Anthropological Approaches to Religion

3 Units

The development of, and current approaches to, comparative religion from an anthropological perspective. Topics include witchcraft, ritual, myth, healing, religious language and symbolism, religion and gender, religious experience, the nature of the sacred, religion and social change, altered states of consciousness, and evil. Using material from a wide range of world cultures, critical assessment is made of conventional distinctions such as those between rational/irrational, natural/supernatural, magic/religion, and primitive/civilized. Recommended preparation: ANTH 102 . Offered as ANTH 372 , RLGN 372 and ANTH 472 .