Have science and technology replaced religion in modern life? Is the conflict between religious cosmologies and scientific paradigms a real or manufactured issue? What role does news media, past and present, play in perpetuating the conflict thesis?

In SCAR 2RN3 Frenemies: Science and Religion in the News, we begin by tracing the historical context of the cultures of science and religion. This includes arguments for keeping religion and science apart; relationships between science, the media, and the paranormal; and the evolution/creationism controversy. We then explore the interaction of science and religion in the news media by focusing on colonial imaginaries, religion and politics, fake news, human clones, our speculative technological futures, and news presentations of specific religious traditions.

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Is there a difference between a cult and a religion? Are those who join cults brainwashed? How do conspiracy theories and alien encounters relate to each other? How can we make sense of the violence associated with cults and conspiracy theories?

In SCAR 2QQ3 Cults, Conspiracies, and Close Encounters, we will explore the evolution and social impact of so-called cults, conspiracies and close encounters, and examine the historical, cultural, political and religious dynamics that inform all three using a variety of critical methods.

We’ll examine models of conversion, belief maintenance, cognitive biases, charisma, and secularization theories by examining several groups and communities. These include, but are not limited to, Scientology, the Branch Davidians, the Raëliens, Q-Anon, health and wellness culture, and others.

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Why do we die? What happens after death? These questions are fundamental to the human experience, but the answers are always contingent on our cultural, political, and religious milieu. Each week we’ll explore a broad range of topics within the field of death and dying from a social scientific perspective using an interdisciplinary and comparative approach.

In SCAR 2M03 Death and Dying: Comparative Views, you’ll be introduced to a wide range of religious and cultural responses to death, dying, and bereavement from around the world through various practices, funerary rituals, conceptions of the afterlife and the ‘soul’, ancestor veneration, social justice, ecological grief, and globalization.

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This course introduces key theorists and theories, classic and current topics, and issues of methodology and writing in the study of religion and culture.

We will explore topics ranging from the trouble with defining religion, the social sciences and colonialism, the globalization of religion, ritual and bodies, gender, ritual creativity, the future of religion, and religious pluralism.

We will examine methodological, theoretical, cultural, and social dynamics and issues through a number of case studies, including Judaism in Ghana, Islamic punks, conspiracy theories, science fiction, religion in space, and other examples of diverse religious expressions in our modern world.

By the end of the semester, you will recognize the interconnectedness of religion and culture.

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We must all face the loss of the loved ones in our lives. How death occurs, and responses to that loss, are always contingent on social, cultural and religious dynamics.

Throughout the semester, we will explore a broad range of topics within the field of death and dying using an interdisciplinary approach. We will explore the historical formations of cemeteries, the rise of the funeral profession, and cross-cultural responses to death within North America.

We will also reflect on Indigenous, Black North American, and migrant experiences, and consider how systematic inequalities affect our rich mosaic of death, dying and bereavement. We will consider important ethical questions such as the right to die, brain death, and the ethics of displaying the dead in museum collections.

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This course offers an introductory examination of spirits, ghosts, and demons. Some questions we explore together include: What explains the widespread belief in the paranormal? How can we make sense of claims of paranormal experiences (hauntings, possessions, psychics)? How does gender, sexuality, race, and religion relate to the paranormal?

Some topics we cover include: hauntings, spirit and demon possession, witch trials, the Satanic Panic phenomenon, Jewish and Muslim folklore, Queer ghost hunters, spirit channeling, and android (robot) ghosts. You will learn to evaluate the paranormal, including attempts to explain paranormal phenomena, from a critical, social-scientific perspective.

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We will explore and reflect upon the depths and complexities of health, healing, and religion. What is the difference between illness and disease? What do ritual and medicine have in common? What can Jewish and Islamic yoga tell us about modern spirituality? Does faith healing belong in hospitals? We will contextualize health and healing in North America by examining key historical movements and contemporary debates.

During the course, we will examine tensions between spiritual practices and secular institutions; the history of alternative medical practices; the prevalence of medical conspiracy theories; the varieties of religious healing in North America; and the effects of colonialism, racism and the lack of spiritual care experienced by Indigenous Canadians.

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