2014 STUDENT GUIDE - The University of Sydney

1x3000wd research proposal (50%),
1x1000wd oral presentation (10%),
tutorial participation (10%) Campus:
Camperdown/Darlington Delivery Mode:
Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) Day
This unit investigates pressing
contemporary issues in the method
and study of religion. It prepares
students for advanced research,
including honours. Historical analysis
of religion and contentious key
terms are debated, as students
are introduced to field studies
methodology and other complex
research strategies. Theoretical work
is more tightly integrated in this unit
with research practice and the unit
is structured to nurture the student
in an extended research project,
helping them to find a dynamic and
assured academic voice.
RLST3603
Contemporary Australian
Religion
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr
Alex Norman Session: Semester 1 Classes:
1x2-hr seminar/week Prerequisites:
12 senior credit points from Studies
in Religion Prohibitions: RLST2627
Assessment: 1x750wd scoping exercise
(10%), 1x750wd oral presentation (10%),
seminar participation (10%), 1x2000wd
research journal/plan (30%), 1x2500wd
research report (40%) Campus:
Camperdown/Darlington Delivery Mode:
Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) Day
Note: This unit is available as a
designated ‘Advanced’ unit for students
who are already enrolled in the BA
(Advanced) degree program.
Contemporary Australia manifests
low levels of institutional religion,
a multi-cultural and multi-faith
population, and a vocal atheist/
secularist lobby. It is an ideal
laboratory for students to study
twenty-first century trends. Learning
activities include engagement
with religion in the media and law,
investigation of religious sites, the
Constitution, and the Census data
on religion. Issues examined include
atheism and secularity, Aboriginal
religion, spirituality, values, sport and
ANZAC as religious phenomena, and
the significant contribution of religion
to politics, education, and art.
WREL2001
World Religions in
Context
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr
Alex Norman Session: Semester 1 Classes:
1x2-hr lecture/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/
week Prerequisites: 12 junior credit points
from Studies in Religion Prohibitions:
RLST2026 Assessment: 1x1000wd field
report (25%), 1x1000wd methodological
exercise (25%), 1x750wd essay plan
presentation (10%), 1x1750wd essay
(40%) Campus: Camperdown/Darlington
Delivery Mode: Normal (lecture/lab/
tutorial) Day.
Students will investigate typologies
of ‘religion’, distinguishing between
‘world religions’ and other
‘religions’ (particularly indigenous
religions), and recognise that
these classifications resulted from
European colonialism and the
encounter of Christianity with other
religions (in Asia, the Americas, and
Africa). Religions with scriptures,
priesthoods, and institutions
paralleling those of Biblical traditions
were privileged over oral cultures and
indigenous religions. Students study
methods of textual criticism and
historical investigation of the ‘origins’
of religion, from which emerged the
discipline of ‘religious studies’.
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