Teaching American Denominational Religion: Pedagogy for a Pluralist Age

Weston, Beau

doi:10.2307/1319347

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Nevertheless, it is important to note that few of today’s scholars share Berger’s (1969) predictions for the pluralistic world, and Berger (1999) himself even recanted the claims of his original thesis. Activities like Weston’s (1995) “Pedagogy for a Pluralist Age” can be a nice way to challenge Berger’s assumptions. By asking students to engage their own denominational tradition, Weston’s in-class debates and journal assignments teach students to defend the institutional, rather than the personal, aspects of their religion.…”

Section: Implications and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Theory is also an important part of many substantive courses like the sociology of religion (SOR). Unfortunately, a quick database search of more than 40 years of Teaching Sociology turns up just a handful of articles detailing activities for a substantive course on the topic of religion (e.g., Davis and Robinson 2006; Ingram 1979; Weston 1995). What is more, none of these articles pertain to the theoretical issues that are paramount in any SOR course: issues like secularization.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Simulating Secularization

May

2014

Teach Sociol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Instructing students in sociological theory is a foundational part of the discipline, but it can also be a challenge. Readers of Teaching Sociology can find a number of activities designed to improve students’ understanding of sociological theory in their general theory courses, but there are fewer activities designed to improve student learning in more substantive coursework like the sociology of religion. The purpose of this note is to describe and evaluate an activity designed to illustrate one such theory: Peter Berger’s theory of secularization. Evidence of student learning is based on multiple forms of assessment including a pretest-posttest design, students’ exam responses, and students’ open-ended reflections about their experience during the simulation. Implications for the sociology of religion and the broader discipline are discussed.

show abstract

Section: Implications and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating Secularization

May

2014

Teach Sociol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We first investigated various approaches to teaching sociology of religion at other universities, especially ones that involved a field experience (Blanchard 1998;Brock 1998: Hadden 1998McNamara 1994;Ingram 1979;McGuire 1998;Spreitzer and Roberts 1998;Weston 1995). Most of the field experiences described by instructors involved a church or synagogue visit or interviews with religious specialists and participants.…”

Section: The Challengementioning

confidence: 99%

Using Student Ethnography to Teach Sociology of Religion

Hamilton

Gilbert

2005

Teaching Theol & Rel

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Engaging students in a course in the Sociology of Religion can be a challenge, particularly when working with student populations in a homogeneous region of the country who have limited experience with religious diversity. We approached the course from a sociological/anthropological perspective, requiring each student to complete an in-depth participation/observation research experience and write an ethnographic account of a religion or belief system different from his or her own. While other instructors have used a similar pedagogy, using ethnography with our student population was generally successful as a learning and writing tool.

show abstract

Reflexivity, Ethics and the Teaching of the Sociology of Religion

Flanagan

2001

Sociology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This essay reflects on the ethical and reflexive considerations surrounding the use of student fieldwork reports on a course on the sociology of religion. Using reflexivity as a teaching strategy coincides with changes in sociological approaches to religion where experiential and substantive issues are stressed in its study. Reflexive and ethical issues that emerge on courses on sexuality and gender politics are compared to those which seem peculiar to the teaching of religion from a sociological perspective. Study of these fieldwork reports disclosed the way students faced their own ethical worries in a task generated to enhance their own reflexivity but also an understanding of religiosity.

show abstract

Teaching American Denominational Religion: Pedagogy for a Pluralist Age

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Simulating Secularization

Simulating Secularization

Using Student Ethnography to Teach Sociology of Religion

Reflexivity, Ethics and the Teaching of the Sociology of Religion

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About