Religion, Myth and Magic

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Spirit possession in Africa, Catholic piety in Mexico, and mortuary rituals in Borneo could all be described as manifestations of religion. But what do we mean by the term “religion,” and how might we compare different religions (and their corollaries, myth and magic) across the globe? By building upon these examples and many others, this course will help you think about religion from a comparative perspective, both across various cultures and between your own beliefs and those of others. Along the way, you will encounter and evaluate core concepts in the anthropology of religion such as purity and pollution, the sacred and the profane, ritual, sacrifice, and witchcraft. You will learn to articulate prominent theories of religion, and, by pairing foundational texts in anthropology with select case studies, you will grow in your ability to think and see as a budding ethnographer of religion.