Module description
Anthropology of religion seeks to understand the relationship between ‘religion’ and ‘society’. This module is an introduction to the concepts, theories and terms necessary for developing a critical understanding of the anthropology of religion. It highlights the importance of anthropological theory and methodology for religious studies and theology by focusing our attention on shared histories and vocabularies. Students will become familiar with classical and contemporary anthropological approaches to asceticism, divinity, purity and sacrifice, for example. While developed to help explain certain phenomenon, these terms inadvertently develop new series of questions and pose new problems. Therefore, through these same terms, we will also explore the limitations and new potentials of anthropology for describing human religious experiences. Our task in this module will be to reveal the complexity inherent in the study of religion and society and to strike ahead with novel, experimental propositions as to what religion and society might become. This module is a foundation for advanced modules in the second and third year.
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Assessment details
One 90 mins examination (100%)
Teaching pattern
1x one-hour lecture, 1x one-hour seminar weekly over ten weeks.