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Using Student Ethnography to Teach Sociology of Religion
Author(s) -
Hamilton William T.,
Gilbert Kellen
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
teaching theology and religion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.165
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1467-9647
pISSN - 1368-4868
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9647.2005.00250.x
Subject(s) - ethnography , perspective (graphical) , sociology , sociological imagination , diversity (politics) , pedagogy , homogeneous , population , epistemology , anthropology , philosophy , physics , demography , artificial intelligence , computer science , thermodynamics
. Engaging students in a course in the Sociology of Religion can be a challenge, particularly when working with student populations in a homogeneous region of the country who have limited experience with religious diversity. We approached the course from a sociological/anthropological perspective, requiring each student to complete an in‐depth participation/observation research experience and write an ethnographic account of a religion or belief system different from his or her own. While other instructors have used a similar pedagogy, using ethnography with our student population was generally successful as a learning and writing tool.