ANTH 2667: The anthropology of religion—a guide to the unit
| 08.03 | Why is religion interesting and problematic? |
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| 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 | Bring an example of a religious practice you would like to know more about. |
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| 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 | Why do so many, perhaps all, cultures have religions? |
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| Read: | Douglas, Ortner |
| Write: | State your answer to the question of the week, and explain your position using examples and reasoning. |
| Research: | Statement of 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 | Why would someone join a religious commune? |
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| 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 detailed ethnographies on your topic. Consult with Ryan if you want some ideas. |
| 05.04 | Can you learn to hear God? |
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| Read: | Luhrmann |
| Write: | Write one question you can ask in tutorial and one observation about 'hearing God' and other Vineyard practices. |
| 12.04 | Do religions mix? |
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| 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 |
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| 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 | Is African Christianity just 'African culture'? |
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| Read: | Meyer, Newell |
| Write: | Write one question you can ask in tutorial and one observation about 'spiritual warfare'. |
| 03.05 | Is Christianity singular or plural? |
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| Read: | Robbins, Cannell |
| Write: | Which has a stronger influence on the other: religion on culture, or culture on religion? |
| 10.05 | Can you buy salvation? |
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| 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 | Do all societies eventually become secular? |
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| 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 | Do liberal societies need beliefs? |
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| Read: | Mahmood, Keane* |
| Write: | Do liberal democracies have a 'sacred'? Should they? |
| 31.05 | Can religion can change the world? |
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| 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 | To be revealed... |
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| Reading and finals weeks | Final paper due on 6 June on Blackboard. |
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*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:10.1163/157006607×230517.
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.