The Invention of Religious Traditions

Course

URL study guide

https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2024-2025/G_TIRT

Course Objective

Upon completion of this course, students will:
- have knowledge of the formative periods of Christianity and Islam
- have insight into the dynamics of the formation of religious traditions
- have the capacity to critically reflect on the rise of both Christianity and Islam

Course Content

This course focuses on the dynamics of tradition in the growth of religion in general, and uses the formative periods of both Christianity and Islam as its point of departure. How does religious innovation legitimize itself by referring to its rootedness in tradition? And how can religious identities be shaped by parting from tradition? The concept of ‘anchoring innovation’ is currently a leading notion in the fields of ancient history and classics, but it also applies to the growth of Christianity and Islam. This course will both focus on theoretical parameters and on concrete examples from the formative periods of both religions.

Teaching Methods


- lecturing
- seminar, with presentations by students
- close reading of texts

Method of Assessment

With a minimum attendance of 80%, the assignments will be graded as follows:
- oral presentation: 25%
- written feedback on reading assignments: 25%
- final paper: 50%

Literature

Christianity
- Charles Freeman, A New History of Early Christianity (New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 2009). Islam
- Fred. M. Donner, Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2010), 280 p.
- The New Cambridge History of Islam, Volume 1, The Formation of the Islamic World, Sixth to Eleventh Centuries. Edited by Chase F. Robinson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 153-225. Additional literature will be shared through Canvas.

Target Audience

This course is part of the track Exploring a Discipline: the future of religious heritage. It can be chosen by other master students with interest in the early stages of religions.
Academic year1/09/2431/08/25
Course level6.00 EC

Language of Tuition

  • English

Study type

  • Master