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1 Anthropology of Religion RELS A294-001 Fall 2004 MWF 10:30-11 Anthropology of Religion RELS A294-001 Fall 2004 MWF 10:30-11:20 Adrienne Tremblay Office Hours: [email protected] TBA 865-3943 or by appointment Course Description This course is designed to give students an overview of the anthropological study of religions. Defining religion basically as "a set of beliefs about the supernatural", anthropology allows us to look at the relationships between people and the supernatural in a cross-cultural perspective. Importantly, anthropology looks at religious beliefs and practices in terms of their historical and functional aspects. This course will address issues dealing with the origins of particular religious beliefs, in order to give the student a greater understanding what types of historical factors influence beliefs. We will also discuss ideas about the functionality of religion: why does a particular set of beliefs perpetuate itself and how does that set of beliefs shape the world in which its believers live? Accordingly, this course will look at a variety of religious practices throughout the world, focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on non-Western cultures. Topics such as the existence of witchcraft, the practice of divination, types and functions of religious specialists, religious healing, and the existence of religious movements and cults will be discussed. Requirements: There will be two exams, a mid-term and a final exam. The mid-term will be worth 25% of your grade. The final will be worth 35% of your grade. These exams will cover class lectures, readings, and any films shown in class. Make-up exams will be given only in the most exceptional cases and with prior notification. There will also be two written essays each worth 20% of your final grade. No late essays will be accepted. Instructions for each essay will be passed out in class. Attendance to all classes and exams is expected and will be necessary for you to do well in this class. I do take attendance every class. Please note: students coming in late to class are extremely disruptive. If you are going to be more than 5 min. late, I ask that you do not attend class. Please make sure all cell phones and pagers are turned off during class. No cell phones, pagers, or other electronic devices will be allowed on desks during exams. 1 Mid-term Exam 25% Final Exam 35% Two Essays at 20% each 40% Total 100% Grading Scale: 90 - 100 A 85 - 89: B+ 80 - 84: B 75 - 79: C+ 70 - 74: C 65 - 69: D+ 60 - 64: D 59 or less: F Books: There are three textbooks. Lehmann, Arthur, James Myers, and Pamela Moro Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: An Anthropological Perspective of the Supernatural. 6th Edition. McGraw-Hill. (Magic) Bastien, Joseph Mountain of the Condor: Metaphor and ritual in an Andean Ayllu. Waveland Press. Brown, Karen McCarthy Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Univ. of California Press. Schedule: Week 1: 8/29 - 9/2 Introduction: The Anthropological Study of Religion Geertz, C. "Religion" in Magic Harris, M. "Why We Become Religious" and "The Evolution of the Spirit World" in Magic Lee, D. "Religious Perspectives in Anthropology" in Magic Stipe, C. “Anthropologists versus Missionaries: The Influence of Presupositions” in Magic Sharp, L. "Steel Axes for Stone-Age Australians" in Magic 9/5: Labor Day Holiday Week 2: 9/7 - 9/9 Myth, Symbolism & Taboo Leonard, S. and M. McClure “The Study of Mythology” in Magic Firth, R. "An Anthropologist's Reflections on Symbolic Usage" in Magic Douglas, M. "Taboo" in Magic 2 Week 3: 9/12 - 9/16 Symbolism cont. Bastien, J Mountain of the Condor Chapters 1-3 Ritual Turner, V. W. "Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites of Passage" in Magic Gordon, D. "Female Circumcision in Egypt and Sudan: A Controversial Rite of Passage" in Magic Harrison, E. “I Can Only Move My Feet Towards mizuko kuyo: Memorial Services for Children In Japan” in Magic Miner, Horace, "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" in Magic Film - Sunrise Dance Week 4: 9/19 - 9/23 Ritual & Religious Practitioners Turner, V. R. "Religious Specialists" in Magic Von Furer-Halmendorf, "Priests" in Magic Howells, William, "The Shaman: A Siberian Specialist" in Magic Fobes Brown, Michael, "The Dark Side of the Shaman" in Magic Bastien, J Mountain of the Condor Chapters 4-7 Week 5: 9/26 – 9/30 Healing Lehmann, Arthur, "Eyes of the Ngangas: Ethnomedicine and Power in Central African Republic" in Magic Bergman, Robert, "A School for Medicine Men" in Magic Wedenoja, William, "Mothering and the Practice of 'Balm' in Jamaica" in Magic Rebhun, L. A. “Swallowing Frogs: Anger and Illness in Northeast Brazil” in Magic Bastien, J. Mountain of the Condor Chapters 8-10 Film - Spirit Doctors Week 6: 10/3 - 10/7 Witchcraft & Sorcery Brain, James L., "An Anthropological Perspective on the Witchcraze" in Magic Luhrmann, T. M. “The Goat and the Gazelle: Witchcraft” in Magic McPherson, Naomi, "Sorcery and Concepts of Deviance among the Kabana, West New Britain" in Magic Divination & Magic Evans-Pritchard, E.E., "Consulting the Poison Oracle among the Azande" in Magic Malinowski, Bronislaw, "Rational Mastery of Man of His Surroundings" in Magic 3 Gmelch, George, "Baseball Magic" in Magic Film - Trobriand Cricket 10/7: Essay 1 Due 10/10 - MIDTERM EXAM Week 7: 10/12 - 10/14 The Religious Use of Drugs Huxley, Francis, "Drugs" in Magic Kiyaani, M. and T. J. Csordas “On the Peyote Road” in Magic Furst, Peter T. and Michael Coe, "Ritual Enemas" in Magic Harner, M. "The Sound of Rushing Water" in Magic de Roop, Robert S., "Psychedelic Drugs and Religious Experience" in Magic 10/17: Fall Break Holiday Week 8 & 9: 10/19 - 10/24 Ghosts & Ancestors Mitchell, William E., "A New Weapon Stirs Up Old Ghosts" in Magic Barber, Paul, "The Real Vampire" in Magic Metcalf, Peter, "Death Be Not Strange" in Magic Brandes, S. “The Cremated Catholic: The Ends of a Deceased Guatemalan” in Magic Hanley, C. A., C. Leimer, and J. Lowery “Spontaneous Memoralization: Violent Death and Emerging Mourning Ritual” in Magic Week 9: 10/26 - 10/28 Colonialism & Religion I Brown, Karen McCarthy, "Voodoo" in Magic Brown, Karen McCarthy Mama Lola Film - Bahia, Africa in the Americas Week 10: 10/31 - 11/4 Colonialism & Religion II Brown, Karen McCarthy Mama Lola Week 11: 11/7 - 11/11 Gender & Religion Brown, Karen McCarthy Mama Lola Film - Divine Horsemen Week 12 & 13: 11/14 - 11/18& 11/21 Religious Movements Wallace, Anthony F. C., "Revitalization Movements" in Magic Kehoe, Alice, "The Ghost Dance Religion" in Magic Worsley, Peter M., "Cargo Cults" in Magic 4 Goldstein, M. “The Revival of Monastic Life in Drepung Monastery” in Magic Lewis, Willaim F., "Urban Rastas in Kingston, Jamaica" in Magic 11/23-11/25: Thanksgiving Holiday Week 14: 11/28 - 12/2 Religious Movements cont. Whitmore, J. “Religious Dimensions of the UFO Abductee Experience” in Magic Jankowiak, W. and E. Allen “Adoring the Father: Religion and Charisma in an American Polygamous Community” in Magic Barkun, M “Reflections after Waco: Millennialists and the State” in Magic Week 15:12/5 - 12/9 Globalism, Nationalism, and Religion Hoodfar, H. “The Veil in Their Minds and on Our Heads: Veiling Practices and Muslim Women” in Magic Brouwer, S., P. Gifford, and S. Rose “South Korea: Modernization with a Vengeance, Evangelizism with the Modern Edge” in Magic Juergensmeyer, M. “The Global Rise of Religious Nationalism” in Magic Dalton, L., E. M. Mazur, and M. Siems “Homer the Heretic and Charlie Church: Parody, Piety, and Pluralism in The Simpsons” in Magic 12/9: Essay 2 Due FINAL EXAM: DEC. 12 11:30-1:30 The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus at any time. 5 .
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