Conversion and Negotiation

4 credits · Undergraduate

Conversion often refers to changing religions. This process can be personal or historical, involve a single individual or entire groups, such as at the moment of colonization of the Americas, when thousands of indigenous people were forcibly or willingly converted to Christianity. But what does it mean to convert? Is it a one-time event by which change gets effected and is final, or, does it involve multiple negotiations? Does the converter become curious about and affected by the beliefs of those he tries to gain over to his religion? What implications does this have for art, technology, thought? We will look at how this concept gets represented in different media and divergent forms of literacy: textual, pictorial, ritual.