Researching Religious History

Although researchers use historical and other academic research methods to access questions of religiosity across time, space, and culture, methodology contours the parameters of 'religion' or the 'religious' for a given study. While method defines a systematized means of deriving information from sources and is often subject to disciplinary boundaries, methodology references the premises and assumptions that govern the application of the method. Together, method and methodology shape the sources used and the questions asked within a given project. In this course, we will interrogate theoretical issues related to historical methods, such as historical and epistemic archival violence, alongside the methodological challenges of triangulating religion and religiosity across cultural and chronological chasms in our own work. By exploring research technologies and dissecting groundbreaking work, we will also consider the ways innovative methods can challenge and expand methodological approaches and questions. Finally, moving beyond theory, students will contemplate their own methods and methodologies, explore various ways of accessing and cataloging sources, discuss best practices, and other practical questions related to researching religious history.