Course syllabus

 

 

SEMESTER 2, 2019

15 points

 

Teacher: 

Course delivery format:

E.g. - 2 hours of lectures and 1 hour of tutorial

LECTURE ROOM

OCH2/104-G54 (Room G54 in Old Choral Hall)

TUTORIALS

1.  TUESDAYS 2-3; 3-5pm:  201E-306 (Room 306 in Building 201E, Human Science)

(Timetable and room details can be viewed on Student Services Online)

Well-being always comes first We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

 

Summary of Course Description:         

Religions are everywhere, and religions also vary.  From the healing rituals of foragers to the liberating speeches of Martin Luther King, human spiritualities are both diverse and powerful.  What explains the universality of religion? What explains its diversity?   Are religions like typewriters, once useful but now obsolete?  Or will religions remain vital?  We will investigate these questions from the perspective of human bio-cultural evolution.  

 Course outcomes:

E.g. A student who successfully completes this course will have the opportunity to:

• understand major evolutionary theories of religion;
• critically evaluate scientific claims  (note: we do not assume any knowledge of quantitative methods);
• write clear and persuasive critical essays. 

 Assessment Summary:

Weighting of assignments and due dates if available, eg:

* weekly reflection papers (10x100 words) = 20% (pass/fail)

* 1 x midterm in-class test = 20 %

* 2 x short essays (~400 words each for the 2nd year paper; ~ 800 words each for the 3rd year paper) = 40 %

* 1 x final in-class test =20% 

Stage III

* weekly reflection papers (10x100 words) = 20% (marked pass/fail)

* 1 x midterm in-class test = 20 %

* 2 x short essays (~800 words) = 40 %

* 1 x final in-class test = 20% 

 

Weekly Topics:

Week 1.  23 July:  Introduction and overview of the course. 

No reading. 

Recommended: take a look at our global church map: www.nzspirituality.org

 

Week 2:   30 July: How do people believe?  

Cosmides, Leda, and John Tooby. "Evolutionary psychology: A primer." (1997).

Website: http://www.cep.ucsb.edu/primer.html

Guthrie, Stewart. "Spiritual beings: A Darwinian, cognitive account." Bulbulia et al., eds., Evolution of Religion (2008): 239-245. PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xn1tnm0vqizdar/Guthrie2008.pdf?dl=0

 

Week 3:  6 August:  Are religions viruses of the mind? 

Dawkins, Richard. "Memes: the new replicators." The selfish gene (1976): 189-201.  PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zup7i3t9ht2g3fx/DAWKINS.MEME.pdf?dl=0

Barrett, Justin L. "Cognitive science of religion: What is it and why is it?." Religion Compass 1, no. 6 (2007): 768-786.  PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m3f5vnik2rk964w/Barrett2007.pdf?dl=0

 

Week 4: 13 August  How do children acquire religious beliefs?    

Kelemen, Deborah. "Are children “intuitive theists”? Reasoning about purpose and design in nature." Psychological Science 15, no. 5 (2004): 295-301. PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/31kvfyx9jxkypnr/2004.KELEMEN.INTUITIVE.THEISM.pdf?dl=0

Harris, Paul L., and Melissa A. Koenig. "Trust in testimony: How children learn about science and religion." Child development 77, no. 3 (2006): 505-524. PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e3bttnc142wgbvz/Harris_et_al-2006-Child_Development.pdf?dl=0

 

Week 5: 20 August:  What is the nature of religious variation? 

Wilson, J. Bulbulia, and C. G. Sibley. Differences and similarities in religious and paranormal beliefs: a typology of distinct faith signatures. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 1–23, 2015  PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dr1zmlu5qzcse53/Differences%20and%20similarities%20in%20religious%20and%20paranormal%20beliefs%20a%20typology%20of%20distinct%20faith%20signatures.pdf?dl=0

 

Week 6: 27 August:  in class test  (20%)   

 

Week 7: 17 September: Why do people sacrifice for religion? 

Bulbulia, Joseph. "Religious costs as adaptations that signal altruistic intention." Evolution and Cognition 10, no. 1 (2004): 19-38. PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/whqhjrdk0od18lp/COSTSADAPT.pdf?dl=0

Xygalatas, P. Mitkidis, R. Fischer, P. Reddish, J. Skewes, A. W. Geertz, A. Roepstorff, and J. Bulbulia. Extreme rituals promote prosociality. Psychological Science, 2013 PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zkp3eijrb0syh3t/Psychological%20Science-2013-Xygalatas-0956797612472910.pdf?dl=0

 

Week 8:  24  September:  How did religions evolve in the Pacific 

Watts, J., Greenhill, S. J., Atkinson, Q. D., Currie, T. E., Bulbulia, J., & Gray, R. D. (2015). Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolution of political complexity in Austronesia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1804), 20142556. PDF 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0t33yu9mo2uvano/20142556.full.pdf?dl=0

Watts, J., Sheehan, O., Atkinson, Q. D., Bulbulia, J., & Gray, R. D. (2016). Ritual human sacrifice promoted and sustained the evolution of stratified societies. Nature, 532(7598), 228. PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8gm79ei0qqsn1iu/nature17159.pdf?dl=0

 

Week 9:   1 October: Is religion a reproductive strategy: Guest Lecturer: Dr John Shaver, University of Otago

Blume, Michael. "The reproductive benefits of religious affiliation." In The biological evolution of religious mind and behavior, pp. 117-126. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2009. PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5yzz4iq8r41mmy7/blume.pdf?dl=0

Bulbulia, Joseph, John Shaver, Lara Greaves, Richard Sosis, and Chris G. Sibley. "Religion and parental cooperation: An empirical test of Slone’s sexual signaling model." The attraction of religion: a new evolutionary psychology of religion (2015): 11-28. PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kqum6g0xl2enagq/2014.OCT.30.Chapter2%28Bulbulia%20et%20al%29_w_comments%20copy.pdf?dl=0

 

Week 10:  8 October:  Is religion necessary for morality?  Professor Will Gervais, University of Kentucky

Norenzayan, Ara, and Will M. Gervais. "The origins of religious disbelief." Trends in Cognitive Sciences 17, no. 1 (2013): 20-25. PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qjgi3llsgbkpmy7/the-origins-of-religious-disbelief.pdf?dl=0

Gervais, Will M. 2017. “Global Evidence of Extreme Intuitive Moral Prejudice Against Atheists”. PsyArXiv. June 13. osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/csnp2 PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfhx19113qjhzhx/Gervais%20et%20al%20NHB%20preprint.pdf?dl=0

 

Week 11:  15 October: where is religion heading in the future? 

Sibley, Chris G., and Joseph Bulbulia. "Faith after an earthquake: A longitudinal study of religion and perceived health before and after the 2011 Christchurch New Zealand earthquake." PloS one 7, no. 12 (2012): e49648 PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ye95l5c8vpegkz6/Faith_Earthquake_Sibley_Bul.pdf?dl=0

Botero, C. A., Gardner, B., Kirby, K. R., Bulbulia, J., Gavin, M. C., & Gray, R. D. (2014). The ecology of religious beliefs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(47), 16784-16789.  PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8c3e5m51mrmb3fj/PNAS-2014-Botero-16784-9.pdf?dl=0

 

Week 12:   22 October: final in-class test

 

Recommended Texts:

N/A

 Workload and deadlines for submission of coursework:           

The University of Auckland's expectation is that students spend 10 hours per week on a 15-point course, including time in class and personal study. Students should manage their academic workload and other commitments accordingly. Deadlines for coursework are set by course convenors and will be advertised in course material. You should submit your work on time. In extreme circumstances, such as illness, you may seek an extension but you may be required to provide supporting information before the assignment is due. Late assignments without a pre-approved extension may be penalised by loss of marks – check course information for details.