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Module details for 2021/22.

30 credits

FHEQ Level 6

Module Outline

Globalisation has rendered religions increasingly visible through their materialisation in urban spaces - prompting some to argue we are now in an age of postsecularism. Drawing on resources from anthropology, human and cultural geography, we will explore the significance of sacred spaces and religious traditions in practices of crossing and dwelling, and in transnational migration networks. Students will learn how religion is drawn upon as a social and cultural resource, and transformed in everyday life in relation to migrant experience. Religion has hitherto been a much under-emphasised aspect of migration - playing a distant second fiddle to issues of race, class, and gender. Where migration scholars have engaged, it has predominantly been refracted through the lens of debates on the integration and assimilation of minority ethnic communities in the Global North. Throwing religion into the mix this module looks to go further; examining intersectionalities of social formations, power, and resistance through more nuanced accounts of everyday lives. The module introduces students to ways of thinking about how movement and mobility is at the heart of lived understandings of religion. What do religious traditions look like when seen through the lens of migration? In what ways are they re-configured and re-imagined by migrants? How do religious communities, traditions, and practices shape and influence migrant experiences? Looking at case studies of Iraq and Syria, we ask how religious actors respond to sectarian conflicts producing mass displacement today. The module seeks to strike a balance between geographies of religion and the lifeworlds of migrants where religious geographies are situated.

Module learning outcomes

Demonstrate a systematic understanding of key concepts, including of their histories and biases.

Understand and distinguish between different spatial approaches to the study of religion to better imagine the life of religious actors on the full range of geographical scales, from the local to the global.

Analyse and critically evaluate contemporary struggles and contestations over the role of religion in migratory processes.

Explain how religious traditions and spaces are used in public debate to address issues of immigration and refugee movements.

Summarise and explain the religious dynamics of migration experiences.

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Timing

Submission deadlines may vary for different types of assignment/groups of students.

Weighting

Coursework components (if listed) total 100% of the overall coursework weighting value.

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Dr Tahir Zaman

Convenor
/profiles/434365

Dr Simon Rycroft

Assess convenor
/profiles/8703

Dr Daniel Haberly

Assess convenor
/profiles/321250