University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 2

Availability restrictions: Only available to students in Divinity Honours and joint-degree Honours programmes.

Planned timetable: 12:00-1:00 Monday; 2:00-4:00 Friday

Despite medical and technological advances, human societies continue to be plagued by violence, conflict, and war. This module investigates the supposition that, as Christopher Hitchens put it, it is religion that “poisons everything.” Is religion inherently violent, and the cause of widespread suffering? How are we to understand and articulate the relationship between religion and violence? With a focus on monotheistic religions, this module investigates the complex relationship between religion and violence by thinking carefully about the definitions of religion and violence, the rise of the concept of religion vis-à-vis the secular state, the theological implications of religious violence (sacrifice and martyrdom), and the use and representation of religion in theology, politics, and popular culture. The module concludes by examining how religious actors have sought to undermine violence: liberation theology, nonviolence, and peacebuilding through repentance and truth-telling.

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 1 lecture (X11 weeks), and 1 seminar of 2 hours (X11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours: 33

Guided independent study hours: 275

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: 100% coursework


Re-assessment: 100% written exam, centrally administered

Personnel

Module coordinator: Dr N Pritz-Bennett
Module teaching staff: Nomi Pritz-Bennett and Dr Michael Lyons
Module coordinator email np87@st-andrews.ac.uk

Intended learning outcomes

• Demonstrate an ability to think critically and with nuanced about the complex relationship between religion and violence, including an ability to interrogate the terms used and represented at a popular level.
• Acquire an ability to closely and carefully engage with key texts pertaining to the field of religion and violence.
• Learn to think not only in abstract intellectual terms, but historically and concretely about religion and violence, and the avenues for addressing evil in our own time.
• Recognise, compare, and synthesize diverse perspectives related to the subject matter of the module to develop innovative viewpoints, and express these viewpoints in oral and written work.
• Improve oral skills through leading seminar discussion.