Spiritual But Not Religious: The Politics of American Spirituality

RELIGIOUS STUDIES 4300

What does it mean to claim to be "spiritual but not religious"?? What are the social and political consequences of foregrounding spiritual seeking and religious experimentation over the "organized religion" of churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples?? The seminar focuses on a series of debates that have arisen over this "new spirituality" in American culture: the religious blessing of consumer culture, the rise of therapeutic models of meditation and mindfulness, the politics of Euro-American appropriations of Native American and Buddhist religious practices, the negotiation of religious pluralism, and the relationship between spiritual seeking and social justice.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM

Section 01

Spiritual But Not Religious: The Politics of American Spirituality
INSTRUCTOR: Schmidt
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