{{page>2667guide}} ====== Weekly plan and assigned readings ====== ^08.03 ^ [[1|Why is religion interesting and problematic?]] ^ | | We will discuss the unique weekly cycle this class follows, the assignments, and the research project. We will also share ideas about why religion is interesting and problematic. | ^15.03 ^ [[2|Bring an example of a religious practice you would like to know more about.]] ^ | Read: | Unit outline and assignments, Durkheim | | Write:| Describe an example of a religious practice, and how you learned about it. | | Research: | Tutorials will meet **as scheduled**. | ^22.03 ^ [[3|Why do so many, perhaps all, cultures have religions?]] ^ |Read: | Douglas, Ortner | |Write: | State your answer to the question of the week, and explain your position using examples and reasoning. | |Research: | [[Possible topics]] assignment due this week on Blackboard. This is a good time to browse the stacks. Read widely in several topic areas, and find out what you are curious about. | ^29.03 ^ [[4|Why would someone join a religious commune?]] ^ | Read: | Palmer| | Write:| State your answer to the week's question, and explain your position using examples and reasoning.| | Research:| By now, it would be good to have found one or more [[starting points for your research|detailed ethnographies]] on your topic. Consult with Ryan if you want some ideas.| ^ 05.04 ^ [[5|Can you learn to hear God?]] ^ | Read: | Luhrmann | | Write: | Write one question you can ask in tutorial and one observation about 'hearing God' and other Vineyard practices. | ^ 12.04 ^ [[6|Do religions mix?]] ^ | Read: | Romberg | | Write: | Why does Romberg reject the concept of religious syncretism? Do you agree or disagree and why? | | Research: | [[Progress report]] due this week on Blackboard. | ^19.04 ^ Classes cancelled for syncretistic Judeo-Christian feasting ^ | Research:| You should have one or more ethnographic works on a single topic that you can read over break. Pay attention to what surprises you, and start thinking about your research question.| ^ 26.04 ^ [[7|Is African Christianity just 'African culture'?]] ^ | Read: | Meyer, Newell | | Write: | Write one question you can ask in tutorial and one observation about 'spiritual warfare'. | ^ 03.05 ^ [[8|Is Christianity singular or plural?]] ^ | Read: | Robbins, Cannell | | Write: | Which has a stronger influence on the other: religion on culture, or culture on religion? | ^ 10.05 ^ [[9|Can you buy salvation?]] ^ | Read: | Jones, Brenner\* | | Write: | What would Suzanne Brenner say about Jones's argument? How would Jones respond? | | Research: | [[Thesis statement and outline]] due this week on Blackboard. | ^ 17.05 ^ [[10|Do all societies eventually become secular?]] ^ | Read: | Mahmood, Deeb\* | | Write: | Why do we see an apparent increase in 'public piety' in late modernity, both in the US and the Islamic world? | ^ 24.05 ^ [[11|Do liberal societies need beliefs?]] ^ | Read: | Mahmood, Keane\* | | Write: | Do liberal democracies have a 'sacred'? Should they? | ^ 31.05 ^ [[12|Can religion can change the world?]] ^ | Read: | Gravers, Hertzberg\* | | Write: | Take a stand on the claim that religious movements, political or not, produce greater social change than secular political activism. | ^ 07.06 ^ [[13|To be revealed...]] ^ ^ Reading and finals weeks ^ Final paper due on 6 June on Blackboard. ^ ===== Unit readings (* indicates recommened readings) ===== *Brenner, Suzanne. 1996. “Reconstructing Self and Society: Javanese Muslim Women and ‘the Veil.’” American Ethnologist 23 (4): 673–97. doi:10.1525/ae.1996.23.4.02a00010. Cannell, Fenella. 2005. “The Christianity of Anthropology*.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11 (2): 335–56. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9655.2005.00239.x. *Deeb, Lara. 2009. “Piety Politics and the Role of a Transnational Feminist Analysis.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 15 (January): S112–26. Douglas, Mary. 2002. “The Abominations of Leviticus.” In Purity and Danger:  An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, 51–71. London: Routledge. Durkheim, Emile. 2008. “The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life.” In A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion, edited by Michael Lambek, 34–47. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing. Gravers, Mikael. 2012. “Monks, Morality and Military: The Struggle for Moral Power in Burma—and Buddhism’s Uneasy Relation with Lay Power.” Contemporary Buddhism 13 (1): 1–33. doi:10.1080/14639947.2012.669278. *Hertzberg, Michael. 2014. “The March of the Monks: On the Political Repertoire of Buddhist Monks in Sri Lanka and Myanmar.” In The Great Diversity: Trajectories of Asian Development, edited by Christopher M. Dent and Camilla Brautaset, 103–16. Wageningen, Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers. Jones, Carla. 2010. “Materializing Piety: Gendered Anxieties about Faithful Consumption in Contemporary Urban Indonesia.” American Ethnologist 37 (4): 617–37. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1425.2010.01275.x. *Keane, Webb. 2009. “Freedom and Blasphemy: On Indonesian Press Bans and Danish Cartoons.” Public Culture 21 (1): 47–76. doi:10.1215/08992363-2008-021. Luhrmann, Tanya M. 2004. “Metakinesis: How God Becomes Intimate in Contemporary U.S. Christianity.” American Anthropologist 106 (3): 518–28. doi:10.1525/aa.2004.106.3.518. Mahmood, Saba. 2009. “Religious Reason and Secular Affect: An Incommensurable Divide?” In Is Critique Secular? Blasphemy, Injury, and Free Speech, edited by Talal Asad, Wendy Brown, Judith Butler, and Saba Mahmood, 64–100. Berkeley, Calif.: Townsend Center for the Humanities, University of California. Mahmood, Saba. 2001. “Rehearsed Spontaneity and the Conventionality of Ritual: Disciplines of Şalat.” American Ethnologist 28 (4): 827–53. doi:10.1525/ae.2001.28.4.827. Meyer, Birgit. 1998. “‘Make a Complete Break with the Past.’ Memory and Post-Colonial Modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist Discourse.” Journal of Religion in Africa 28 (3): 316–49. doi:10.2307/1581573. Newell, Sasha. 2007. “Pentecostal Witchcraft: Neoliberal Possession and Demonic Discourse in Ivoirian Pentecostal Churches.” Journal of Religion in Africa 37 (4): 461–90. doi:10.1163/157006607X230517. Ortner, Sherry B. 1973. “Sherpa Purity.” American Anthropologist 75 (1): 49–63. doi:10.2307/672339. Palmer, Susan J. 2010. “The Twelve Tribes: Preparing the Bride for Yahshua’s Return.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 13 (3): 59–80. doi:10.1525/nr.2010.13.3.59. Robbins, Joel. 2001. “God Is Nothing but Talk: Modernity, Language, and Prayer in a Papua New Guinea Society.” American Anthropologist, New Series, 103 (4): 901–12. Romberg, Raquel. 1998. “Whose Spirits Are They?: The Political Economy of Syncretism and Authenticity.” Journal of Folklore Research 35 (1): 69–82.