UVM Libraries Research Guides: Religion: Study of Religion

Introductory Series

Some of the books from these series will be in the Howe Library and others can be borrowed through ILL (Interlibrary Loan). The series listed below feature basic introductions to many religions (Taoism, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, African religions, etc.).

Oxford Very Short Introductions: Religion
Check the library for the specific title that you are looking for.
Bloomsbury Guides for the Perplexed
These books need to be accessed through ILL
Oxford Handbooks Online
The titles in this multidisciplinary series offer authoritative surveys of original research in a particular subject area. Specially commissioned essays from recognized scholars in the discipline give critical examinations of the progress and direction of debates, as well as a foundation for future research.
Note: There are many titles in this series--available to UVM affiliates--that are specifically devoted to religion or have substantial content devoted to various topics in religion. To view a list of titles in Religion--> enter the database-> in the "Subject" section at the top of the screen, click "Religion"-> in the list of results, click the tab at the top that tells you the number of Books->when viewing the title list, in the left side-bar, tick the box next to "Unlocked." A green padlock icon indicates a book that UVM provides.

Handbooks, Anthologies, and Monographs

The Bloomsbury Reader in Cultural Approaches to the Study of Religion by M. Cooper Minister (Editor); Sarah J. Bloesch (Editor)
Call Number: BL41 .B56 2018
ISBN: 9781350039797
Publication Date: 2018-08-23
This is the first reader to gather primary sources from influential theorists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries in one place, presenting the wide-ranging and nuanced theoretical debates occurring in the field of religious studies. Each chapter focuses on a major theorist and contains:· an introduction contextualizing their key ideas· one or two selections representative of the theorist's innovative methodological approach(es)· discussion questions to extend and deepen reader engagement.
Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religion by Michael Stausberg and Steven Engler
Call Number: BL41 .R686 2014
Publication Date: 2014
How to Do Comparative Religion? by René Gothóni (Editor); René Gothóni (Editor)
Call Number: BL80.3 .H69 2006
ISBN: 9783110185720
Publication Date: 2005-10-17
Well-known scholars in the study of religions bring up to date and elucidate the discussion on the three most debated approaches in comparative religion, namely, the hermeneutical approach, the explanatory or cognitivist approach, and the critical approach. The approaches and methods of studying religion are disputed in an outspoken and challenging way, critically and radically arguing pros and cons. This work is unique, unrivalled, and full of essential insights into the dialogue of today and of the challenges of tomorrow.
Ritual: Key Concepts in Religion by Andrew Strathern; Pamela Stewart
ISBN: 9781441137296
Publication Date: 2014-03-13
Ritual has emerged as a major focus of academic interest. As a concept, the idea of ritual integrates the study of behavior both within and beyond the domain of religion. Ritual can be both secular and religious in character. There is renewed interest in questions such as: Why do rituals exist at all? What has been, and continues to be, their place in society? How do they change over time? Such questions exist against a backdrop of assumptions about development, modernization, and disenchantment of the world. Written with the specific needs of students of religious studies in mind, Ritual: Key Concepts in Religion surveys the field of ritual studies, looking at it both historically within anthropology and in terms of its contemporary relevance to world events.
The Thing about Religion by David Morgan
ISBN: 9781469662824
Publication Date: 2021-04-12
This concise primer shows readers how to study what has come to be termed material religion--the ways religious meaning is enacted in the material world. Material religion includes the things people wear, eat, sing, touch, look at, create, and avoid. It also encompasses the places where religion and the social realities of everyday life, including gender, class, and race, intersect in physical ways. This interdisciplinary approach brings religious studies into conversation with art history, anthropology, and other fields. In the book, Morgan lays out a range of theories, terms, and concepts and shows how they work together to center materiality in the study of religion. Integrating carefully curated visual evidence, Morgan then applies these ideas and methods to case studies across a variety of religious traditions.
The Norton Anthology of World Religions by Jack Miles (General Editor)
ISBN: 9780393062533
Publication Date: 2014-11-03
This magisterial Norton Anthology, edited by world-renowned scholars, offers a portable library of more than 1,000 primary texts from the world's major religions. To help readers encounter strikingly unfamiliar texts with pleasure; accessible introductions, headnotes, annotations, pronouncing glossaries, maps, illustrations and chronologies are provided.

Study of Religion -- Encyclopedia and Dictionaries

Encyclopedia of Religion
[Print: REF BL 31 .E46 2005 (15 volumes)] One of the most complete and authoritative works on all aspects of religion and traditional belief systems. Presents a cross-cultural approach that emphasizes religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture.
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices
Essays on current religious practices around the world with an emphasis on how religions impact the daily lives of their followers. Essays on specific religions and on religious practices in individual countries.

The Brill Dictionary of Religion Through more than 500 entries, addresses religion as an element of daily life and public discourse. Addresses the different theologies and doctrinal declarations of the official institutionalized religions but it also gives equal weight and consideration to a multiplicity of other religious phenomena.
Call Number: REF BL 31 .M4813 2006 (4 volumes)

Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
Find concise but substantive entries on major and minor religions, sacred writings, traditions, people, festivals, etc.

The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions
Publication Date: 2006
This is a reference for understanding world religious societies in their contemporary global diversity. Comprising 60 essays, the volume focuses on communities rather than beliefs, symbols, or rites. It is organized into six sections corresponding to the major living religious traditions: the Indic cultural region, the Buddhist/Confucian, the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim regions, and the African cultural region.
The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion Published under the auspices of the American Academy of Religion, this highly accessible dictionary has more than 3,200 entries which address everything from the great living traditions such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism to the very latest new religions. Diverse topics related to religion are also included.
Call Number: REF BL 31 .H37 1995
Encyclopedia of Monasticism
Call Number: REF BL 631 .E59 2000 (2 vols)
Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals
Call Number: REF BL 31 .E47 2004

Atlases & Gazetteers

Columbia gazetteer of the world
Encyclopedia of geographical places and features - ancient and modern.

Atlas of the World's Religions
Call Number: REF G 1046 .E4 A7 1999

Mythology

Oxford Companion to World Mythology
Call Number: [Print: REF BL 312 .L44 2005]
Dictionary of World Mythology
Dictionary of Creation Myths

Dictionary of African Mythology

Dictionary of Celtic Mythology

Dictionary of Asian mythology

Databases and Peer Reviewed Journals

Research Databases - Religion
This link will take you to a list of research databases hosted by Howe Library that you can search to find journal articles in the study of religion/s.
Studies in Religion -- Sciences Religieuses
Canadian-based bilingual (English and French) journal for the academic study of religions.
Sociology of Religion
Peer reviewed journal published out of Oxford University Press.
Journal of Religion
From University of Chicago Press.

Disciplinary Studies in Religion

Religion and Psychology by Diane Jonte-Pace; William B. Parsons
Call Number: BL53 .R437 2001
ISBN: 9780415206174
Publication Date: 2000-11-07
Religion and Psychology is a thorough and incisive survey of the current relationship between religion and psychology from the leading scholars in the field. This is an essential resource for students and researchers in the area of psychology of religion.
Religion and Anthropology by Brian Morris
Call Number: BL256 .M67 2006
ISBN: 9780521852418
Publication Date: 2005-11-07
A critical introduction to the social anthropology of religion, focusing on more recent classical ethnographies. Comprehensive, free of scholastic jargon, engaging, and comparative in approach, it covers all the major religious traditions that have been studied concretely by anthropologists - Shamanism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and its relation to African and Melanesian religions and contemporary Neopaganism.