Religion, Spirituality and the Secular in Sweden, 7.5 credits

Contents

The course focuses primarily on Sweden’s contemporary religious, spiritual, and secular landscape, and to some extent on the historical conditions that have shaped it. Central areas of focus are the understanding and practice of religion, spirituality, and non-religion in Sweden. Throughout the course, we will critically examine the idea of Sweden as a secular country from religious studies perspectives on religion, spirituality, and secularity. We will approach religion, spirituality, and secularity as inseparable from social norms and other societal factors. A major part of the course is devoted to enabling students to acquire and apply a religious studies conceptual framework for understanding religion, spirituality, and secularity in contemporary Sweden.

Expected learning outcomes

**Knowledge and Understanding: **

• Demonstrate a basic knowledge of religious, spiritual, and secular aspects of Swedish society, both in the present day and historically.
• Demonstrate a basic understanding of the concepts used in the academic study of religion to investigate religiosity, spirituality, and secularity.
• Demonstrate a basic understanding that both everyday and scholarly ideas about religion, spirituality, and secularity are constructed within social and political contexts.

**Skills and Abilities: **

• Be able to discuss, analyze, and describe religiosity, spirituality, and secularity in contemporary Sweden.
• Be able to use concepts from the academic study of religion to discuss, analyze, and describe religiosity, spirituality, and secularity in contemporary Sweden.

Judgement and Approach:

• Be able, at a basic level, to distinguish between academic religious studies approaches and everyday understandings of religion, spirituality, and secularity in Sweden.
• Be able, from a basic religious studies perspective, to engage with the understanding that the concepts of religion, spirituality, and secularity are historically, socially, and politically constructed.

Required Knowledge

Form of instruction

The course is held in English. The teaching consists of lectures, seminars and oral presentation. In cases where participation is compulsory, i.e. of an examining nature, it is specifically stated in the schedule.

Examination modes

The course is examined through written examinations and continuous oral assignments. Oral assignments include participation in seminars and presentations. Presentations and seminar participation are graded with a pass (G) or a fail (U). Written examinations are graded with a pass (VG), a pass (G) or a fail (U). To receive a pass grade (G) on the course as a whole, all compulsory parts must have received the grade G. To get a Pass with distinction (VG) on the course, all assignments with a maximum pass grade (G) must have received a grade G, and the written exam grade VG.

A re-examination must be offered no later than two months after the ordinary examination, however, a re-examination must be offered no earlier than ten working days after the result of the ordinary examination has been announced and a copy of the students' examination is available. For examinations carried out during the months of May and June, the first re-examination may be offered within three months of the ordinary examination. In addition, at least one additional re-examination must be offered within one year of the ordinary examination, a so-called catch-up examination. A person who has passed the examination may not undergo a re-examination for a higher grade.

For students who have a recommendation of support for students with disabilities the examiner may decide on individual adaption of examination modes set out in the course syllabus. Individual adaption of examination modes must always be considered based on the student's specific needs and the framework of the intended learning outcomes in the course syllabus. For more information, see Procedure for support for students with disabilities and Rules for grades and examination.

Other regulations

In a degree, this course may not be included together with another course with similar content. In case of uncertainty, the student should consult the director of studies at the Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies.

Transitional provisions

Rules for grades and examination govern what applies regarding retakes when a course has been discontinued or a syllabus has undergone major changes.