Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Religions and Culture
Other languages of instruction: Catalan
Teaching staff
Hours agreed with the teachers.
Introduction
The subject of religions and culture is based on the study of the religious fact from the perspective of the three great religions of the Book (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), in order to focus later on the constitutive features of the religious experience and its relations with the symbolism, art and the scientific culture.
Pre-course requirements
No pre-course requirements are needed to enrol in this subject
Objectives
- Know the religious fact in its different manifestations and identify the basic features of the great religions as a way to help identify and understand the religious plurality existing in today's society.
- Value religious traditions as part of the cultural heritage of the people, assuming the responsibility that supposes their preservation and appreciating as a resource for personal enrichment.
- Know the interrelations between religions and scientific, philosophical and artistic thought. Assess the contributions of religions and sciences in understanding the structure and evolution of the universe and the meaning of human life.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- CP05 - Students will be able to analyse socio-cultural, historical and artistic structures, from a respect for the fundamental rights of equality between men and women, using language that avoids androcentricity and stereotypes.
- HB02 - Students will be able to convey information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- HB03 - Students will be able to develop a coherent understanding and expression of ideas and arguments, both orally and in writing.
- HB04 - Students will be able to develop the capacity for analysis, synthesis and critical thinking.
- HB05 - Students will be able to problem solve based on reasoned judgements.
- HB11 - Students will be able to critically analyse cultural and artistic representations, based on an understanding of their historical context, in order to develop an intercultural perspective and a deeper understanding of the contemporary world.
- HB13 - Students will be able to draw connections between data derived from observations and relevant theories, following data interpretation.
- HB15 - Students will be able to analyse the elements that make up cultural heritage.
Learning outcomes of the subject
Acquire key concepts about religions and religious fact.
Apply theoretical knowledge in analysis and discussion of face-to-face and self-employment activities
Know and select specific documentation on religions
Practice Teamwork Strategies
Learn to contextualize religious phenomenon and relate them to their social and political dimension
Relates concepts of the different materials worked transversally
Learn to diagnose problems in the cultural intellectual field
Applies theoretical and abstract concepts to real situations
Read and analyze essays on current topics
Write narrative and descriptive texts
Analyzes and diagnoses cases of cultural complexity
Syllabus
FIRST PART
Prof. Dr. Joan Hernández
Judaism. Be a Jew and religious books. The Jewish culture (Sephardic / Ashkenazi). The synagogue. The Halakha in everyday life (Xàbat, birth, death, marriage, Bar and Bat Mitzvá, Brit Milan, kosher-caxer food and the laws of Kashrut). The different movements in Judaism. The rabbinic and Torah festivities.
The Islam. Be Muslim. Muhammad, the prophets, the Koran and the Sunna. Sunnis and Shiites. The sentence. The Imam and the mosque. Parties and Halal food. The veil. Islamic traditions and practices from birth to death. Current Islamic currents. Operation of Islamic centers, and federations.
SECOND PART
Prof. Maria Martorell
Cristianism
THIRD PART
Prof. Dr. Albert Moya
1. Towards an understanding of the essence of religion
a) The religious fact
b) The Sacred as an area of religious experience
c) ineffability and mystery in the religious experience
d) Rationality of religious convictions (dialogue faith-reason)
2. Religious symbolism
a) The symbolism as a structural dimension of the person
b) The symbolic universe
c) Transcendence and meaning of the symbol
d) The symbolism of religious language: the importance of the word and the image
e) The grammatical crisis of language and the hiding of the symbol in modernity
f) Towards a return of the symbol
3. Art and religion. Art, pedagogy of faith.
a) Some considerations of a fruitful relationship
b) Iconoclasm and veneration of the images
c) Religious experience and aesthetic experience
d) Beauty as via pulchritudinis and its relationship with truth and kindness
e) Sacred art and art of devotion.
FOURTH PART
Prof. Dr. Josep Corcó
The relationship between scientific culture and religion
a) The relationships between science and religion
b) Modern cosmologies and God
c) Evolutionism and Christianity
d) Scientific determinism and human freedom
e) Science and religion: a positive collaboration
Teaching and learning activities
In person
The teaching-learning methodology combines lectures, colloquiums, oral expositions of the students, search of information and elaboration of individual written works.
Calendar
Prof. Dr. Joan Hernández: 09,16,18/09 09,14,16/10
Prof. Maria Martorell: 25,30/09 02,07/10
Prof. Dr. Albert Moya: 21,23,28,30/10 04,06,11,13,18/11
Prof. Dr. Josep Corcó: 20, 25,27/11 02,04,09,11,16,18/12
Methodology 1st and 2nd part:
85% expository class by the teacher
15% debate and participation class.
Methodology 3er and 4th part:
70% Teacher's lectures
30% Practical classes in which the reading and commentary of texts related to theoretical concepts will be promoted and questions of debate will be raised.
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
The final grade will be the result of:
1. Note of the first part: 23,2%
2. Note of the second part: 10.0%
3. Note of the third part: 33.4%
4. Note of the fourth part: 33.4%
To be evaluated for each of the parts of the subject is necessary to have attended a minimum of 80% of the classes of each part.
The minimum grade required to pass the course is 5 and it is necessary to have approved all the parts to be able to pass the subject.
Each teacher will indicate the type of evaluation that will be necessary for the student to pass his part.
In second call only those parts that have been suspended must be recovered and in case of not exceeding them in second call, no qualification will be maintained.
In the final exam and in the individual works the orthographic regulation of the faculty will be applied, by which each orthographic error implies the loss of 0.1 points.
Bibliography and resources
Bibliography Prof. Dr. Joan Hernandez:
BAROUKH, Elie y LEMBERG, David. Enciclopedia práctica del judaísmo. Teià: Robinbook 1995.
FUENTES ESTANYOL, María José, Judaisme a Catalunya, avui, Barcelona: Pòrtic 2001.
DÍAZ, Carlos, El judaísmo, Madrid: Fundación Emmanuel Mounier 2002.
YAMIN Levy. La tradicion funeraria en el judaisme LLEONARD MUNTANER EDITOR 2010.
ABUMALHAM MAS, M., Comunidades Islámicas en Europa, Madrid: Universidad Computense, Departamento de Estudios Árabes e slámicos – Trotta 1995.
VERNET, Juan. El Corán. Barcelona: Planeta 1995.
BRAMON, D., Una introducciòn al Islam. Religión, historia y cultura. Barcelona: Crítica 2003.
AAVV. L’Islam a Catalunya, Fitxes de treball, Barcelona: Fundació Joan Maragall, Càritas i Apostolat Seglar 2004.
Bibliografia Prof. Maria Martorell
Bibliography Prof. Dr. Albert Moya:
AYMAR, J (Ed.) Simbologia religiosa en l'art occidental. Barcelona: Edimurtra, 2006.
BELTING, H. Imagen y culto. Madrid: Alianza, 2009.
BESANÇON, A. La imagen prohibida. Madrid: Siruela, 2003.
CAILLOIS, R. El hombre y lo sagrado. Madrid: FCE, 1984.
DUCH, LL. Antropología de la religión. Barcelona: Herder, 2001.
ELIADE, M. Lo sagrado y lo profano. Barcelona: Paidós, 2014.
EVDOKIMOV, P. El arte del icono. Teología de la belleza. Madrid: Publicaciones claretianas, 1991
GUARDINI, R. Sobre la esencia de la obra de Arte. Madrid: Guadarrama, 1960.
GUITTON, J. Lo absurdo y el misterio. Valencia: Edicep, 1991.
HAAS, A. Vientos de lo absoluto. Madrid: Siruela, 2009.
LUHMAN, N. La religión de la sociedad. Madrid: Trotta, 2007.
LLUIS FONT, P. Filosofia de la religió. Barcelona: Fragmenta, 2017.
OTTO, Rudolf. Lo santo. Madrid: Alianza, 2005.
OVIEDO TORRÓ, J. La fe cristiana ante los nuevos desafíos sociales. Madrid: Cristiandad, 2002.
PLAZAOLA, J. Historia y sentido del arte cristiano. Madrid: BAC, 1996.
RATZINGER, J. El espíritu de la liturgia. Madrid: Cristiandad, 2001.
REVILLA, F. Fundamentos antropológicos de la simbología. Madrid: Cátedra, 2007.
SAHAGÚN, J. Fenomenología y filosofía de la religión. Madrid: BAC, 1999.
TAYLOR, CH. La era secular. Tomo II. Barcelona: Gedisa, 2015.
TRÍAS, E. Pensar la religión. Barcelona: Galaxia Gutenberg, 2015.
VELASCO, M. Introducción a la fenomenología de la religión. Madrid: Trotta, 2009.
VON BALTHASAR, H.U. Gloria: una estética teológica. Vol.1. Madrid: Encuentro,1985
ZUBIRI, X. Sobre la religión. Madrid: Alianza, 2017.
Bibliography Prof. Dr. J. Corcó:
ARTIGAS, Mariano, Ciencia y religión. Conceptos fundamentales, Pamplona: Eunsa, 2007.
ARTIGAS, Mariano, Ciencia, razón y fe (2a edición), Pamplona: Eunsa, 2011.
COLLINS, Francis S., ¿Cómo habla Dios?, Temas de Hoy, Madrid 2007.
GIBERSON, Karl, ARTIGAS, M., Oráculos de la ciencia, Encuentro, Madrid 2012.
FLEW, A., Dios existe, Trotta, Madrid 2013.
JOU, David, Reescribiendo el Génesis, Barcelona: Destino, 2008
JOU, David. Pensar la Creación. Barcelona: Albada, 2024.
NOVO, J. Evolución. (Para creyentes y otros escépcticos). Madrid: Rialp, 2018.
TABACZEK, M. Divine Action and Emergence. Indiana: Notre Dame University Press, 2021.