What's the Matter (with Religion)?

Undergraduate

We (and everything around us) matter and are made of matter. When it comes to common cultural conceptions, however, religion is all too often conceived of as a purely spiritual, transcendent, and supernatural domain. This course challenges those assumptions by drawing on recent approaches that emphasize and also interrogate the power and agency of things, whether human or non-human, organic or inorganic, tangible or intangible. Part one of the course equips students with key theoretical frameworks, including thing theory, vital materialism, animacies, entanglements, symmetrical archaeology, and affect and emotion. Part two consists of deep dives into selected case studies, organized under the following thematic headings: aniconism and the immaterial, materializations of ritual practice (oracles, magic, and fetishes), apparitions and hauntings, movements and migrations, consumption and consumerism, illness and contagion, and ecology and the environment. As we traverse these topics, we encounter materialities ranging from ancient Greek rock art, Roman oracle shrines, and recipes for magical spells and visions of saints in Egypt, to devotional items confiscated from undocumented immigrants, the marketing of religion by Goldman Sachs and Kanye West, viral epidemics, and “natural” disasters. Students come away from this seminar better able to recognize and act upon what matters in the world. HU T 9:25am-11:20am