REL 210 - Introduction to Religious Studies

3 credit hours - Examination of the most-influential modern theories of religion, including those associated with the rise of the social sciences. Theorists to be examined represent the fields of sociology, anthropology, and psychology, and will include such figures as James Frazer, Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, Mircea Eliade, Clifford Geertz, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Throughout, the focus will be on attempts to explain religion and the question of whether or not explaining religion necessarily explains it away.