Ritual
RELI 307
Fall 2016
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
ANTH 303 |
| Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory |
Religion can be defined through beliefs or traditions or texts, but it always takes physical form through ritual. Ritual is the one universal in religion, but the question of how to understand ritual is possibly the most contested question in the study of religion. Can a ritual be read like a text? How do symbols produce effects, and how should we understand these effects? What is performative speech and how does it work? How does ritual behavior reflect and shape social relationships? This course introduces students to the major approaches of studying ritual. The readings draw heavily, but not exclusively, on anthropological approaches to ritual, both classic texts and recent innovative approaches focusing on language and embodiment. Students will be required to do practical fieldwork observations of rituals so that they can put these texts in dialogue with their research experience. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ANTH)(CSCT)(RELI-MN)(RELI)(STS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 75% - 89% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Arnold van Gennep, THE RITES OF PASSAGE
Victor Turner, THE FOREST OF SYMBOLS
J.L. Austin, HOW TO DO THINGS WITH WORDS
Articles/Selections by Emile Durkheim, Clifford Geertz, E. Valentine Daniel, Talal Asad, Saba Mahmood, Michael Silverstein, Webb Keane and others
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Examinations and Assignments:
Readings, class participation, practical exercises, one in-class presentation, two take home midterms. Exercises and midterms culminate into a final paper based on fieldwork (15-20 pp.) |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fulfills the "Method & Theory" requirement for the Religion Department major. |
| Instructor(s): Quijada,Justine Times: .M.W... 01:20PM-02:40PM; Location: ALLB004; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 6 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 4 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 6 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 0 | FR: 0 |
| Web Resources: Syllabus |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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