Welcome to the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion!

RT2213 H21 New Atheism and Critique of Religion

Here, you can obtain general information about the course, such as syllabus and reading list.

• Syllabus and Reading list
• Course Guide (under "Files")

• Schedule   -The schedule is only for students who will attend the campus course. The online course starts on Canvas on the same date as the campus course, according to the schedule. You will then find information from the teacher.

Course coordinator: Fredrik Portin.

Registration

When you are a registered student you will have access to further information related to the course, and how to get started. 

The registration will be open between 2021-10-25 and 2021-10-28.

• Registration information
• Student Portal

You will find information about the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion on our web site.

Autumn 2021 at the Faculty of Humanities

You'll find all the relevant information about the course by clicking on "Modules".

Course Description

Critique of religion has as a long history as the religions themselves. There has long been a tension between those who want to preserve and those who want to change the content, design and practice of religions. In recent times, critique of religion has been associated with an increasingly vocal group of so-called New Atheists. During this course we will, among other things, be examining what distinguishes this group. What are their arguments and positions, and how do they organize themselves? In what way have religious people challenged their critique?

Additionally, although New Atheism has been given a lot of attention during the last two decades, they are not representative of all non-religious positions. For that reason, we will also be examining the rising presence of so-called “nones,” who do not adhere to a particular religious tradition, but does not necessarily subscribe to the positions of New Atheism, either.

Course literature

Christopher R Cotter, Philip Andrew Quadrio & Jonathan Tuckett (eds.) (2017) New Atheism: Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Debates. Cham: Springer International Publishing. (240 pages)

Lois Lee (2015) Recognizing the non-religious: Reimagining the secular. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (220 pages)

PEW Research Center (2012) “Nones” on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation. https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2012/10/NonesOnTheRise-full.pdf

Richard Dawkins (2008) The God Delusion. New York: First Mariner Books. (Select passages)

Martin Hägglund (2020) This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom. New York: Anchor Books. (464 pages)

Schedule