SCHOOL OF DIVINITY, HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY

ACADEMIC SESSION 2015-2016

RS3013 Understanding New Religious Movements

15 Credits : 11 weeks

20TPLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY20T:

The full set of school regulations and procedures is contained in the Undergraduate Student Handbook which is available online at your MyAberdeen page. Students are expected to familiarise themselves not only with the contents of this leaflet but also with the contents of the Handbook. Therefore, ignorance of the contents of the Handbook will not excuse the breach of any School regulation or procedure.

You must familiarise yourself with this important information at the earliest opportunity.

COURSE CO-ORDINATOR Dr Lukas Pokorny King’s College, King’s Quadrangle KCF19

[email protected] 29T / 01224 272382 Office hours upon arrangement

6 Discipline Administration: 201 - Mrs Claire Hargaden 2015 50-52 College Bounds Room CB001 01224 272366

DRS Course Guide Course DRS [email protected]

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TIMETABLE Tuesday 4-6pm

Students can view their university timetable at

29TUhttp://www.abdn.ac.uk/infohub/study/timetables-550.phpU29T

COURSE DESCRIPTION The focus of this year’s course will be on the development and the main doctrinal tenets of selected East Asian (i.e. Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese) ‘new’ religious movements. Theoretical approaches of defining ‘new’ will be examined. Major characteristics and similarities in terms of organisation structure and doctrine will be discussed.

INTENDED AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES Students will become familiar with a) the crucial stages in the development and b) the major teachings of significant East Asian new religious movements (NRMs). They will be able to critically assess different theoretical approaches towards new religions. Students will gain sound knowledge regarding the characteristic features of NRMs.

LECTURE/SEMINAR PROGRAMME Essential readings will be available to students online. The general reading provides you with some basic ideas (e.g. for your essays). However, there is a lot more instructive reading out there for you to find.

Introduction (Weeks 7-8)

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201 Barker, Eileen. 2004. Perspective: What are We Studying? A Sociological Case - for Keeping the “Nova”. In: : The Journal of Alternative and 2015

Emergent Religions 8:1, 88-102

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Clarke, Peter B. 2009. NRMs in East Asia. In: Peter B. Clarke and Peter Beyer. ed. The World’s Religions: Continuities and Transformations. London/New York: Routledge, 430-442

Cohn, Norman. 2004 [1957]. The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages, London: Pimlico

Lewis, James R. ed. 2004. The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements. Oxford et al.: Oxford University Press

Melton, J. Gordon. 2007. New New Religions: Revisiting a Concept. In: Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 10:4, 103-112

Melton, J. Gordon. 2004. Perspective: Toward a Definition of “New ”. In: Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 8:1, 73-87

Robbins, Thomas. 2005. Perspective: New Religions and Alternative Religions. In: Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 8:3, 104- 111

Saliba, John. 1995. Perspectives on New Religious Movements. Geoffrey Chapman: London

Talmon, Yonina. 1966. Millenarian Movements. In: Archives Européennes de Sociologie 7, 159-200

6 201 - Wessinger, Catherine ed. 2011. The Oxford Handbook of Millennialism. Oxford

2015 et al.: Oxford University Press

Korean NRMs (Weeks 9-12) Case Studies: Unification Movement, Wŏn

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Baker, Donald. 2009. Tradition Modernized: Globalization and Korea’s New Religions. In: Yunshik Chang. ed. Korea Confronts Globalization. London/New York: Routledge, 206-224

Chryssides, George D. 1991. The Advent of : the Origins, Beliefs and Practices of the . Basingstoke/London: Macmillan

Chung, Bongkil. 2003. The Scriptures of Won Buddhism: a Translation of the Wŏnbulgyo kyojŏn with Introduction. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press

Japanese NRMs (Weeks 12-15) Case Studies: Sōka Gakkai and other Lōtus Sutra based NRMs; Sekai Kyūseikyō; Kōfuku no Kagaku

Astley, Trevor. 1995. The Transformation of a Recent Japanese New Religion: Ōkawa Ryūhō and Kōfuku no Kagaku. In: Japanese Journal of 22:3/4, 343-380

Clarke, Peter Bernard. ed. 1999. Bibliography of with Annotations and an Introduction to Japanese New Religions at Home and Abroad. Plus an Appendix on Aum Shinrikyō. Richmond: Library

Clarke, Peter Bernard. ed. 2000. Japanese New Religions in Global Perspective. Richmond: Curzon Press

Dobbelaere, Karel, 2001. : from Lay Movement to Religion. Salt 6 201

- Lake City: Signature Books

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Hardacre, Helen. 1984. Lay Buddhism in Contemporary Japan: Reiyūkai Kyōdan. Princeton: Princeton University Press

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Machacek, David and Bryan Wilson. 2000. Global Citizens: The Soka Gakkai Buddhist Movement in the World. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press

Métraux, Daniel Alfred. 1994. The Soka Gakkai Revolution. Lanham et al.: University Press of America

Reader, Ian. 2001. Consensus Shattered: Japanese Paradigm Shift and Moral Panic in the Post-Aum Era. In: Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 4:2, 225-234

Reader, Ian. 2006. Japanese New Religious Movements. In: Juergensmeyer, Mark. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions. Oxford et al.: Oxford University Press, 141-154

Reader, Ian. 2005. Perspective: Chronologies, Commonalities and Alternative Status in Japanese New Religious Movements: Defining NRMs outside the Western Cul-de-sac. In: Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 9:2, 84-96

Shimazono, Susumu. 2004. From Salvation to : Popular Religious Movements in Modern Japan. Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press

Staemmler, Birgit. 2011. Sekai Kyūseikyō. In: Birgit Staemmler and Ulrich Dehn. eds. Establishing the Revolutionary: An Introduction to New Religions in Japan. Berlin: LIT, 161-179

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- Vietnamese and Chinese NRMs (Weeks 16-17) 2015 Case Studies: Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ; Fǎlún Gōng

Blagov, Sergei. 2001. . Vietnamese Traditionalism and Its Leap into Modernity. New York: Nova Science Publishers

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Fisher, Gareth. 2003. Resistance and Salvation in : the Promise and Peril of Forbearance. In: Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 6:2, 294-311

Lowe, Scott. 2001. China and New Religious Movements. In: Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 4:2, 213-224

Ownby, David. 2008. Falun Gong and the Future of China. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press

Penny, Benjamin. 2012. The Religion of Falun Gong. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press

Potter, Pitman B. 2003. in Control: Regulation of . In: The China Quarterly 174, 317-337

Tai, Hue-Tam Ho. 1983. Millenarianism and Peasant Politics in Vietnam. Cambridge/London: Harvard University Press

Revision Week (Week 18)

ASSESSMENT

PLEASE NOTE: In order to pass a course on the first attempt, a student must attain a Common Grading Scale (CGS) mark of at least E3 on each element of course assessment. Failure to do so will result in a grade of no greater than CGS E1 for the course as a whole.

(one two-hour written examination (50%) / one 2500 word essay (30%) / one

6 class presentation (using PowerPoint) (10%) / one handout (10%) 201 - 2015

29TUClick to view the University Level Descriptors (ANNEX A).U29T

29TUClick to view the University Assessment Scale Band Descriptors (ANNEX B).U29T DRS Course Guide Course DRS

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ESSAYS Essays should be around 2500 words long, including quotations and footnotes; students should note that they will be penalised for work which is either too long or too short. Please be careful when using internet sources and remember that, for instance, Wikipedia is not acceptable as a primary source.

20TLIST OF ESSAY TOPICS Essay topics will be discussed with the course co-ordinator in class.

ASSESSMENT DEADLINES The essay should be submitted by Friday, 20 November 2015, 3.00pm.

SUBMISSION ARRANGEMENTS Submit one paper copy to the drop boxes in CB008 in 50-52 College Bounds and one electronic copy to Turnitin via MyAberdeen. Both copies to be submitted by 3.00pm on the due date.

UPlease note: Failure to submit both to Turnitin, and also one identical hard copy with the Turnitin receipt attached will result in a deduction of marks.

UFailure to submit to Turnitin will result in a zero mark.

EXAMINATION The two-hour written examination will comprise three sections. Students will choose to answer one question in each section.

RESIT INFORMATION Resit: one two-hour written examination (100%)

Access to the resit which is provisional on:

6 • All submitted coursework having been submitted and graded at CAS 6 201 - or higher. 2015

• Student having a valid Class Certificate. Students with C7’s are not eligible for resits. DRS Course Guide Course DRS

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Past exam papers can be viewed at 29TUhttp://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/learning-

and-teaching/for-students/exam-papers/U29T.

6 201 - 2015

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