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.

Lectures and seminars

The course is given on campus and online, with joint seminars for both campus and online students. Campus students join the seminar at Humanisten, and online students join via Zoom.

The course starts with an introductory lecture on campus/Zoom. The rest of the course is divided into three periods during which the literature is discussed and scrutinized. The discussion begins on Canvas, where you can highlight and discuss substantive, methodological and theoretical aspects in the discussion fora. Lively discussions, while decent and respectful, are encouraged. The teacher supervises the discussions, but do not participate, act as moderators or keep the discussion going. Each period ends with a seminar on campus/Zoom. It is important that you prepare for the seminar by reading the literature. Please, note that all teaching is streamed; neither the lecture nor the seminars are recorded.

A note about language: the course language is English. However, if only Swedish-speaking students attend the meetings we might switch to Swedish. Students can also communicate with the teacher in Swedish (or Norwegian or Danish) via email.

The Schedule follows the Central European Time (CET), that is GMT+1.

Examination

The course is examined through 1) active and well-prepared participation in the seminars and 2) three essay submissions of minimum 1000 words and maximum 1500 words. The essay questions connect to the theme of each period, and one essay question will be published after each seminar. In case you miss a seminar, you hand in a pm where you review and discuss the literature (1-2 pages). Upload your pm:s and essay questions under "Assignments". Deadline for essay questions and pm:s is January 13, 17:00.

The grading scale comprises: Pass with Distinction (VG), Pass (G) and Fail (U). To pass the course you need to have a pass degree on three essays, and having participated in the semainars (or, alternatively, handed in a pm for each seminar you have been absent from). To get the pass with distinction degree, you need to have two essays with the grade pass with distinction (VG), and the remaining a minimum of pass degree.

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 (Links to an external site.)

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