Christianity and religious diversity

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the historical developments that have led to the current religious diversity of European society. The first third of the course will deal with the history of Christianity from the Reformation through to the 1960s. The second third will examine the pluralization and secularization of the religious landscape in Europe since the 1960s. In the last third of the course, we will apply our understanding of religious pluralism to different case studies. In this course, attention will be paid to relations between religious and secular beliefs and movements, the evolving role and status of Christian churches, the growth and settlement of non-Christian religious communities, and the spread and diversification of alternative movements and spiritualities, and to theories with regard to all these developments. As part of this course, students will work alone or in groups to study and present their findings on a specific religious movement, such as they might encounter in contemporary European society.