This seminar offers an introductory, graduate-level survey of the sociology of religion as a field of study, reviewing literature on important theoretical approaches and key problems and issues in the field. Its purpose is to help orient graduate students to the field, and to help prepare students to take the doctoral exam in culture/religion. Among the core questions in the sociology of religion are the following:

 
1. Subject: What is religion? Why are people religious? How is religion expressed in social terms and forms?

2. Methods: How can religion be studied sociologically? What are the strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches? What are the important issues in measuring religion?

3. Modernity: How does the historical transition from "pre-modern" to modern and postmodern society--with increased rationalization, differentiation, pluralism--affect the strength and character of religion? Is modernity secularizing?

4. Participation: What social factors and processes influence individuals' religious beliefs, commitments, practices, conversions, switching, etc.? 

5. Communities: What social factors and processes affect the strength and character of religious communities, traditions, and subcultures? 

6. Reproduction/Change: What "causal" force does religion exert in maintaining and/or challenging established social practices and institutions?
 
 

The readings for this seminar--listed in detail in the schedule below--will examine a variety of answers in the field to these and other questions. Copies of all required articles and book chapters will be made publicly available (details forthcoming) for photocopying--please treat them gently, for the next user's sake. Recommended books to purchase for the seminar are:
 

Robert Bellah, Habits of the Heart. California.
Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy. Anchor.
Emile Durkheim, Elementary Forms. Free Press or other.
James Hunter, American Evangelicalism. Rutgers.
Christian Smith, American Evangelicalism. Chicago. 
Christian Smith, Disruptive Religion. Routledge.
Christian Smith, Resisting Reagan. Chicago.
Rodney Stark & Roger Finke, Acts of Faith. California. 
Max Weber, Protestant Ethic. Scribner or other.
Max Weber, Economy and Society. California.
Robert Wuthnow, After Heaven. California.
Robert Wuthnow, The Restructuring of American Religion. Princeton. 
 

Requirements 
Students in this course are to complete the following requirements: 

1. Regular class attendance and constructive participation in seminar discussions.

2. Weekly (beginning on Aug 30) 1-2 page (single-spaced) written summaries and evaluations of each week’s readings. These papers must (i) summarize the central assumptions, thesis/es, argument(s), evidence, and conclusion(s) of the readings, as appropriate, and (ii) appreciatively/critically evaluate the readings. The purpose of these short papers is to encourage students to grasp, condense, and appraise each week’s readings, and to provide a written record for themselves of the development of their thinking over the seminar. 

3. One empirical research paper analyzing existing or gathered data on religion or focused on the social influence of religious variables. The idea is to provide the basis for an MA paper and/or publishable article. Papers must use empirical evidence to engage a significant theoretical issue in the sociology of religion; and must include a literature review, methods section, analysis, discussion, and conclusion. Paper research questions, data sources, hypotheses, and preliminary analyses will be due in stages throughout the semester; final papers are due at the end of the semester. Details forthcoming.

OR

3. Three short essays, to be turned in about once a month (one each at the beginning of October, November, and December), approximately 4 pages in length (double-space, 12-point Times font, 1-inch margins, page number at bottom center), proposing an empirical test of some element of the course readings (of the student’s choice, different readings for each essay). (This assignment is similar to that assigned by Dr. Kurzman in Soc 200.) The essay should comprise (i) a short and descriptive title; (ii) an abstract summarizing the entire paper (half-page); (iii) a 1.5-page discussion of the theoretical hypothesis you plan to test, including extensive references to the readings; (iv) a half-page justification of your case selection; (v) a 1.5-page discussion of methodology, concluding with your expected findings; and (vi) a list of references, if any, cited in the paper. The purpose of these proposals is to work on thinking about how theory and empirical research inform each other, and to practice thinking about research design in the sociology of religion.
 

Seminar Schedule:

The following schedule maps out this seminar's readings. Details on weekly readings are subject to modest revisions as the semester proceeds.
 

Aug 23: getting started

Jonathan Smith, "Religion, Religions, Religious." In Mark C. Taylor (ed.), Critical Terms for Religious Studies. University of Chicago Press, 1998 (pp. 269-84).

Rodney Stark & Roger Finke. 2000. Acts of Faith. California. (Introduction, Pp. 1-23).
 

Aug 30: Karl Marx & Beyond:

Karl Marx. (the following readings are found in Robert Tucker (ed.). 1978. The Marx-Engels Reader. Norton.) "Theses on Feuerbach." "Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right: Introduction." "The German Ideology: Part I" (up to A2). 

David Swartz, "Bridging the Study of Culture and Religion" Sociology of Religion. (Spring) 1996. v57. n1. Pp71-86. 

Liston Pope. 1942. Millhands and Preachers. Yale. (Chs. 5, 8-10, 14).

Stanley Slade, "Popular Spirituality as an Oppressive Reality." In Guillermo Cook (ed.). New Face of the Church in Latin America. Maryknoll: Orbis. 1994.
Sept 6: Emile Durkheim & Beyond:

Emile Durkheim, Elementary Forms. New York: Free Press (entire, especially: Intro, Bk. I, Ch. 1; Bk. II, Ch. 7).

Robert Bellah, "Civil Religion in America." Daedalus. 1967. 96 (Winter). Pp. 1-21.

Robert Bellah, "Appendix: the Systematic Study of Religion." In Bellah, Beyond Belief. New York: Harper and Row. Pp. 260-287.

Geertz, Clifford. 1973. "Religion as a Cultural System." in The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books (Ch. 4). 
 

Sept 13: Max Weber:

Max Weber. Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. (entire).

Max Weber. Economy and Society. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1978. (pp. 3-33, 399-602).

Other optional: Max Weber. "The Social Psychology of the World Religions," "The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism," and "Religious Rejections of the World and Their Direction." In Gerth and Mills (eds.). 1946. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 267-359.
 

Sept 20: Alexis de Tocqueville & Beyond:

Alexis de Tocqueville. 1969. Democracy in America. New York: Doubleday.(Pp. 277-301, 441-454).

Bellah, Robert et al. 1985. Habits of the Heart. Berkeley: California (Chs. 1, 2, 9). 

Robert Putnam. 2000. Bowling Alone. New York: Simon and Schuster. (Ch. 4).

Christian Smith. 1994. "The Spirit and Democracy: Protestantism, Base Communities, and Democratization in Latin America." Sociology of Religion. 55(2) (Summer): 119-144.

Christian Smith and David Sikkink. 1999. "Is Private Schooling Privatizing?" First Things. (April): 16-20.
 
 
 

Sept 27: Social Constructionism, Phenomenological Consciousness, & Modernity:

Berger, Peter. 1969. The Sacred Canopy. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor. (entire)

James Hunter. "The New Religions: Demoderization and the Protest Against Modernity." In Bryan Wilson (ed.). The Social Impact of New Religious Movements. New York: Rose of Sharon Press. 1983. Pp. 1-19.

James Hunter. 1983. American Evangelicalism. New Brunswick: Rutgers (pp. 3-19, 49-101).
 

Oct 4: Expansive Interpretations of American Religion:

Robert Wuthnow, The Restructuring of American Religion. Princeton: Princeton. 1988. (pp. 3-214).

Robert Booth Fowler, Unconventional Partners. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. (entire)

James Hunter, Culture Wars. New York: Basic Books. 1991. (pp. 31-51).

Optional: Nathan O. Hatch. 1989. The Democratization of American Christianity. Yale. (Chs. 1, 2, 8).
 

Oct 11: Measurement Issues:

Peter Bensen, et al. 1993. "The Faith Maturity Scale." Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion. Vol. 5. Pp. 1-26.

Smith, Tom W. 1990. "Classifying Protestant Denominations." Review of Religious Research 31: 225-45.

Roof, Wade Clark and Wm. McKinney. 1987. "Appendix." in American Mainline Religion. New Brunswick: Rutgers. (Pp. 253-56).

Brian Steensland, et al. 2000. "The Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art." Social Forces. 79. (September): 291-318.

Smith, Christian. 1998. "Appendix A, Appendix B." in American Evangelicalism. Chicago: Chicago. (Pp. 221-247).

Woodberry, Robert and Christian Smith. 1998. "Fundamentalists, et al." In John Hagan (ed.). Annual Review of Sociology--1998. Vol. 24. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews. pp. 25-56.

Sherkat, Darren. 1999. "Tracking the 'Other': Dynamics and Composition of 'Other' Religions in the General Social Survey, 1973-1996." The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 38:4 (Dec): 551-560.

Chaves, Mark and Mary Ellen Konieczny, Kraig Beyerlein, and Emily Barman. 1999. "The National Congregations Study: Background, Methods, and Selected Findings." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 38:4 (Dec): 458-476.

Hadaway, Kirk, Penny Long Marler, and Mark Chaves. "What the Polls Don't Show: A Closer Look at U.S. Church Attendance." American Sociological Review. 58: 741-52.

Also see: Peter Hill & Ralph Wood (eds.). 1999. Measures of Religiosity. Birmingham: Religious Education Press. 
 

Oct 18: Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Meeting (most of the class will be in Columbus, Ohio for SSSR; see http://las.alfred.edu/~soc/SSSR/index.html; all class participants are encouraged to attend SSSR, and we can discuss observations about the current state of sociology of religion afterward).
 

Oct 25: Secularization: Decline? Privatization? Subjectivization?

Wilson, Bryan. 1979. Contemporary Transformations of Religion. Oxford: Oxford. (Ch 1)

Chaves, Mark. 1994. "Secularization as Declining Religious Authority." Social Forces. March. 72(3): 749-775.

Grace Davies. 1990. "Believing Without Belonging." Social Compass. 37: 456-69.

Robert Wuthnow, After Heaven. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Gorski, Phillip. 2000. "Historicizing the Secularization Debate." American Sociological Review. 65:1 (February): 138-167.

Christian Smith. forthcoming. "The Secular Revolution." forthcoming ms.
 

Nov 1: Religious Persistence:

Andrew Greeley. 1972. Unsecular Man. New York: Dell Publishing. Pp. 17-83.

Bell, Daniel. 1980. "The Return of the Sacred?" The Winding Passage. New York: Basic (Ch. 17).

Christian Smith, "Belief Plausibility in Modern America," American Evangelicalism (Ch. 6).

Rodney Stark & Roger Finke. 2000. Acts of Faith. California. (Ch. 3-4).

Other optional: Peter Berger. 1970. A Rumor of Angels. Anchor.

Nov 8: Rational Choice--a New Paradigm?:

Stephen Warner. 1993. "Work in progress toward a new paradigm for the sociological study of religion in the United States." American Journal of Sociology. 98:5 (March): 1044-93.

Rodney Stark & Roger Finke. 2000. Acts of Faith. California. (Ch. 1-2, 5, 8).

Stark, Rodney and Laurence Iannaccone. 1994. "A supply-side reinterpretation of the 'secularization' of Europe." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 33:3 (Sept): 230-253. 

Roger Finke. 1989a. "How the Upstart Sects Won America: 1776-1850." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 28 (March): 27-44.

Roger Finke and Rodney Stark. 1992. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick: Rutgers. (Ch. 1).

Roger Finke. 1990. "Religious Deregulation: Origins and Consequences." Journal of Church and State. 32 (Summer): 609-626.

Laurence Iannaccone. 1990. "Religious Practice: A Human Capital Approach." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 29 (September): 297-314.
 

Nov 15: Community & Subcultural Strength--Strictness & Identity:

Dean Kelley. 1972. Why Conservative Churches are Growing. New York: Harper & Row.

Laurence Iannaccone. 1994. "Why Strict Churches are Strong." American Journal of Sociology. 99(5): 1180-1211.

Gerald Marwell. 1996. "We Still Don't Know if Strict Churches are Strong, Much Less Why." American Journal of Sociology. 101(4). January: 1097-1104.

Christian Smith. 1998. American Evangelicalism. Chicago. (Chs. 1-5).
 

Nov 29: The African-American Church in America 

C. Eric Lincoln & Lawrence Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience. Durham: Duke University Press. 1990. (Chapters TBA)

Mary Pattillo-McCoy, "Black Church Culture as a Community Strategy of Action," American Sociological Review. 63:6 (December, 1998): 767-784.

Nelson, Timothy. 1996. "Sacrifice of Praise: Emotion and Collective Participation in an African-American Worship Service." Sociology of Religion. 57(4): 379-96.
 

Dec 6: Religion & Social Change:

Christian Smith. 1996. Disruptive Religion. New York: Routledge. (Introduction; other chapters of interest optional). 

Christian Smith. 1996. Resisting Reagan. Chicago. (read pp. xv-86, skim 87-132, read 133-208).

Michael Walzer, The Revolution of the Saints. Cambridge: Harvard. (Pp. 1-65).

Wood, Richard. 1999. "Religious Culture and Political Action." Sociological Theory. 17:3 (November): 307-32.

Epstein, Barbara. 1991. "The Religious Community: Mass Politics and Moral Witness." In Epstein. Political Protest and Cultural Revolution. Berkeley: California. (Ch. 6).
 

Other Important Areas Not Covered: Congregations Studies; New Immigrant Religion; Religious Organizations (e.g., Sacred Companies); New Religious Movements ("Cults"); The Religious Right; Religion and Gender.