Department of Religious Studies

The Department trains its students:

- to be aware of the beginnings and evolution of religion, its role in the formulation of man and society;

- to be conversant with ancient and contemporary religions;

- to be able to define the place and role of religion and church organizations in the context of contemporary culture.

Future employment prospects for graduates lie in college and museum work, consultancy work both in private and state organizations. In the course of the training undergraduates are given the possibility of studying two foreign languages, like all students of the Faculty, and the basics of classical languages - Greek, Latin, Old Church Slavonic, as well as Oriental Languages. The Department maintains a close working relationship with various international religious and public organizations, engaged in research and education. For example, “Buddha’s Light International Association” (USA, Taiwan), which presented the Faculty with a valuable collection of Buddhist texts in Chinese. Special attention is paid to international exchange programmes and getting grants for educational trips to University centres abroad.

After a four-year course our students receive a Bachelor’s Degree in Religious Studies, and after a further two-year course - a Master’s Degree. Apart from the Humanities and social-economic disciplines, compulsory subjects include:

- Introduction to Religion Studies

- Introduction to the History of Religion

- Mythologies and Religions of the Ancient World

- Hindu and Buddhist Cultures and Religions

- Religions of the Far East

- History of Judaism

- History of Orthodoxy

- History of Catholicism

- History of Protestantism

- Christian Sectarianism

- History of Islam

- History of Freethinking

- Psychology of Religion

- Sociology of Religion

- Philosophy of Religion

From the philosophical disciplines undergraduates study “Logic”, “Aesthetics”, “Ethics”, “History of Western European Philosophy”, “History of Foreign Philosophy”, “History of Russian Philosophy”, “Social Psychology”, “Philosophical Anthropology”, “Philosophy of Science”, “Rhetoric and Theory of Argumentation” and others.

Optional courses are as follows: “Genesis of Man and Human Society”, “Ethnography”, “Art and Religion”, “The Bible as a Historical and Cultural Monument”, “Ancient Philosophy of Religion”, “Medieval Catholic Theology and Philosophy”, “Philosophy and Religion in the 20th century”, “Church and State in the History of Russia”, “Church-State Relationship in Europe and USA”, “Buddhism in Chinese Culture”, “Science and Religion”, “Moral Issues in Russian Philosophy and Orthodox Theology”.

Instruction in the subjects studied is provided by highly qualified teaching staff of the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies headed by Associate Professor M. M. Shakhnovich. Guest lecturers from other research institutions of St. Petersburg are also invited.

The Department runs a course of post-graduate studies in “Philosophy of Religion”. It also holds two regular seminars: “Religions and Culture” and “Christianity on the Brink of the Third Millennium”. The Department’s staff publish annually a number of academic papers, including translations and conference theses. Among the monographs are “Philosophy of Religion by K. Jaspers. Critical Analysis” (1982), and “German Existentialism and Religion” (1990) by A. N. Tipsina, “Taoism. Experience and Description in Terms of History of Religious Studies” (1993) and “World Religions” (1997) by Y. A. Torchinov, “History and Ideology of Qumran Community” (1994) by I. R. Tantlevskiy, “Paradoxes of Epicurean Theology” (2000) by M. M. Shakhnovich.

Exercises:

I. Comprehension Questions.

1. What are the qualifications necessary for a specialist in Religious Studies?

2. Where can the graduates of the Department work?

3. What graduate programmes does the Department offer?

4. What disciplines do the compulsory subjects include?

5. Name some of the optional courses.

6. How can undergraduates participate in research work of the Department?

II. Word Study.

1. Pay attention to the difference between the words historic and historical:

historic - important in history; having or likely to have an influence on history.

E.g. a historic battle; a historic meeting between two great leaders, etc.

historical - 1. connected with history as a study

E.g. historical research; a historical society, etc.

- 2. based on or representing events in the past

E.g. a historical play/novel

2. Translate into English:

историческое здание
исторический музей
историческая договоренность между двумя державами
исторический документ
исторический эпос
исторический фильм
историческое событие
исторический факультет
исторический кружок

3. Learn the pronunciation and remember the following words:

aesthetics/isˈθetɪks/, n	Buddha/ˈbʊdə/, n
Buddhist /ˈbʊdɪst/, n or a	Catholicism/kəˈθɒlɪsɪz(ə)m/, n
Chinese/ʧaɪˈni:z/, n or a	church/ʧə:ʧ/, n
Epicurean/ˌepɪkjʊəˈri:ən/, n or a	existentialism/ˌegzı'stenʃəˌlızm/, n
genesis/ˈʤenɪsɪs/, n	Hindu /ˈhɪndu:, -ˈdu:/, n or a
Islam/ˈɪzlɑ:m, -læm, -ˈlɑ:m/, n	Judaism/ˈʤu:deɪˌɪz(ə)m/, n
medieval/ˌmedɪˈI:v(ə)l/, a	monograph/ˈmɒnəˌgr ɑ:f/, n
mythology/mɪ'θɒləʤɪ/, n	Orthodoxy/ˈɔθəˌdɒksɪ/, n
pedagogical/ˌpedəˈgɒgɪk(ə)l, -ˈgɒʤɪk(ə)l/, a	psychology/saɪˈkɒləʤɪ/, n
rhetoric/ˈretərɪk/, n	sectarianism/sekˈteərɪəˌnɪz(ə)m/, n
Taoism/ˈtaʊɪz(ə)m/, n	theology/θɪˈɒləʤɪ/, n

4. Match the term to the definition:

a. mythology	1. the study of religion and religious beliefs
b. theology	2. the study of science of beauty, especially in art
c. aesthetics	3. the beginning or origin
d. Islam	4. the study of myths in general and the beliefs they contain
e. genesis	5. the scientific study of societies and human behaviours in groups
f. sociology	6. the Muslim religion started by Mohammed
g. psychology	7. the study of science of the mind and the way it works and influences behaviour

5. Study the table and remember the forms:

Singular	Plural
thes is analys is ethic s aesthetic s NB!logic_ millenn ium	thes es (a word of Greek origin) analys es (a word of Greek origin) ------- ------- ------- millenn ia (a word of Latin origin)