PHUV9420 Religious Diversity in Public Spaces Course description

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.

Lectures and exercises.

The following work requirement is mandatory and must be approved to sit for the exam:

• Submission of one programming assignment.

An Individual written exam of three hours.

Exam results can be appealed.

In the event of a resit or rescheduled exam, an oral examination may be used instead. In case an oral exam is used, the examination result cannot be appealed.

No aids are allowed.