MLS 580 - Psychology of Religious Experience

Credit(s): 4
This course is about the scientific and empirically based study of the social and individual religious behaviors of people. From altruism to exorcism, from first communion to fevered visions of a heavenly city, some of humankind’s most interesting behaviors are related to religion. Our topics will include definitions of religion; social sources of individual religious beliefs; religion, mental health, and mental illness; the psychology of conversion; cult membership; the psychology of evil; prayer and meditation; and life-after-death experiences. Students will draw from sources across the liberal arts in completing their individual portfolios on a topic of interest.