This course explores major theories and methods in the study of religion, starting with Enlightenment thinkers (Spinoza, Hume), before turning to the rise of social sciences in the study of religion (Durkheim, Weber), and ending with contemporary topics in the study of religion. Topics to be explored include rationality and religion; secularism; the effects of colonialism on the study of religion; gender and sexuality; religion and psychology; the conflict between freedom of religion and the state.
