Religion and Rocks
RELI 326
Fall 2026
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
STS 341 |
In the last few decades, scholars have increasingly cautioned against anthropocentrism in the natural and social sciences, calling our critical and ethical attention to the worlds of nonhuman animals, vegetables, funghi, bacteria, and even quarks. Attuned as we've become to this entangled riot of agents, one might be forgiven for wanting something unquestionable (not to mention unmoving) to stand on. Nevertheless, this course will suggest we turn our attention to the literary, religious, cultural, and scientific imagination of rocks. Why do children collect rocks; what do geologists learn from them; what does industry do to them? How does a mountain become sacred; how do sages encourage stones to speak; who buys and sells crystals, and why? And why is it the case that, even though particular people hold particular stones, gems, mountains, planets to be powerful and even sacred, the category of "rocks" seems not to merit much critical (much less ethical) consideration? |
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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: (Religion Minor)(Religion) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
:
Áila Kel Katajamäki O¿Loughlin "Surely, you don¿t mean rocks": Indigenous Kinship Ethics, Moral Responsibility, and So-Called 'Natural Objects'
Arthur Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Being
Pseudo-Dionysius, The Divine Names
Sylvia Wynter, "On the Coloniality of Being"
Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk
Diane Ackerman, The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral
Elizabeth Povinelli, "Do Rocks Listen?"
Dipesh Chakrabarty, Inscriptions of Nature: Geology and the Naturalization of Antiquity
Mircea Eliade, "The Moon and Its Mystique," "Sacred Stones," "The Symbolism of the Centre"
Marcia Bjornerud, Timefulness
John S. Lewis, Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets
Edwin Birnbaum, Sacred Mountains of the World
Daniel Capper, "American Buddhist Protection of Stones"
Ethan Doyle White, "Old stones, new rites: contemporary pagan interactions with the medway megaliths"
Joseph P. Laycock, "What¿s Behind the Enduring Popularity of Crystals?"
Adam Becker, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control Humanity¿s Fate
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly Moodle posts, one midterm prospectus and annotated bibliography, one final project. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course counts as an "additional course" for the Religion major/minor.
Permission of Instructor. Please fill out the Google form at this link by April 10, 2026 - https://forms.gle/4w5uxfDuPnvHGLqv8 |
| Instructor(s): Rubenstein,Mary-Jane Times: .....F. 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 15 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
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