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Unit of study_
RLST2640: Contemporary Religious Trends
2025 unit information
Contemporary Australia manifests low levels of institutional religion, a multi-cultural and multi-faith population, and a vocal atheist/ secularist lobby. Students explore religion in the media and law, the Constitution, and Census data on religion. Issues examined include atheism and secularity, Aboriginal religion, values, sport and ANZAC as religious phenomena.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Arts and Social Sciences
| Study level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Studies in Religion |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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12 credit points at 1000 level in Studies in Religion |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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RLST2627 or RLST3603 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Students will be able to critically assess the role of religion in Australian culture, past and present, and understand the political meanings of particular constructions (media, legal, political) of religion;
- LO2. Students will successfully identify the ‘religious’ elements of secular Australian observances such as Anzac Day, sporting fandom, and cultural institutions;
- LO3. Students will develop research questions and engage a range of sources (academic publications, government reports, personal communications, media and popular discourses) to prepare sophisticated oral and written work on current issues;
- LO4. Students will encounter Australians of diverse ethnic, social, cultural and religious backgrounds in egalitarian and ethical ways; and
- LO5. Students will take the body of knowledge they have acquired and relate it to their own life-contexts, contributing to life-long learning.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Session 2 Early Census 2025
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Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Find your current year census dates
Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
