Admission requirements
This course is open to all students with an academic interest in the subject matter.
Description
This course introduces students to New Religious Movements (NRMs) and forms of alternative spirituality, equipping them with an analytical toolkit to critically engage with the ideas, beliefs, practices, and socio-political dynamics of these often-controversial phenomena. We will examine the conceptual boundaries and methodological challenges of studying both organised groups and individual practitioners. Through classic case studies—such as Scientology, Wicca (Modern Witchcraft), and the People’s Temple—as well as emerging examples including WitchTok, New Age spirituality, and AI-based religions, we will explore themes such as charisma, authority, ritual innovation, cults and violence, and technospirituality. Each case is approached seeking both historical contextualisation (asking who, when, and where?) and theoretical explanation (asking how and why?), using key concepts and theories from the social sciences. The content of the lectures and reading material is enhanced by having students step outside of the classroom and conduct a field visit with an NRM, an interview with a practitioner of alternative spirituality, and/or a digital ethnography of an online new religious group. Additionally, we will have a New Religions Symposium one evening with guest speakers (recent topics have included fantasy religions, spiritual animal magnetism, and reality shifting).
Course objectives
Each student who completes the course will be able to:
Identify and explain key features of NRMs and alternative spirituality across historical and contemporary contexts.
Analyse the social, political, and cultural dynamics that shape the emergence, development, and public perception of NRMs and alternative spirituality.
Understand and engage with key social scientific concepts and theories and be able to independently apply these to empirical material.
Critically assess media representations, moral panics, and legal challenges associated with NRMs.
Critically reflect on the conceptual boundaries of religion, spirituality, and secularity.
Each student who completes the course will gain the following transferable skills:Cultural Literacy and Societal Awareness - by studying new and often marginalised religions, students will enhance their cultural literacy and better understand the diversity of religious cultures around them.
Research Skills – as students conduct a field visit, an interview, and/or a digital ethnography, they develop competence in field methods, including: (participant) observation, qualitative interviewing, and/or working with empirical (digital) material.
Critical Thinking – students will analyse complex and often controversial topics from multiple perspectives.
Ethical Reflection – the study of new religions requires students to navigate questions of positionality, representation, bias, and empathy.
Written Communication – students will improve their writing and argumentation skills by writing a field report and composing essays for the final exam.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture
Assessment method
Assessment
The assessment in this course consists of 2 constituent exams:
1. Field Report. The mark for this constituent exam counts 40% towards the final mark of the course.
2. Final Exam. The mark for this constituent exam counts 60% towards the final mark of the course.
Weighing
Please take note of the following. The final mark is determined as the weighted average of the Field Report (40%) and the Final Exam (60%). To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
Students who have participated in all elements of the course, but scored an overall insufficient mark are entitled to a resit. For the Field Report (40%), students are able to submit a resit version within 10 days of receiving the mark and feedback. For those who fail to submit the report by the original deadline, students are given 10 days from the original deadline to submit (this is considered a resit version with no chance of an additional resit). For the Final Exam, students will be given a chance to resit the exam (60%).
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
No single textbook will be used for the course. Primary source texts, digital material, and academic articles will be made available to students via Brightspace or the university library.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Registration À la carte education, Contract teaching and Exchange
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of À la carte education (without taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of Contract teaching (with taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Herta Mohr.