Understanding Religion in Australian Society (AR9000T)

Content

In this unit, we will examine the relationship between Australian society and religion through socio-cultural studies, religious studies and history. Firstly, a historical and socio-cultural approach will uncover the ways that religion has shaped Australian society. Secondly, we focus on religious phenomena in Australia, including Aboriginal Spirituality; Christianity; Buddhism; Islam; Judaism; Bahá'í; Hinduism; Pentecostalism; and the absence of religious faith (sometimes, but erroneously, called secularism). Students will present on issues that they may encounter in practice, and how these may be negotiated. Finally, we will envision the future of religion in Australian society.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Postgraduate elective in Religious Studies. 24 points in either AH, AP, CH or CT. No prohibited combinations

Pedagogy

Lectures, seminars, tutorials.

Indicative Bibliography

• Bouma, Gary. 2006. Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the Twenty-First Century. Port Melbourne, VIC: Cambridge University Press.
• Daly, Mary. 1985. Beyond God the Father: Towards a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation. London: The Women’s Press.
• Djiniyini, Gondarra. 1988. Father you gave us the Dreaming. Darwin: Uniting Church in Australia.
• Durkheim, Emile. 1976 [1912]. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Translated by J.W * Swain. London: Allen & Unwin.
• Kierkegaard, Søren. 1992 [1846]. Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments. Edited and translated by H.V. Hong and E.H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Nietzsche, Friedrich. 2007 [1887]. On the Genealogy of Morality. Translated by C. Diethe, edited by K. Ansell-Pearson. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Nongbri, Brent. 2013. Before Religion: A History of a Modern Concept. New Haven and New York: Yale University Press.
• Pattel-Gray, Anne (2014). “Spirituality.” In Another World is Possible: Spiritualities and Religions of Global Darker Peoples, 64–74. Edited by D.N. Hopkins and M. Lewis. London and New York: Routledge.
• Saeed, Abdullah. 2003. Islam in Australia. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
• Taylor, Charles. 2007. A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press
• Weber, Max. 2001 [1905]. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and other writings. London: Routledge.
• Zaehner, R.C. 1969. The Bhagavad-Gītā with a commentary based on the original sources. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Assessment