Gods and Mortals: On Religion and Democracy

6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1023788BNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester

2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

English

Faculty

Faculty of Languages & Humanities

Department

History, Archaeology, Arts, Philosophy and Ethics

Educational team

Emiliano Acosta (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

13 contact hours Lecture
15 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
81 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

The course aims at providing students with methodological and conceptual tools in order to get a critical insight into current debates about religion, democracy and democratic values in post-secular Western societies. Besides, it encourages students to critically, constructively and originally intervene in social and political life by means of both reformulating existing problems and questions and making visible hitherto ignored tensions and social and political excluding mechanisms.

For this purpose, departing from contemporary political and social debates related to the current crisis of Western democracies such as debates on tolerance, fundamentalism, gender, decolonization, secularization and democracy, the course offers an historical and systematic study of the phenomenon of religion (from ancient polytheism to new forms of atheistic spiritualty) and a diversity of theoretical and methodological approaches (from phenomenology of religion to feminist theology).

Additional info

Learning Outcomes

General Competences

Students can identify and explain similarities and differences between the different philosophical views on the relationship between democracy and religion.
Students are able to reproduce the arguments of the philosophers discussed during the lectures in a clear and terminologically correct way in individual written assignments.
Students can conduct initial research under the supervision of the instructor and present the result orally in a consistent manner.
In their interventions during the tutorials and in the individual written assignments, students show a critical, reasonably idiosyncratic, open and cosmopolitan attitude with an interest in free research.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 60% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 40% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Written exam with a relative weight of 60 which comprises 60% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Presentation with a relative weight of 40 which comprises 40% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Writing examination: writing assignment

Other form of examination: presentation of own research related to one of the topics or authors of the course

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context