1

CCHU 9014 Course outline, second semester 2017-18

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

CCHU 9014 SPIRITUALITY, RELIGION AND SOCIAL CHANGE

COURSE OUTLINE

Semester 2, 2017-2018
Lectures: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:20 pm in RHT
Tutorials: Sign-up in class Moodle.

Course coordinator:
Dr. David A. Palmer (palmer19@hku.hk)
Office hours: Wednesdays, 3:00-4:15 pm.
Department of Sociology
9.01, 9/F, Jockey Club Tower
Centennial Campus, HKU

Tutors:
Cheung Wai Lung, Steve (stevecwl@hku.hk)
Anna Iskra (u3004077@hku.hk)
Song Xinmiao (u3005448@hku.hk)
Tse Man Him, Martin (martinmh@hku.hk)

Course description

If you think that life is not just about money and power – if you want to have a meaningful and
purposeful life -- then you have a spiritual orientation to life, you have spirituality.

As you pursue meaning and purpose, you will encounter the worldviews, the symbols, the
teachings and practices of religion. And there, you will find sublime beauty and hideous ugliness;
you will find truth and ignorance; you will find both clarity and confusion.

In this course, you will learn how to navigate the ocean of spirituality and religion—by
personally experiencing religious concepts and practices; by bringing religion into dialogue with
natural and social science; by bringing different religious traditions into dialogue with each
other; and by bringing religion into dialogue with contemporary social reality. And the first stage
in this journey, is to put aside our preconceived notions, and to explore and understand the
beliefs and disbelief of others.

This is not a conventional introductory course on religion. The course combines approaches from
philosophy, psychology, anthropology, sociology and theology, and discusses issues relevant to
consciousness and perception, the environment, ethics and social justice. It will give you
completely new perspectives on spirituality, on religion, and on yourself. This is not a course to
preach a religious doctrine, nor does it treat religious people and practices as strange and exotic
objects of study. Religion is often conceived of in terms of divisions -- between insiders and
outsiders, between believers and non-believers, between this religion and that religion, between
religion and science, between tradition and modernity, and so on. But in this course, these
divisions will be questioned and undermined, and you will be asked to step out of the comfort
zone of your current "belief," "unbelief" or "uncertainty". You will explore and experience new
ways of imagining spiritual reality, coming into contact with it, and putting it into practice.

You will do so in a manner which is personally meaningful, appropriate for critical analysis, and
relevant to your engagement in the processes of social change. Society is undergoing a
 2
CCHU 9014 Course outline, second semester 2017-18

resurgence of religious beliefs and practices. Many of us are personally committed to spiritual or
religious beliefs, are engaged in what could be “truth seeking”, or at the very least have many
questions of a spiritual nature. As faith in secular ideologies declines, there is a growing tendency
to turn to religious traditions as conceptual and social resources for personal growth and social
engagement. But is this appropriate or even right? In the past few decades the world has
witnessed a dramatic resurgence of spiritual seeking and religious engagement in society, in
ways that may be either constructive or destructive. Given the historical record, is it realistic to
expect religion to provide answers to personal and social problems?

Open to believers, agnostics, skeptics, atheists and seekers, this course will give you exposure to,
and an opportunity to engage with, the spiritual heritage of humanity: you will discuss passages
from the scriptures of the world’s major religious traditions, as well as spiritual themes
contained in popular feature films. You will visit religious communities and experience their
practices. You will critically consider the contemporary social implications of spiritual principles
when applied to questions of truth and knowledge, power and authority, conflict and
cooperation, and sacrifice and service. You will reflect on whether these approaches to human
spiritual life are part of the cause or part of the solution for global social problems.

Is there a god? Do we have a soul? Does our life have a spiritual purpose? How can I judge the
claims of different religions? Is there a difference between being “spiritual” and “religious”? What
is a spiritual life? Each of you will find your own answers to these questions, and our questions
and answers are always evolving. This course will not provide you with definitive answers. But it
will help you to clarify the questions, the concepts, and the knowledge you need to seek answers.

Why are there so many conflicts between religions? What is the connection between religion,
politics and violence? Is it progressive, or is it opposed to social change? Is religion a constructive
or destructive force in society? By the end of this course, you should be able to identify the
factors which lead to religion having a positive or negative impact on individuals and society.

How can I judge, evaluate or appreciate the spiritual and religious dimensions of my own cultural
heritage? We live in an increasingly globalised world; there are more and more chances that our
friends, family members, fellow students and co-workers may come from different cultural and
religious backgrounds. How can I better understand and appreciate their beliefs and values?
Cultural diversity is far too vast to be adequately covered in a single course, but this course will
give you basic exposure to the world’s main systems of religious belief and practice.

Required readings: Required readings will be posted to the class Moodle. There will generally
be one article of around 20 pages to read per week. The assigned readings are based on
transcriptions of last year’s course lectures. Additional suggested readings from books and
academic articles are also uploaded to the class Moodle site. The course website
(cchu9014.weebly.com) also contains additional materials and resources, including embedded
videos and links. Please read the materials for each week BEFORE the lecture on the week’s topic.

Required films: You are required to view the following feature films on your own: Avatar, Hero,
Gandhi, Les Misérables. Deadline for viewing the films is listed below. Copies of these films have
been placed on reserve in the University Library. In lectures and tutorials we will discuss the
relevant spiritual themes and principles.

Field visits: You are expected to take part in THREE visits to religious communities, out of a
selection of visits that have been arranged with the Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Daoist, Hindu,
Muslim, and Sikh communities. The visits are experiential and you will participate in religious
practices. Please do not sign up for a visit to your own religion.
 3
CCHU 9014 Course outline, second semester 2017-18

Class schedule:

Week Lecture Lecture topic Required

date readings/films and
Assignment due
1 17 Jan. Introduction: Spirituality, religion and social
change
2 24 Jan. Imagination and the mindscape Readings 1 & 2
3 31 Jan. The meaning of life Reading 3
4 7 Feb. The meaning of death Reading 4
5 14 Feb. Observing the mindscape Reading 5; View Hero
21 Feb. [No class: Chinese new year]
6 28 Feb. Field trips
7 Mar. [No class: reading week]
7 14 Mar. A cosmic body Reading 6; View Avatar;
Analytical essay
8 21 Mar. An animated cosmos Reading 7
9 28 Mar. A sacred community Reading 8; View Les
Miserables
10 4 April. Human nature, moral development and Reading 9
transcendence
11 11 April. Spirituality, altruism and social justice Reading 10; View Gandhi
12 18 April. Axial dynamics in the evolution of religion Reading 11
13 25 April. A new axial age? Reading 12;
Field visit report
10 May Final reflective essay

Assessment:
Assignments are due to be submitted on the class Moodle by 9 am WEDNESDAYS of the due date.
Assessment Details of Assignment Weighting
Method
Analytical Analytical essay, in which you will be asked to apply concepts from 25
essay the course readings to discuss spiritual themes in the films. A
selection of essay topics and questions will be provided. 500-1000
words.
Field visit Write a reflective essay of about 500-1000 words, which should 25
report focus on ONE of the lecture topics, using the concepts of the lecture
to analyse and compare the three religious communities you visit.
You should refer specifically to your experiences and activities in
the field visit, which you may, if you wish, supplement with
additional information on the religion from other sources. Your
reflections should engage with concepts of the lecture you have
chosen; and address “personal development” as described in the
grading rubric.
Penalty for missing field trips: 3% of final grade for each missed
field visit.

Reflective A final, self-reflective essay in which you will discuss the THREE 25
essay main things you have learned in the course. 500-1000 words.
In-class Pop quizzes to be administered in class, based on the readings, 15
quizzes films and lectures.
Tutorial Attendance and participation in tutorial sessions 10
participation