ANTH 537 - Anthropology of Religion, Systems of Thought & Moral Imagination
Fall 1999, Thursday 10:10-12:30, TBA

(Dr. Anderson)

This is a course on the social anthropology of religion, cultural analysis of myth and symbolism and recent approaches to religious practices in complex societies. It focuses primarily on systems of thought and dilemmas of combining belief and social action and examines model studies of religious belief and institutions that bear on work, business, education, health, leisure, sex, politics, communication and government in complex societies.

The course has three goals. The first is to familiarize students with classic problems and contributions of the anthropology of religion, its roots in issues of mind and society and views of religion as a kind of social "mind." The second is to introduce its methodological redevelopment as symbolic anthropology for analyzing of systems of thought and ritual action. The third is to examine extensions of research findings from studies in small-scale and third world societies to change and complex societies.

The first half of the course concentrates on anthropological studies of religion in small-scale third world societies and introduces the main outlines and methodological applications developed in studies of religion. The second half concentrates on analysis of belief, representation, symbolism settings of social action addressed in recent studies from complex societies, particularly Islamic settings.

Readings (required):

Plus some articles, on reserve and in the anthropology department.

(recommended)

Requirements:

Come to class prepared to discuss assigned readings.  They are crucial for papers you will write.  Grades will be based on three pieces of written work: one assembling descriptive material on problem or topic that you will develop into a course project (due end of September), a second relating issues raised in course readings and class discussions to your specific topic (due at the end of October in lieu of a mid-term exam), the third an analysis of your topic or issue (due by Thanksgiving for presentation in class and in a final revised form by December 16th).  In this fashion, the final paper should be developed throughout the course as a project to be presented at the last class meetings and then in a final, written form. The purpose of this exercise is to help you help you develop and problematize a topic about religious belief and practice in action. These papers may address religious movements, missionizing, religious communities, revivalism, religious settings of work, organization or revolution, issues of religion and culture/society, organized and "alternative" religion in the postmodern world, religious communication, interreligious dialogues, etc.

For this course, you are urged to create a WWW homepage where you assemble descriptive material, preliminary analyses and the final paper;  this makes it available to others in the class for comment, suggestions and other feedback along the way.  By this means, members of the class help each other and extend discussion beyond class meetings.  Make links to resources on the Internet.  Enthusiasts turn the Internet an interesting medium for material on religion, religious communication and representations of religion, both analytical and programmatic. A useful starting point is a WWW page for Academic Study of Religion, which is heavily weighted with sites on Buddhism.  For Islam, the Muslim Students Association has an extensive listing of organizations and publications. You may also find lively discussions of religious issues and particularly matters of religious identity and practice in the post-modern world in the many on-line newsgroupsdevoted to such issues.

If you plan to use Internet resources for your project, be sure to consult -- and follow -- the MLA Style Sheet for Citing Electronic Sources. For how to use the CUA computing system, see the Users' Guide. And check Mullen Library's Guide to Internet Resources.

Course Outline & Syllabus
(* required reading for discussion in class)

(Sep 2) Introduction
Origins and interests of the anthropology of religion: rationalism, secularism and enchanted worlds; from comparative religion to mind & society; primitivism & social change.

CLASSIC PROBLEMS

(Sep 9) Religion Observed in Social Science

(Sep 16) The Problem of Mind & Society

(Sep 23) Symbolism & Ritual Action

(Sep 30) Structuralism, Self-evidence & Phenomenologies of Belief

FIRST ASSIGNMENT DUE  (Outlining your topic)

(Oct 7) Ritual, from Social Transformation to Indigenous Hermeneutics

(Oct 14) Ritual & Social Authority

SOCIAL CHANGE & RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS

(Oct 21) Religious Syncretism & Its Ambivalences

(Oc t 28) Local/transnational Relations

SECOND ASSIGNMENT DUE  (Issues in course readings relevant to your topic)

(Nov 4-11) Organizational Values, Authority & Change

(Nov 18)  American Anthropological Association Meeting (NO CLASS)

(Nov 25)  Thanksgiving Vacation

(Dec 2-9) Student Presentations

At this point, you should have preliminary analytical treatments of your topics ready to present in class for discussion and feedback

 

Final Paper due: DEC 16

The final paper should be treated as a course-long project that you develop in tandem with course readings, which you use to refine/rethink a topic that interests you. These topics can be as broad or as narrow as fundamentalism in a particular religious tradition, the complex, and continuing, relations between religion and economics (for instance, the "confucian values" of Asian capitalisms, or contermporary twists in Protestant work ethic) or purposive social movements; it can be comparative or a case study. It may focus, as much of the anthropology of religion has, on ritual (e.g., liturgy, diagnosis and healing) and myth (e.g., as part of or as a way of conveying theology) or on contemporary issues of transnational cultures (e.g., of religious beliefs, organizations) and their various localizations, "civic" religion and claims about the "end of ideology" in post-modern societies or on indigenous representations of those processes.

Some recent studies that may prove useful or serve as models for analysis of problems of particular interest to students.

Rev: 5-14-99