PHUV9420 Religiøst mangfold i offentligheten Emneplan

This course explores the causes and consequences of religious diversity in a number of societies. The course combines insights from the social sciences and humanities, including philosophy and gender studies, with case studies from different national contexts. We pay particular attention to religious diversity in institutional settings like schools, higher education, health, and the military. The participants will be exposed to a wide range of empirical and theoretical approaches to the causes and consequences of religious diversity as well as some key concepts and measurements of religious diversity. The course will also discuss political and practical solutions to situations in which different sets of rights and values are mutually exclusive, as the dilemmas that arise when the right to freedom of religion conflicts with other human rights and key democratic values.

On completion of the course, the student will have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The candidate has in-depth knowledge of:

• important ways to define and measure religious diversity
• some important historical perspectives on the causes and consequences of religious diversity
• the philosophical basis for the right to freedom of religion
• how different notions of citizenship and nationhood affect policies and attitudes towards religious pluralism
• ways in which religious diversity is governed in state institutions in sectors like education, health, the military etc. with examples from across the world
• various approaches to governance regarding dilemmas between protecting freedom of religion and securing equitable treatment of all citizens

Skills

After completing this course, the candidate can:

• critically analyze their own empirical material with reference to key concepts
• compare different forms of state governance and their corresponding attitude to religious plurality
• identify areas where freedom of religion conflicts with other key principles, and reflect on the outcome of different approaches to such conflicts

General competence

The candidate can:

• apply both theories and comparative case material to elucidate their own research data
• identify and establish constructive connections between theories, empirical data, and methods
• provide a reflexive outline for the analysis of complex dilemmas

The course consists of two two-day workshops. Students are expected to participate actively in both workshops. During the first gathering at OsloMet, all participants will give a five minutes presentation of their projects and connect these to the course topic, while during lectures and discussions, the students will be introduced to the theories, methods and approaches.

Between the workshops, the students will write an individual draft paper that gives a clear outline of an analysis that combines insights gained during the first workshop and course readings. In the paper, participants are encouraged to use their own empirical material or engage literature that is relevant to their projects. These drafts will be discussed with fellow students and lecturers during the second workshop and form the basis for the final individual paper.

In addition to mandatory participation at both workshops, the coursework requirements are:

• Prepare an oral presentation of five minutes for the first workshop. The topic of the presentation must relate to questions of religious diversity and pluralism in a way that is relevant to the participant’s research project. Following the presentation, there will be a comments and discussion session of five to ten minutes.
• Write a draft paper based on the oral presentation, which shall be submitted one week before the second workshop. The paper draft should be minimum of 1000 and maximum 2500 words.
• Written and oral feedback: Each student will comment on one co-students draft paper, both in writing (250-500 words) and orally (3-5 minutes).

Attendance

80 % attendance of the time of the course is required. If a student has attended at least 60 % of the course but less than 80 %, he/she must submit an extra paper of at least 3000 words plus reference list on a topic provided by the course coordinators.

The student writes an individual paper of between 3000 and 8000 words, excluding the list of references (based on the drafts from the second workshop described above in Learning and teaching forms). The paper must be written in English, Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish.

New/postponed exam

If the paper is graded with "fail", the candidate must submit a revised version within a given time limit.

The grades are "pass" or "fail". The requirement for "pass" is that the paper builds on insights from both the course activities and the course readings.

It will be assessed by two readers, one of whom is the course coordinator.