ANTH 440: Religion and Culture

Course Description

What is religion and how does it shape us? This course begins to answer these questions by exploring religious diversity around the world through the lens of a variety of topics in the anthropology of religion. These include sacred symbols, ritual and rites of passage, prayer, shamanism, witchcraft, and spirit possession. We examine changing approaches to the study of religion and address the myriad ways religion intersects with other aspects of social life including kinship, food, and politics. Students end the course by conducting their own ethnographic research of a religious event, ritual specialist, or sacred place. (AY). (W, AY).