This course studies the contribution of premonotheistic religions to spirituality in the Mediterranean, specifically in the Iberian Peninsula. It reviews convergences and divergences of Christianity, Islamism and Judaism as well as their role in Spain. It also covers the importance of religious books, ethics, traditional customs and rituals, the impact of religion on society, religious organizations, the pilgrimage (Camino de Santiago) minorities and the heterodoxy (sects). We will analyze the idea of worshiping death in Spain (this includes a guided visit to a cemetery in Salamanca) as well as religious feelings in Spain through field study.
Learning outcomes:
The objective of the course is for the students to achieve a deep understanding of the following:
-history of religion from Spain’s perspective, allowing the student to develop a perception of the religious foundations that support Catholicism in Spain.
-the peculiarities of contemporary Spain regarding religion, facilitating connections between the students and Spaniards to be able to analyze the current situation.
Method of presentation:
Lectures, field study activities, readings and text discussions (newspaper articles), student presentations, Powerpoint presentations, videos of documentaries.
Students will be able to access mandatory readings and the complete syllabus in Moodle, which will serve as a complementary tool for the course.
Field study:
“Religion in Contemporary Spain”: students must interview (at least) 8 Spaniards with the goal of discovering their perception of religion in the different spheres of life: personal, familiar and social.
“Perception of death through cemeteries”: lecture, group visit to the cemetery (guided by the instructor), individual visit to the cemetery.
Required work and form of assessment:
Mid-term exam: 20%.
Final exam: 30%.
Written work:
1) Research paper (7/8 pages): 25%. Students are to analyze the topic “Religion in Contemporary Spain”, using their field study results as the main source. Students will survey Spaniards for this. Additional information on the topic should be obtained by reading newspaper articles as well as by analyzing the role of religion in the media and in Spanish everyday life. This paper also requires a brief presentation in class.
2) Written paper (2/3 pages): 10%. “Worshiping Death and Spanish Cemeteries” (based on class visit to cemetery).
Class participation: 15%.
content:
Week 1. The origin of spirituality in the Mediterranean. Magic and animism. Premonotheistic religions: Tartessos and Turdetania.
Week 2. Premonotheistic religions: Celtic and Iberian peoples. Existence of old religions today: the Day of the Dead.
Field Study: guided visit to a cemetery in Salamanca.
Week 3. Premonotheistic religions: Villages in the north and matriarchism. Gender heterodox spirituality. Witchcraft: origin, development and continuity.
Week 4. Classic religions: Greece and Rome, examples of polytheism. Religion and its instruments for socialization: worship, celebrations of the classic world and implications for Catholicism. Classic religions in the present.
Week 5. The origin of monotheism. Judaism: an ethnic religion. Creed, sacred texts and historical development. Rituals in Judaism.
Week 6. Judaism in Spain: anti-Semitic stereotypes. Christianity: origin and development in the first centuries. Differences between Christianity and Judaism.
Mid-term exam.
Week 7. Religious organizations. The Catholic Church. Christianity and power. Monotheistic religions in the Mediterranean. The pilgrimage in monotheism: Camino de Santiago. Crusades. The last crusade of the 20th century.
Field study: guided tour of the New Cathedral.
Week 8. Sects and heretics. The Inquisition. Toledo: an example of medieval coexistence of the three monotheistic religions of the Mediterranean.
Week 9. Spirituality and popular religión in Catholicism. Keys to comprehend an eclectic religiousness. Popular devotion in Spanish daily life, holidays and religious events.
Field study: guided tour at the Museo de Semana Santa in Zamora.
Week 10. Islamism. Stereotypes, dogmas, liturgy and sacred texts. Minorities and sects.
Week 11. Islam in Spain. Convergent and divergent aspects in Judaism, Christianity and Islamism.
Week 12. Present situation of the monotheistic religions in Spain.
Required readings:
André Leroi-Gourhan, Las religiones de la prehistoria, Barcelona 1994.
Carlos García Gual, Introducción a la mitología griega, Madrid 2001.
Charles S. Prebish - Martin Baumann (eds.), Westward Dharma The Blossoming of Buddhisma outside Asia, California 2001.
Christopher Partridge, New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities, Oxford 2004.
Francisco Díez de Velasco, Introducción a la historia de las religiones, Madrid 2002.
Id. La historia de las religiones: métodos y perspectivas, Madrid 2005.
Francisco Díez de Velasco – Francisco García Bazán (ed.), El estudio de la religión, Madrid 2002.
Hans Küng, El judaísmo. Pasado, presente, futuro, Madrid 2006.
Id. El islam. Historia, presente, futuro, Madrid 2007.
Jacques Waardenburg, Significados religiosos. Introducción sistemática a la ciencia de las religiones, Bilbao 2001.
José María Blázquez, Tartessos y los orígenes de la colonización fenicia en Occidente, Salamanca 1975.
José María Mardones, Las nuevas formas de la religión, Estella (Navarra) 2011.
Juan Bosch, Las sectas, Estella (Navarra) 2001.
Julien Ries (ed.) Antropología de lo sagrado, vols. 1-5, Madrid 1995-2005:
Vol. 1: «Los orígenes del homo religiosus»
Vol. 2: «El hombre indoeuropeo y lo sagrado»
Vol. 3: «Las civilizaciones del Mediterráneo y lo sagrado»
Vol. 4: «Crisis, rupturas y cambios»
Vol. 5: «El creyente en las religiones judía, musulmana y cristiana»
L. Suárez Fernández, Los creadores de Europa, Navarra 2005.
T. E. Burman, Religious Polemic and the Intellectual History of the Mozarabs, London 1994.
W. Harman, «Speaking about hinduism and speaking against it», en Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 68 (4): p. 726-741, 2000.
Recommended readings:
Antonio Ávila, La psicología de la religión, Estella (Navarra) 2003.
Julian García Hernando (dir.), Pluralismo religioso. Vol. II: Sectas y nuevos movimientos religiosos, Madrid 1993.
Karen Armstrong, Una historia de Dios. 4000 años de búsqueda en el judaísmo, el cristianismo y el islam, Barcelona 2006.
Karl J. Becker – Ilaria Morali, Catholic engagement with world religions. A comprehensive study, New York 2010.
Manuel Guerra Gómez, Historia de las religiones, Madrid 1999.
Mircea Eliade, Tratado de historia de las religiones, Madrid 2000.
Id. Historia de las creencias y las ideas religiosas, 3 vols., Barcelona 1999.
Mircea Eliade – Ian P. Couliano, Diccionario de las religiones, Barcelona 2007.
Robert Graves, Los mitos griegos, 2 vols., Madrid 2002.
Xabier Pikaza, Las grandes religiones. Historia y actualidad, Madrid 2002.
Comparative Religion
This course studies the contribution of premonotheistic religions to spirituality in the Mediterranean, specifically in the Iberian Peninsula. It reviews convergences and divergences of Christianity, Islamism and Judaism as well as their role in Spain. It also covers the importance of religious books, ethics, traditional customs and rituals, the impact of religion on society, religious organizations, the pilgrimage (Camino de Santiago) minorities and the heterodoxy (sects). We will analyze the idea of worshiping death in Spain (this includes a guided visit to a cemetery in Salamanca) as well as religious feelings in Spain through field study.
The objective of the course is for the students to achieve a deep understanding of the following:
-history of religion from Spain’s perspective, allowing the student to develop a perception of the religious foundations that support Catholicism in Spain.
-the peculiarities of contemporary Spain regarding religion, facilitating connections between the students and Spaniards to be able to analyze the current situation.
Lectures, field study activities, readings and text discussions (newspaper articles), student presentations, Powerpoint presentations, videos of documentaries.
Students will be able to access mandatory readings and the complete syllabus in Moodle, which will serve as a complementary tool for the course.
1) Research paper (7/8 pages): 25%. Students are to analyze the topic “Religion in Contemporary Spain”, using their field study results as the main source. Students will survey Spaniards for this. Additional information on the topic should be obtained by reading newspaper articles as well as by analyzing the role of religion in the media and in Spanish everyday life. This paper also requires a brief presentation in class.
2) Written paper (2/3 pages): 10%. “Worshiping Death and Spanish Cemeteries” (based on class visit to cemetery).
Week 1. The origin of spirituality in the Mediterranean. Magic and animism. Premonotheistic religions: Tartessos and Turdetania.
Week 2. Premonotheistic religions: Celtic and Iberian peoples. Existence of old religions today: the Day of the Dead.
Field Study: guided visit to a cemetery in Salamanca.
Week 3. Premonotheistic religions: Villages in the north and matriarchism. Gender heterodox spirituality. Witchcraft: origin, development and continuity.
Week 4. Classic religions: Greece and Rome, examples of polytheism. Religion and its instruments for socialization: worship, celebrations of the classic world and implications for Catholicism. Classic religions in the present.
Week 5. The origin of monotheism. Judaism: an ethnic religion. Creed, sacred texts and historical development. Rituals in Judaism.
Week 6. Judaism in Spain: anti-Semitic stereotypes. Christianity: origin and development in the first centuries. Differences between Christianity and Judaism.
Mid-term exam.
Week 7. Religious organizations. The Catholic Church. Christianity and power. Monotheistic religions in the Mediterranean. The pilgrimage in monotheism: Camino de Santiago. Crusades. The last crusade of the 20th century.
Field study: guided tour of the New Cathedral.
Week 8. Sects and heretics. The Inquisition. Toledo: an example of medieval coexistence of the three monotheistic religions of the Mediterranean.
Week 9. Spirituality and popular religión in Catholicism. Keys to comprehend an eclectic religiousness. Popular devotion in Spanish daily life, holidays and religious events.
Field study: guided tour at the Museo de Semana Santa in Zamora.
Week 10. Islamism. Stereotypes, dogmas, liturgy and sacred texts. Minorities and sects.
Week 11. Islam in Spain. Convergent and divergent aspects in Judaism, Christianity and Islamism.
Week 12. Present situation of the monotheistic religions in Spain.
André Leroi-Gourhan, Las religiones de la prehistoria, Barcelona 1994.
Carlos García Gual, Introducción a la mitología griega, Madrid 2001.
Charles S. Prebish - Martin Baumann (eds.), Westward Dharma The Blossoming of Buddhisma outside Asia, California 2001.
Christopher Partridge, New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities, Oxford 2004.
Francisco Díez de Velasco, Introducción a la historia de las religiones, Madrid 2002.
Id. La historia de las religiones: métodos y perspectivas, Madrid 2005.
Francisco Díez de Velasco – Francisco García Bazán (ed.), El estudio de la religión, Madrid 2002.
Hans Küng, El judaísmo. Pasado, presente, futuro, Madrid 2006.
Id. El islam. Historia, presente, futuro, Madrid 2007.
Jacques Waardenburg, Significados religiosos. Introducción sistemática a la ciencia de las religiones, Bilbao 2001.
José María Blázquez, Tartessos y los orígenes de la colonización fenicia en Occidente, Salamanca 1975.
José María Mardones, Las nuevas formas de la religión, Estella (Navarra) 2011.
Juan Bosch, Las sectas, Estella (Navarra) 2001.
Julien Ries (ed.) Antropología de lo sagrado, vols. 1-5, Madrid 1995-2005:
Vol. 1: «Los orígenes del homo religiosus»
Vol. 2: «El hombre indoeuropeo y lo sagrado»
Vol. 3: «Las civilizaciones del Mediterráneo y lo sagrado»
Vol. 4: «Crisis, rupturas y cambios»
Vol. 5: «El creyente en las religiones judía, musulmana y cristiana»
L. Suárez Fernández, Los creadores de Europa, Navarra 2005.
T. E. Burman, Religious Polemic and the Intellectual History of the Mozarabs, London 1994.
W. Harman, «Speaking about hinduism and speaking against it», en Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 68 (4): p. 726-741, 2000.
Antonio Ávila, La psicología de la religión, Estella (Navarra) 2003.
Julian García Hernando (dir.), Pluralismo religioso. Vol. II: Sectas y nuevos movimientos religiosos, Madrid 1993.
Karen Armstrong, Una historia de Dios. 4000 años de búsqueda en el judaísmo, el cristianismo y el islam, Barcelona 2006.
Karl J. Becker – Ilaria Morali, Catholic engagement with world religions. A comprehensive study, New York 2010.
Manuel Guerra Gómez, Historia de las religiones, Madrid 1999.
Mircea Eliade, Tratado de historia de las religiones, Madrid 2000.
Id. Historia de las creencias y las ideas religiosas, 3 vols., Barcelona 1999.
Mircea Eliade – Ian P. Couliano, Diccionario de las religiones, Barcelona 2007.
Robert Graves, Los mitos griegos, 2 vols., Madrid 2002.
Xabier Pikaza, Las grandes religiones. Historia y actualidad, Madrid 2002.