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’ religions 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: Nova Religio: 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 Religion”. 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 Buddhism
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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 Sun Myung Moon: the Origins, Beliefs and Practices of the Unification Church. 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 Religious Studies 22:3/4, 343-380
Clarke, Peter Bernard. ed. 1999. Bibliography of Japanese New Religions with Annotations and an Introduction to Japanese New Religions at Home and Abroad. Plus an Appendix on Aum Shinrikyō. Richmond: Japan Library
Clarke, Peter Bernard. ed. 2000. Japanese New Religions in Global Perspective. Richmond: Curzon Press
Dobbelaere, Karel, 2001. Soka Gakkai: from Lay Movement to Religion. Salt 6 201
- Lake City: Signature Books
2015
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 Spirituality: 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. Caodaism. Vietnamese Traditionalism and Its Leap into Modernity. New York: Nova Science Publishers
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Fisher, Gareth. 2003. Resistance and Salvation in Falun Gong: 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. Belief in Control: Regulation of Religion in China. 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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