Dr. Douglas Cowan

Education:

Ph.D. Religious Studies, University of Calgary
M.Div. (Hons.) Church History, St. Andrew's Theological College
B.A., English Literature, University of Victoria

Research Areas:

• Religion and Film
• Religion and the Internet
• Religion and Material Culture
• Modern Paganism
• New Religious Movements
• Method and Theory in the Study of Religion

In addition to numerous scholarly articles and chapters, Prof. Cowan is the author of Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet (Routledge 2005); The Remnant Spirit: Conservative Reform in Mainline Protestantism (Praeger 2003); Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult (Praeger 2003). He has also edited two books on religion on the Internet: Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet (with Lorne L. Dawson, Routledge 2004) and Religion on the Internet: Research Prospects and Promises (with Jeffrey K. Hadden, JAI/Elsevier 2000).

Most of Prof. Cowan’s major work has focused on two principal areas of interest: (1) religion and the Internet; and (2) a variety of issues related to boundary-making and identity maintenance in assorted religious domains—that is, how religious communities establish and maintain boundaries around different aspects of human life and behavior, how those boundaries are challenged and transgressed, and how transgressions are met and resolved (if indeed they are) by religious adherents. In addition to a number of smaller projects, he is currently researching and writing two books that reflect different aspects of his interest in identity formation and maintenance: Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen and More Than Pointy Hats: The Material Culture of Modern Paganism.

Prof. Cowan regularly presents his work at a number of conferences, including the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion, the Association for the Sociology of Religion, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the Center for the Study of New Religions.

Teaching Areas:

• Sociology of Religion
• Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements
• Religion and Violence
• Religion in America

Excerpt from Prof. Cowan’s Teaching Philosophy:

“Whether I am teaching at the undergraduate or graduate level, whether in a classroom or an independent study situation, my pedagogical goals remain the same: create an environment in which students can (1) interact creatively with the course material; (2) acquire and develop skills in critical thinking, analysis, and expression; (3) recognize that they are partners in the learning process, not simply empty vessels waiting to be filled; and (4) gain an expanded understanding of and appreciation for the phenomenon of religious belief and practice in the different world societies.

Lively, intellectually-informed discussion is the pivot around which all of my graduate seminars are organized. Affectionately known as “the book of the week club,” students in these classes read between thirteen and fifteen primary and/or secondary texts during the course of the semester. In each class, the reading for that particular week is introduced by one of the students. As it says in each of my graduate seminar syllabi: ‘Rather than simply a précis of the work, students will be expected to discuss intelligently the issues and questions raised by the author(s). This includes, but is not limited to: (1) the major issues addressed by the author(s) and the conclusions reached; (2) the theory and method(s) employed; (3) a critical evaluation of the strengths and limitations of the work; and (4) the significant questions or issues which are raised by the study.’ In this manner, students (especially graduate students in the I.Ph.D. program) begin to understand themselves as contributors to the process of knowledge production, and not simply consumers of such information as is produced by others. This is particularly important for senior graduate students who are making the qualitative leap from Master’s level work to the original scholarship required by the Ph.D.”