Atheists, Secularists & Nones

IST 3102 (Online)--Summer 2020

Instructor: Antony Alumkal

Email: aalumkal@iliff.edu

Click the link below for the Word file of the syllabus:

IST3102AtheistsSecularists&NonesSum20.doc

Course Description:

An examination of non-religious and/or non-affiliated populations, with a primary focus on the United States. We will explore: 1) the variety of beliefs among those not affiliated with religious institutions; 2) different social expressions of atheism; 3) the implications of recent religious trends for debates about secularization in the modern West.

This course aims to help students to:

1. Understand the root causes of the current decline in religious affiliation.
2. Separate myth from reality concerning the “spiritual but not religious” population.
3. Understand the wide variety of beliefs and practices among non-religious and/or non-affiliated Americans.
4. Become a critical consumer of social science research.

1. The following books are required texts for the course.

Baggett, Jerome. 2019. The Varieties of Nonreligious Experience: Atheism in American Culture. New York: New York University Press.

Baker, Joseph O. and Buster G. Smith. 2015. American Secularism: Cultural Contours of Nonreligious Belief Systems. New York: New York University Press.

Mercadante, Linda A. 2016. Belief without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual but not Religious. New York: Oxford University Press.

2. The following articles, reports, and book chapters are available on Canvas (file section).

Daniel, Lillian. 2011. “You Can’t Make This Up: The Limits of Self-made Religion.” Christian Century 128: 32-24.

Dawkins, Richard. 1998. “The Emptiness of Theology.” Free Inquiry 18:6.

_____. 2003. “Good and Bad Reasons for Believing.” Pp. 242-248 in A Devil’s Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love. Boston: Mariner.

_____. 2005. “The Theology of the Tsunami.” Free Inquiry 25:12.

Haught, John F. 2008. “Amateur Atheists: Why the New Atheism Isn’t Serious.” Christian Century 125:22-29.

Hitchens, Christopher 2003. “The Future of an Illusion.” Daedalus 132:83-87.

Jones, Robert P., Daniel Cox, Betsy Cooper, and Rachel Lienesch. 2016. Exodus: Why Americans Are Leaving Religion—and Why They’re Unlikely to Come Back. Washington, DC: Public Religion Research Institute.

Lundmark, Evelina and Stephen LeDrew. 2019. “Unorganized Atheism and the Secular Movement: Reddit as a Site for Studying ‘Lived Atheism’.” Social Compass 66: 112-129.

Pew Research Center. 2019. “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace.” Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.

Woodhead, Linda. 2017. “The Rise of ‘No Religion’: Toward an Explanation.” Sociology of Religion 78:247-262.

3. The following article is available for free download:

Robinson, Nathan J. 2017. “Getting Beyond ‘New Atheism.’” Current Affairs.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/10/getting-beyond-new-atheism

Requirements

1. Canvas Discussion Posts: You will be expected to make two kinds of posts for each posting assignment. First, you should make a substantive response to the assignment question. (The assignment questions will be posted in advance on Canvas). Second, you should make a substantive response to another person’s post. The response may be a question about the post, asking for clarification or more information about a specific issue raised. Alternatively, you can respond by adding more analysis (e.g. discussing why the statement may be true), describing a personal experience that relates to the statement, or discussing implications (“if this is true, then…”). The point is to have a conversation. If your posts are of good quality (answering the question and demonstrating an understanding of the course readings) and adhere to norms of class conduct (see below), you can expect to receive full credit (an A). You can check your grades on Canvas. Deadlines for posting assignments will be listed in Canvas.

2. Final Paper: The paper should be approximately 12 pages. It should present information about a primary source (essay, blog post, book, website, etc.) written by a secularist, atheist, agnostic, SBNR, and/or none and expressing their viewpoint. Then discuss how this case confirms, contradicts, or expands concepts from the course read­ings.

For example, you might choose to write about an atheist-themed Youtube channel. You could begin by describing the channel and discussing the arguments being made. Then you could compare and contrast these arguments with those being made by New Atheist authors or the “ordinary atheists” featured in Baggett’s book. Do you see any themes not discussed in the course readings? Then you could compare and contrast this style of atheism with other forms of secularism and/or non-affiliation discussed in the course readings—e.g., how are the perspectives in the channel different from the perspectives of those who claim to be spiritual but not religious?

Your goal should be to demonstrate your mastery of the course material, so make sure that your description of the source does not take up the whole paper.

Discussion Forum Conduct:

The course should involve a free exchange of ideas, which means you are welcome to express your viewpoints and to disagree with the viewpoints of the instructor or your fellow students. This should always be done in a way that shows respect for the other people involved in the course, in accordance with the norms expressed in the Masters Student Handbook. Discussion posts that violate Iliff’s norms of conduct will be graded down.

Lectures:

Each week there will be a written lecture (Word file) posted on Canvas along with a short video providing additional information (commenting on the previous week, walking you through the week ahead). I normally record the video on Sunday night, and then insert the video on the next day’s (Monday) assignment page in Canvas.

Optional Zoom Conversations:

What if you have more questions about the material, or issues that you want to discuss beyond what is on-topic in the forums? In a hybrid course, there would be time to deal with this during Gathering Days. Since this course has no Gathering Days sessions, I will set up some optional Zoom sessions.

Requirements

1. Canvas Discussion Posts: You will be expected to make two kinds of posts for each posting assignment. First, you should make a substantive response to the assignment question. (The assignment questions will be posted in advance on Canvas). Second, you should make a substantive response to another person’s post. The response may be a question about the post, asking for clarification or more information about a specific issue raised. Alternatively, you can respond by adding more analysis (e.g. discussing why the statement may be true), describing a personal experience that relates to the statement, or discussing implications (“if this is true, then…”). The point is to have a conversation. If your posts are of good quality (answering the question and demonstrating an understanding of the course readings) and adhere to norms of class conduct (see below), you can expect to receive full credit (an A). You can check your grades on Canvas. Deadlines for posting assignments will be listed in Canvas.

2. Final Paper: The paper should be approximately 12 pages. It should present information about a primary source (essay, blog post, book, website, etc.) written by a secularist, atheist, agnostic, SBNR, and/or none and expressing their viewpoint. Then discuss how this case confirms, contradicts, or expands concepts from the course read­ings.

For example, you might choose to write about an atheist-themed Youtube channel. You could begin by describing the channel and discussing the arguments being made. Then you could compare and contrast these arguments with those being made by New Atheist authors or the “ordinary atheists” featured in Baggett’s book. Do you see any themes not discussed in the course readings? Then you could compare and contrast this style of atheism with other forms of secularism and/or non-affiliation discussed in the course readings—e.g., how are the perspectives in the channel different from the perspectives of those who claim to be spiritual but not religious?

Your goal should be to demonstrate your mastery of the course material, so make sure that your description of the source does not take up the whole paper.

Discussion Forum Conduct:

The course should involve a free exchange of ideas, which means you are welcome to express your viewpoints and to disagree with the viewpoints of the instructor or your fellow students. This should always be done in a way that shows respect for the other people involved in the course, in accordance with the norms expressed in the Masters Student Handbook. Discussion posts that violate Iliff’s norms of conduct will be graded down.

Lectures:

Each week there will be a written lecture (Word file) posted on Canvas along with a short video providing additional information (commenting on the previous week, walking you through the week ahead). I normally record the video on Sunday night, and then insert the video on the next day’s (Monday) assignment page in Canvas.

Optional Zoom Conversations:

What if you have more questions about the material, or issues that you want to discuss beyond what is on-topic in the forums? In a hybrid course, there would be time to deal with this during Gathering Days. Since this course has no Gathering Days sessions, I will set up some optional Zoom sessions.

Grading:

Discussion Posts—30%

Final Paper—70%

You may take the course pass/fail if they request this option in writing during the first two weeks of class. You do not need to provide a justification for you request.

My assumption is that students in a masters program can be expected to produce above average academic work. Therefore, the modal grade I assign is B+. A paper will earn a B+ if it 1) fulfills all of the requirements of the assignment and 2) demonstrates that the student has a solid (though not necessarily flawless) understanding of the con­cepts in the course readings and lectures. A paper will earn a grade higher than a B+ if it fulfills the assignment and demonstrates exceptional insight into the course concepts. A paper will earn a grade of B or B- if there are minor to moderate shortcomings in either fulfilling the assignment or demonstrating understanding of course concepts. Grades below B- are reserved for papers with major shortcomings in either area.

Requirements

1. Canvas Discussion Posts: You will be expected to make two kinds of posts for each posting assignment. First, you should make a substantive response to the assignment question. (The assignment questions will be posted in advance on Canvas). Second, you should make a substantive response to another person’s post. The response may be a question about the post, asking for clarification or more information about a specific issue raised. Alternatively, you can respond by adding more analysis (e.g. discussing why the statement may be true), describing a personal experience that relates to the statement, or discussing implications (“if this is true, then…”). The point is to have a conversation. If your posts are of good quality (answering the question and demonstrating an understanding of the course readings) and adhere to norms of class conduct (see below), you can expect to receive full credit (an A). You can check your grades on Canvas. Deadlines for posting assignments will be listed in Canvas.

2. Final Paper: The paper should be approximately 12 pages. It should present information about a primary source (essay, blog post, book, website, etc.) written by a secularist, atheist, agnostic, SBNR, and/or none and expressing their viewpoint. Then discuss how this case confirms, contradicts, or expands concepts from the course read­ings.

For example, you might choose to write about an atheist-themed Youtube channel. You could begin by describing the channel and discussing the arguments being made. Then you could compare and contrast these arguments with those being made by New Atheist authors or the “ordinary atheists” featured in Baggett’s book. Do you see any themes not discussed in the course readings? Then you could compare and contrast this style of atheism with other forms of secularism and/or non-affiliation discussed in the course readings—e.g., how are the perspectives in the channel different from the perspectives of those who claim to be spiritual but not religious?

Your goal should be to demonstrate your mastery of the course material, so make sure that your description of the source does not take up the whole paper.

Discussion Forum Conduct:

The course should involve a free exchange of ideas, which means you are welcome to express your viewpoints and to disagree with the viewpoints of the instructor or your fellow students. This should always be done in a way that shows respect for the other people involved in the course, in accordance with the norms expressed in the Masters Student Handbook. Discussion posts that violate Iliff’s norms of conduct will be graded down.

Lectures:

Each week there will be a written lecture (Word file) posted on Canvas along with a short video providing additional information (commenting on the previous week, walking you through the week ahead). I normally record the video on Sunday night, and then insert the video on the next day’s (Monday) assignment page in Canvas.

Optional Zoom Conversations:

What if you have more questions about the material, or issues that you want to discuss beyond what is on-topic in the forums? In a hybrid course, there would be time to deal with this during Gathering Days. Since this course has no Gathering Days sessions, I will set up some optional Zoom sessions.