ERIC Number: EJ853467
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Jan
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1368-4868
EISSN: N/A
Scientology and Catholicism Do Mix: A Note on Teaching New Religions in a Catholic Classroom
Schmalz, Mathew N.
Teaching Theology & Religion, v9 n1 p29-36 Jan 2006
This note from the classroom explores teaching new or alternative religions within the context of a Roman Catholic Liberal Arts College. The essay will specifically focus on a section of a course entitled "Modern Religious Movements" in which students were asked to consider different methodological approaches to the teaching and study of Scientology and the Catholic cult of the Virgin Mary. This note from the classroom details how this rather unexpected comparison prompted students to reconsider the category "cult" and argues that encouraging self-reflexivity in a largely Catholic classroom can become a crucial means for engaging a broader discussion of new religions, cult discourse, and the academic study of religion itself.
Descriptors: Religion Studies, Theological Education, Catholics, Liberal Arts, Teaching Methods, Comparative Analysis, Religious Cultural Groups, Beliefs
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A