HIS 460                                  Guidelines for Report on Section I 

This report is due on SEPTEMBER 18^th, in class. It should be between four to six pages of typed prose (double spaced, 12 point font, 1 inch margins all around). I want a serious engagement with the readings for this part of the course, and embellishments such as graphics or report covers are not necessary, unless they are in some way intrinsic to what you write. (I await with bated breath an argument linking the intrinsic-ness of plastic covers to the ideas in this week’s readings!!)

Please keep in mind, these are GUIDELINES, not a list of questions or catch phrases I necessarily want you to “hit” when writing this review.

The basic question guiding the review is the course heading for this section of the course, “What is Religion”? You should try and address this question by closely engaging with the readings and class discussions on the subject. If you do that, a series of subsidiary points and questions immediately arise. Addressing these should help you write your review.

i. At some level we all think we know what religion is. Why then is it important to problematize the category?

ii. How does looking at the question HISTORICALLY help us better understand religion as a social category?

iii. What have been some of the historical connections between religion and power?

iv. What is the connection between the history of Christianity in parts of Europe and the idea of secularism?

            v. Do the examples van der Veer brings out support Talal Asad’s contentions?

vi. What do you see as the fundamental differences between “traditional” and “public-ized” religiosity of the late nineteenth century in Britain and India?