald. (2004). Religion In Society: A Sociology of Religion. Saddle River, NK: Prentice Hall
Press.
Weber, Max. (2003). Protestant Ethic & Spirit of Capitalism. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications
REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
The grade in this class is based on your performance on the following forms of evaluation. Each of you
starts with an "A" (600 points) and you move down from there. The buffer for each letter grade is 60
points. Pluses and minuses are earned in the 20 point margins at the top/bottom of the letter grade range
(e.g., you will receive an A- at 579 points). Once you go below the threshold for any given grade, the
only way to move back up is to do the optional extra credit reviews. Your continued enrollment means
that you understand and accept this grading policy. Unless otherwise noted, all assignments should be
single-spaced, 1" margins, in Times or Times New Roman font, and have no more than a one line header
with your name, the date, and the assignment. Some assignments will be sent as an email attachment so
ensure BEFORE YOU SEND IT that you've formatted it appropriately.

A=540-600 B=480-539 C=420-479 D=360-419 F=0-359

1. Reading Quizzes (100 points): There will be 10 short quizzes randomly scheduled throughout the
semester. Each quiz will be based on the day’s readings in order to provide an incentive to complete the
readings fully and on time. The quizzes will cover basic materials that anyone carefully reading and
comprehending the assigned readings should understand and retain. If you are absent on the day of a
reading quiz, you must write a one-page paper summarizing the reading and highlighting the central
points raised in it. That paper must be sent to me (Dr. Pitt) by 3pm of the day following your absence.
We'll notify absentees that there was a quiz on the front page of the course webpage.

2. Engaging The Blog (100 points): Everyone doesn’t talk in class but everyone’s contribution to the
class discussions is still necessary. In order to make sure that everyone has a voice (and uses it), I am
requiring every student to write comments about the course conversations or lectures. Every student is
required to initiate 10 threads on the course web-blog. These threads will each be worth up to 10 points.
A thread can be a link to an interesting and relevant webpage (with an explanation), a link to a relevant
report or article (with a summary), your comments on the class discussion or lecture, or questions that you
might have for me or other students in the class. Every thread will start at 8 points and work up from
there based on how much interest (from myself and the class) it garners. You need to receive at least 20
responses to your blog posts (total) to receive all 100 points for this assignment. In order for you to get
credit for all of your contributions, you must ALSO comment on 10 other students’ contributions. For
each comment you’re missing, we will take away 3 of your points for your initiated thread.

3. Town Meetings (100 points): On six Thursdays, we will hold a mock town meeting about an issue.
You will be responsible to serve as a panelist in one of the meetings. I will evaluate you in two ways.
Fifty percent of the grade will be based on the persuasiveness of your arguments and your level of
preparedness. I also suspect that some of that evaluation will be based on your overall performance, so
feel free to ham it up. The other fifty percent of the grade will be based on a four-page paper that you will
write, in character, explaining your position on your town meeting’s issue. This will help you organize
your thoughts and give me some confidence that you aren’t just making your argument up
extemporaneously. This paper is due by 11:59 pm the day of your town meeting. The paper must include
a minimum of 5 citations from the course readings or some other academic (non-website) resource.
Extra Credit (Possible 12 points): Because town meetings are not intended solely as a learning
opportunity for the people assigned to them, it is important that presenters remember that they are
accountable to you, the other students in the class. With that in mind, I have created an online
response form where you can evaluate each presenters’ presentation. In order to receive the two
extra credit points, you have to complete the checkbox portion of the form, and you must give useful
written comments to at least three of the presenters. These forms must be completed by Friday night
after the date of the town meeting being evaluated. I consider these comments when I grade the
presenters. They receive an anonymous summary of your rankings and comments with their grade.
4. Self-Guided Field Trips and Final Paper (200 points): To give students a direct exposure to the
social aspects of religious experience, a field research project will be an important complement to the
classroom setting. You must choose two unfamiliar religious groups or organizations to visit and observe
on self-guided field trips, and write 3-page reports for each. Typically this will involve attending religious
services or gatherings and taking field notes. Students may not choose to do the religious tradition(s)
within which they were raised or with which they are quite familiar. To help facilitate one of these visits,
I have arranged for my own church (African-American Baptist . . which should work for most of you) to
sponsor a visit at some point in the semester. The two trips/reports are worth 50 points each. The service
should be the principal worship service for that faith group, such as a Catholic Mass or an LDS Sacrament
Meeting. You will write a paper comparing and contrasting the services. This paper should be no
shorter than ten pages and is worth 100 points. The two 3-page reports will be included as part of the
final paper. It is due on the last day of class. Note: If you have ideological concerns about attending
religious worship services, please see Dr. Pitt for an alternate assignment.

5. Examination (100 points): I would like for you to master the theoretical underpinnings of this class at
the following levels of understanding: (1) basic knowledge, (2) comprehension and understanding, (3)
application, and (4) analysis and comparison. With that in mind, there will be a take-home examination
on the material from the theory unit of the course. Six questions will appear on the exam and students
will be required to choose a subset of them to answer. Because this is an open-book exam, appropriate
citation will be required and expected. I will post the exam online after class on October 7th. The exam
is due by email attachment, to me, by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, October 12th.

OTHER IMPORTANT THOUGHTS

Academic Excuses: With the astonishing incidence of sickness and death that invariably occurs just
around due dates, my policy is to let you know in advance that if you need to hand in something late
because of family or personal illness, or death in the family, I’ll need either a copy of the plane ticket, the
funeral bulletin, or a note from your doctor. Otherwise, NOTHING will be accepted late.

Academic Etiquette: As a sign of respect to your fellow classmates, please avoid walking in late or
leaving early. Please TURN OFF CELL PHONES before class. Respect the views and opinions of
others. Avoid talking when others are making a point. You will have your chance. Try to avoid
destructive criticism. However, constructive criticism is welcomed. Don't read the paper, talk to your
friends, use your computer for anything other than note-taking, etc. during class. DO NOT LEAVE
CLASS UNTIL CLASS HAS ENDED! Not only are those things disrespectful and disruptive to your
classmates and me, but they also limit your ability to understand the material.

Academic Integrity: Vanderbilt’s Honor Code governs all work in this course. Any Honor Code
violation will be taken up with the Honor Council and it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with
the provisions of the Code. If you have any doubts about applications of the Honor Code, please ask me
and/or consult the Honor Council’s web page. Uncertainty about the application of the Honor Code does
not excuse a violation. Plagiarism is easily detected and WILL NOT be tolerated. If I suspect that
plagiarism has taken place, you will receive no credit for the assignment.

“I’ll Do Anything”: Don't wait until the last minute to ask questions about the material covered in this
class. Also, please come by my or Sammy’s office to review your papers and projects. Don't wait until
the end of the session to worry about your grade. An emergency on your part does not constitute one for
us. Oh yeah . . . and the time for “I’ll do anything to raise my grade, Professor Pitt” is on the date things
are assigned, not the last weeks of the semester.
 Curriculum Units

Unit 1: Introduction

Required readings for this week: No Readings

August 26: Course Introduction – What This Course Is

Required readings for this week: Johnstone Chapter 1; Emerson et al Chapter

August 31: The Why and What Of Sociology of Religion
September 2: Field Methods Lecture

Unit 2: Sociological Theories Of Religion

Required readings for this week: Durkheim 1-44 and 84-95; Durkheim 99-140 and 207-241
September 7: Durkheim On Religion I
September 9: Durkheim On Religion II

Required readings for this week: Weber Intro and Part 1; Johnstone p. 51-58
September 14: Weber On Religion I
September 16: Weber On Religion II

Required readings for this week: Marx Articleweb; Dubois Chapterweb

September 21: Marx On Religion
September 23: DuBois On Religion

Required readings for this week: Chaves Articleweb; Iannaccone Articleweb

September 28: Secularization Theory
September 30: Rational Choice Theory

Unit 3: Religion As Society

Required readings for this week: Johnstone Chapter 5; Johnstone Chapter 4

October 5: Becoming Religious
October 7: Churches, Sects, and Cults

Required readings for this week: No Reading

October 12: NO CLASS – WORK ON EXAM
October 14: NO CLASS – FALL BREAK
**** Midterm Exam Is Due By Email Attachment To Dr. Pitt On October 12 by 5pm CST ****

Required readings for this week: Johnstone Chapter 8; Johnstone Chapter 14

October 19: The Big Three: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
October 21: The Others
 Unit 4: Religion In Society

Required readings for this week: Johnstone Chapter 6

October 26: Religious Conflicts
October 28: TOWN MTG – “Is War Justified In The Judeo-Christian Ethic?”

Required readings for this week: Johnstone Chapter 15

November 2: Religious and the Private Sphere
November 4: TOWN MTG – “Are Religious Texts Good Resources For Good Families?”

Required readings for this week: Johnstone Chapter 7 and Smith Articleweb
November 9: Religion and the Public Sphere
November 11: TOWN MTG – “Can You Be Religious Without Attending Religious Services?

Required readings for this week: Johnstone Chapter 13 and Pitt Articleweb
November 16: Religion and Ethnicity
November 18: TOWN MTG – “Should All Religions Have The Same Status In The US?”

November 23-25 NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Required readings for this week: Johnstone Chapter 11 and Murrow Chaptersweb
November 30: Religion and Gender
December 2: TOWN MTG – “Is God Sexist?”

Required readings for this week: Besen Articleweb and Pitt Articleweb
December 7: Religion and Sexuality
December 9: TOWN MTG – “Does The Bible Forbid Same-Sex Relationships?”