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BTI Consortium | Last Updated November 14 - 9:00AM
SOCIOLOGY
School
Hartford International
IP-614-2
Nonviolence in Faith-based Social Movements
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
Social movements are important arenas for social change. Religion, faith and tactics of non-violence have played a significant role in many social movements. By joining together, individuals and groups have worked to transform social values or norms, establish collective identities, change laws, and chart new ways of living, learning, and being. This class will aim to further our understanding of social movements and how faith helped shape the trajectories of the movements. We will focus on how that’s happened in the Americas while referring to similar movements from around the world. Topics include racial identity, nationalism, Christianity, Islam, the civil rights movement, feminist approaches, and contemporary interfaith dialogue. Course material includes primary sources and analytical perspectives. We will examine how they develop, are sustained, have changed/evolved, and (sometimes) decline. We will begin by examining theories of social movements and look at the ways in which our understanding of social movements has changed over time. We will also examine mobilization to social movements and ask why some people come to participate while others do not, as well as the tactics, goals, and successes of various social movements.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Robertson, Cleotha
W
5:00pm-6:50pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Hartford International
RS-658-2
The Future of Religion
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
Undeniable changes are taking place in the religious landscape of the United States as well as globally. Yet the human desire for religious and spiritual grounding continues, but what forms and practices will address this need into the future? This course explores recent past trends and the present dynamics that are reshaping religion in America, including individuals, organizations, and the religious enterprise itself. Using this research-informed perspective, we will speculate on what the near and distant future(s) could look like. This course, however, will not just be an academic thought experiment, but rather asks students to re-envision ministry and craft possible alternative religious communities of practice that might address these possible future realities with spiritual integrity.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Thumma, Scott
M
5:00pm-6:50pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College Department of Theology
THEO9670-01
Methods in Theology
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
In the late 1960s, Karl Rahner asserted that theology's new partners in dialogue were the human and social sciences. Increasingly in answering new and perennial questions, contemporary theology has partnered with archaeology, sociology, cultural studies, psychology, world religions, and forms of critical theory. This course considers various methods in doing theology as well as some of theology's significant dialogue partners.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Wilkins, Jeremy��
W
2:00 PM - 4:25 PM
Grading Option
Letter/PF/Aud
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
DOCTORAL
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTY 811
Object Relations and the Study of Religion
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
Achieving familiarity with and fluency in a series of psychoanalytic theories of personality/character, development, relationships, motivation, health, and pathology, as a context in which to practice psychoanalytic interpretations of religious matters.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Schlauch, Chris
W
2:30PM-5:15PM
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3095
Religion, Materiality, and the Senses: A Course in Sensory Ethnography
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
What is the role of the senses in academic research on religion? What and how can we know by engaging with bodies and materiality? How can acknowledging emotions and affects be useful in the study of spirituality? In this course, students will explore some spiritual and religious experiences in dialogue with recent studies in sensory anthropology, the anthropology of consciousness, affect theory, and material studies. Through multi- media ethnographic works, class discussions, creative works, and independent readings, students will be able to reflect on the theory and practice of body-centered engagements with the study of religion.
This course has two dimensions: one theoretical and one practical. In this course we will:� Read about research on sensory ethnography and sensory anthropology;
� Read about how multi-sensory ethnography can be and is used in the study of religion;
� Read about the role of materiality and the senses in religion and in the study of religion;
� Learn how to apply some sensory ethnographic methods through (almost) weekly practical exercises;
� Reflect and discuss together on some of the practical, theoretical, and ethical implications of ethnographic fieldwork.
� Experiment with participant observation and other qualitative methods
� Create and perform a non-denominational ritualEnrollment petitions will be reviewed as soon as they will be received. A wait list will be created, if necessary.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Giovanna Parmigiani
R
12:00pm - 1:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3117
Animals and the Unseen
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
This course considers how we can write histories of religious animals and the Unseen. Students will be introduced to academic literature that has criticized scholarly and popular conceptions of humans having a special status, and assumptions that the religious sentience of non-human animals and the materiality of spirits cannot be studied academically. Students will then be introduced to a variety of sources containing rich information on religious animals and the supernatural from Islamic societies of the globe. In doing so, the course pays particular attention to how human and non-human animals were understood to be religious beings whose bodies and activities were always tethered to the Unseen. Students will be encouraged to explore how the divide between human and non-human animals might not have been evident in societies of the past and the present. Students will moreover be encouraged to engage how these sources may prompt us to remember, or rather realize, that all aspects of material life, including animals' bodies, physical resources and technologies, were inextricably linked to the imagined non-material realms of the Unseen. On the whole, this seminar class takes steps towards recounting histories of religious animals and the Unseen. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1014TS.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Teren Sevea
T
12:30pm - 2:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3202
The Religious and Ecological Dimensions of Octavia Butler's Life and Literature
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
Amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and the rapid progression of climate change, there has been a renewed interest in the works of science fiction writer Octavia Butler. Known for her keen insights into ecological degradation, ecofascism, authoritarianism, and urban survival in her 1990s Parable series, Butler has been hailed by scholars and activists as a prophetic voice for our times. Social media platforms have been flooded with hashtags like #OctaviaTriedToTellUs and #OctaviaKnew as people seek to make sense of our global environmental and health crises.If Butler's visionary perspective on today's political and ecological crises is to be fully appreciated, it must be understood through the lens of her identity as a Black woman coming of age during the Black Power and Civil Rights Movements, and her engagement with Black religious expressions�particularly African traditional religions, Black Christian traditions, and Black new religious movements�all of which profoundly influenced either Butler�s personal life or her characters.The course will primarily focus on Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, various essays and interviews, as well secondary articles.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Nikki Hoskins
R
3:00pm - 4:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Students interested in the course should contact the instructor via email.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3716
The Animal Imaginary
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
This conference course considers the history and meaning of fantastic beasts, holy animals, and magical creatures in religion, folklore, and mythology. In light of the past global abundance of animal species, and now in the face of their rapid, large-scale extinction, why have existing animals not been �enough� for the human imagination?
Professor
Class Day & Time
Kimberley Patton
R
3:00pm - 4:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Enrollment limited; please e-mail instructor to request application: kpatton@hds.harvard.edu.
School
Hartford International
RS-658-1
The Future of Religion
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
Undeniable changes are taking place in the religious landscape of the United States as well as globally. Yet the human desire for religious and spiritual grounding continues, but what forms and practices will address this need into the future? This course explores recent past trends and the present dynamics that are reshaping religion in America, including individuals, organizations, and the religious enterprise itself. Using this research-informed perspective, we will speculate on what the near and distant future(s) could look like. This course, however, will not just be an academic thought experiment, but rather asks students to re-envision ministry and craft possible alternative religious communities of practice that might address these possible future realities with spiritual integrity.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Thumma, Scott
M
5:00pm-6:50pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Hartford International
IP-614-1
Nonviolence in Faith-based Social Movements
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
Social movements are important arenas for social change. Religion, faith and tactics of non-violence have played a significant role in many social movements. By joining together, individuals and groups have worked to transform social values or norms, establish collective identities, change laws, and chart new ways of living, learning, and being. This class will aim to further our understanding of social movements and how faith helped shape the trajectories of the movements. We will focus on how that’s happened in the Americas while referring to similar movements from around the world. Topics include racial identity, nationalism, Christianity, Islam, the civil rights movement, feminist approaches, and contemporary interfaith dialogue. Course material includes primary sources and analytical perspectives. We will examine how they develop, are sustained, have changed/evolved, and (sometimes) decline. We will begin by examining theories of social movements and look at the ways in which our understanding of social movements has changed over time. We will also examine mobilization to social movements and ask why some people come to participate while others do not, as well as the tactics, goals, and successes of various social movements.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Robertson, Cleotha
W
5:00pm-6:50pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTR 814
Advanced Qualitative Research
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
This course is for students involved or interested in independent qualitative research, including interviews, ethnographic projects, and/or content analysis. It will function much like a workshop, providing extensive guided practice with project conceptualization and design, finding funding, meeting university ethics requirements, gaining access to communities, recruiting participants, managing and storing data, creating coding schemes and using software, integrating mixed types of data to support an argument, balancing "home" and "field," being reflexive, and exercising respect and care for both oneself and one's interlocutors. Relative attention to these issues will depend on the needs and interests of the students. It can fruitfully be taken either separately or in addition to TR 800, Ethnographic Research.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Young, Luther
T
3:30PM-6:15PM
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2082
Spiritual Paths to Abstract Art
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
Approaching 20th-century abstract art through the lens of religious studies, this course explores alternatives to twentieth-century narratives of modern art centered on the existential crisis of a heroic-- usually male, Caucasian and secular�individual. In contrast, we will center paths to abstraction in which a departure from or repurposing of the figure emanates from spiritual sources not usually associated with modernity. Locating the artists� work within their biographies and their communities, the course focuses on abstraction as a vehicle for delving intersections of spirituality with history, race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexuality. Religious movements and experiences that led to abstraction, rather than the artistic styles that resulted, serve as the organizing principle for the syllabus. We will attend to the outsize interest of abstract artists in Theosophy, as well as to paths to abstraction originating outside of Europe, and/or grounded in Indigeneity, Judaism, Christian Science, and the Occult. Artists treated include Hilma af Klint, Wassily Kandinsky, Mary Sully, Hyman Bloom and Betye Saar, among others. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1571.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Ann Braude
R
12:00pm - 1:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3113
Magic Today: An Anthropological Perspective
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
What is magic? Is it different from religion? Is magic a way of knowing? In this course, we look at magic from an anthropological perspective. We focus, in particular, on contemporary magic in Europe and North America, addressing for example contemporary paganisms, Wicca, chaos magic, new age spirituality, and contemporary esotericism. By engaging with ethnographic works, students become acquainted with or deepen their knowledge of the main issues, traditions, debates, and research in the field of the anthropology of religion and of magic. Students analyze contemporary magic vis-�-vis popular culture, feminism, globalization, medicine, social media, history, and well-being. They do so through ethnographic readings, films, music, arts, discussions, and independent research
Professor
Class Day & Time
Giovanna Parmigiani
M
3:00pm - 4:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3120
Secularization: History, Religion, and Ideology
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
What is the meaning of secularization? Do greater modernization, education, and existential security lead to the decline of religious belief? Or is such a conclusion an ideological construct? In this class, we will address these and many related questions taking an interdisciplinary and global approach. Our goal is to gain conceptual clarity regarding the meaning of secularization, distinguishing between the social process of institutional differentiation (church/state, faith/science, etc.) and the decline/privatization of religious belief. To do so, we will study key historical developments from the Reformation era to our time, in the context of Western Christianity; while paying attention to parallel developments in areas where Christianity was/is not dominant. We will examine how those key developments shaped multiple patterns of secularization in the globe and will try to ascertain their significance for religious faith and practice in our time. Readings include the work of social theorists and anthropologists such as Charles Taylor, Jos� Casanova, Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Hans Joas, Talal Asad, Saba Mahmood, Marilyn Ivy, among others.This seminar offers students an opportunity to write a research paper. No prerequisites.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Ra�l Zegarra
T
3:00pm - 5:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3694
Religion, Culture, and Society in Africa
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP25
Exploring the meaning of religion and its impact of on African culture and society broadly, this course will highlight both religious traditions and innovations. Instead of treating each of the religions of Africa, the triple heritage in the words of Ali Mazrui of indigenous African religions, Islam, and Christianity, as distinct and bounded entities, we will explore the hybridity, interaction, and integration between categories throughout Africa. Using case studies, a unique perspective on religious diversity on the African continent and diaspora will emerge. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as AFRAMER 186.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Jacob Olupona
R
3:00pm - 5:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
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