KULH4171 – Cognitive Cultural Studies: New approaches to Religion and Narration

Schedule, syllabus and examination date

Course content

As an interdisciplinary endeavour, cognitive cultural studies are an emerging field aiming to inform the study of culture by insights and models derived from cognitive anthropology, evolutionary psychology, analytical philosophy of the mind and linguistics. This course provides a systematical introduction to the foundations and application of recent cognitive approaches to cultural analysis. Our focus is on religion and narrative, two areas of study where cognitive theorizing made a major - and quite controversial - impact. Can culture be explained?

The course covers major developments, models and debates at the interface of cognitive and cultural studies. You will be familiarised with theories and methods and learn to apply them to the analysis of historical and literary sources. Of course, we will address prominent core questions of the cognitive approaches, such as

  • how do we make sense of stories and why do we read fiction?
  • what distinguishes religious and fictional characters?
  • is religion a cognitive cheeseburger?
  • can religious thought be explained from evolutionary origins?

Learning outcome

Upon successful completion of the course, students are able to

  • define core concepts and outline major theoretical models employed in cognitive cultural studies
  • analyse historical and literary sources based on cognitive theorising
  • have an advanced knowledge on at least one approach to cognitive literary studies / cognitive science of religion / cognitive narratology applicable in their further studies
  • engage in professional discussions on the potential and implications of naturalism in the humanities in general, and a cognitive approach to their discipline in particular

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

Students enrolled in other Master`s Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Sufficient reading skills in English.

Teaching

Lectures and seminars are conducted in English, with key terms translated into Norwegian. Individual supervision is offered in both English and Norwegian. The course is based on a combination of input lectures and interactive seminars, including digital components. The teaching form