BA-Seminar (UE-L37.01155) Folk Religion and Contemporary Spirituality addresses the vernacular religious forms outside of the formal and 'official' religious institutions. The seminar introduces examples of both folk religion and contemporary spirituality, and discusses the main differences between institutional and vernacular forms of religion, especially as regards their academic study.
The seminar will take up questions such as: What are the differences between officially recognized religious traditions and the popular forms of religion? What kind of relationships exist between mainstream religious institutions and vernacular religion? What kind of vernacular-religious traditions have been influential in Switzerland? How should we understand concepts such as ‘superstition’, ‘magic’, ‘folk custom’, and ‘heresy’ and what is their relation to religion and religious studies? How does the study of vernacular-religious forms differ from the study of institutional religion?
The seminar is held in English, but intermediary language skills will be sufficient for participation. The seminar involves classwork and discussions, reading assignments, a written examination, and the possibility to write a separate Seminar paper (UE-L37.01156 / 6 ECTS).
- Enseignant·e: Katri Marika Ratia