THE SUPERNATURAL IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

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1 THE SUPERNATURAL IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE REL S424/ANTH 424, Spring 2017 Tu/Th, 2:00 PM 3:15 PM Room: PSFA-310 Professor: Drew Thomases Religious Studies Office Hours: Wednesdays, 1-2 P.M., or by appointment, AL-672 Course Description: This course explores the horizon where anthropology and religious studies meet, more specifically, that disciplinary place where we explore what it means for people across the globe to act religiously. In a world where gods and ghosts and demons roam free, what is our role, as scholars, in analyzing and understanding the supernatural? How do we come to terms with people who see spirits when we see a wall? Here, we will address a wide range of subject matter, including but not limited to witchcraft, Rastafari and reggae, drugs and religious experience, possession, and yoga. We aim to approach these issues with both sympathy and a critical eye, affirming the very human element behind the supernatural. All assignments will be available on Blackboard. Course Learning Outcomes: In this course, students will learn to: Identify key concepts in the anthropology of religion. Contextualize topics and traditions within their particular ethnographic setting. Recognize the social aspects of religious life. Make connections between specifics of different religious traditions, and broader concerns in the study of religion. Assessment Criteria: 1) Attendance and Participation Students are expected to come to every class on time and prepared. Although I will not take attendance during class, attendance will be reflected in your quizzes (see below). Students who regularly make positive contributions to class discussions and display serious engagement with required readings will receive extra credit towards their final grades. 2) Quizzes (20%) There will be a syllabus quiz, which students will complete online by the second week of class. The quiz covers some of the basic features of the syllabus; it can be taken multiple times, and is considered incomplete until the student scores 100%. In addition, students will be given short popquizzes at the beginning of four of our class meetings. The purpose of the quizzes is to ensure that students have done the required readings and have come to the lectures. The lowest quiz score will 1

2 be dropped from the average. Because of this concession, quizzes cannot be made up; students who are absent or tardy will receive a 0 for the quiz, with the notable exception of a family emergency or receiving a note from a doctor for illness. 3) Midterm Exam (30%) There will be a midterm exam on Mar. 2, during class. It will cover what we have learned from lecture, discussion, and the reading up to that point. 4) Ethnographic Essay (20%) For this essay, students are assigned to take their studies outside on the road and to the streets and explore religion as it exists in San Diego. Pick a church, temple, mosque, synagogue, festival, or any other event or place that somehow exhibits religion in practice. Write a short ethnographic essay, of 2-3 pages, that details your visit and summarizes some of your findings. Look to the ethnographic readings that we have read in class for guidance and inspiration. Papers are due in draft form on Apr. 6, when they will be peer-reviewed by members of the class, and then in final form (with draft attached) on Apr ) Final Exam (30%) The final exam will be cumulative covering everything from the first week to the last and held on May 4. Course Policies: Lateness: Assignments not handed in by their due dates will be marked off a full letter grade each day late. Electronic Devices: All phones and electronic devices must be silent during our class period. I strongly encourage you to turn off all phones during class. Students with Disabilities: If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) To avoid any delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations based upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated. Academic Honesty: The University adheres to a strict policy regarding cheating and plagiarism. These activities will not be tolerated in this class. Become familiar with the policy ( Any cheating or plagiarism will result in failing this class and a disciplinary review by Student Affairs. 2

3 Examples of Plagiarism include but are not limited to: Using sources verbatim or paraphrasing without giving proper attribution (this can include phrases, sentences, paragraphs and/or pages of work) Copying and pasting work from an online or offline source directly and calling it your own Using information you find from an online or offline source without giving the author credit Replacing words or phrases from another source and inserting your own words or phrases Submitting a piece of work you did for one class to another class If you have questions on what is plagiarism, please consult the policy ( and this helpful guide from the Library: ( Schedule: Week One Jan. 19: Introduction to Understanding the Anthropology of Religion Week Two Jan. 24: What is the Sacred? Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion, pp Jan. 26: Religion as a Cultural System Clifford Geertz, Religion as a Cultural System, A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion, pp Week Three Jan. 31: The Ritual Process Victor Turner, The Ritual Process, pp , Feb. 2: Taboo Mary Douglas, Taboo, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, pp Sigmund Freud, Selections from Totem and Taboo, in Introducing Religion, Week Four Feb. 7: Myth John Beattie, Nyoro Myth, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, pp Claude Levi-Strauss, Harelips and Twins: The Splitting of a Myth, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, pp Feb. 9: Religious Experience William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, pp Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy, pp

4 Week Five Feb. 14: Experiencing Magic as Anthropologist Edith Turner, A Visible Spirit Form in Zambia, Being Changed by Cross-Cultural Encounters, pp Feb. 16: Why Does the Body Matter? Marcel Mauss, Techniques of the Body, Economy and Society, pp Week Six Feb. 21: Religion and the Senses Feb. 23: Drugs, Festivals, and Ethnographic Authority McKim Marriott, Holi: The Feast of Love, The Life of Hinduism, pp Week Seven Feb. 28: MIDTERM REVIEW Mar. 2: MIDTERM Week Eight Mar. 7: Reggae and Religion Hugh Urban, Rastafari: Messianism, Music, and Ganja, New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements, pp Mar. 9: Hip-Hop, Atheism, and African American Identity Week Nine Mar. 14: Divination E.E. Evans-Pritchard, Consulting the Poison Oracle Among the Azande, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, pp Mar. 16: Witchcraft T.M. Luhrmann, The Goat and the Gazelle: Witchcraft, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, pp Week Ten Mar. 21: Shamanism William Howells, The Shaman: A Siberian Spiritualist, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, pp In-Class Film: The Split Horn (2001) Mar. 23: Shamanism and Healing William Wedenoja, Mothering and the Practice of Balm in Jamaica, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, pp

5 Week Eleven Mar. 28: SPRING BREAK NO CLASS! Mar. 30: SPRING BREAK NO CLASS! Week Twelve Apr. 4: Possession Youngsook Kim Harvey, Possession Sickness and Women Shamans in Korea, Unspoken Worlds, pp Apr. 6: Peer-review of Ethnographic Essays Week Thirteen Apr. 11: Immigration, Diaspora, Pilgrimage Malcolm X and Alex Haley, Mecca, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, pp Apr. 13: NO CLASS Week Fourteen Apr. 18: Yoga and Globalization Ethnographic Essays Are Due Michelle Goldberg, Iyengar and the Invention of Yoga, The New Yorker (23 Aug. 2014). Apr. 20: Transnational Christianity Guest Speaker, Dr. Rebecca Bartel Week Fifteen Apr. 25: Religious Violence I John Stratton Hawley, Militant Hinduism: Ayodhya and the Momentum of Hindu Nationalism, pp In-Class Film: Ram ke Naam (1992) Apr. 27: Religious Violence II Amardeep Singh, Being Sikh in America, New York Times (7 Aug. 2012). Samuel Freedman, If the Sikh Temple Had Been a Mosque, New York Times (10 Aug. 2012). Simran Jeet Singh, Through the Eyes of Sikh Kids: A Profound Lesson in Tolerance, Journal Interactive (25 Aug. 2012). Week Sixteen: May 2: REVIEW FOR FINAL EXAM May 4: FINAL EXAM 5