Kurzus nemzetközi vendég- és részidős hallgatóknak
- Kar
- Társadalomtudományi Kar
- Szervezet
- TÁTK Kulturális Antropológia Tanszék
- Kód
- EKAN108
- Cím
- Anthropology of Religion
- Tervezett félév
- Őszi
- Meghirdetve
- 2024/25/1
- ECTS
- 3
- Nyelv
- en
- Oktatás célja
- Richard Papp Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences pappriki@gmail.com +20 9508118 The goal of the course and ability to acquire The goal of the course to analyse the exciting and current questions of religion with recent social- cultural anthropological examples and think about these question with members of particular religious communities in the field trips of the semester. The further aim of the semester to help the students to learn the approach of cultural anthropology with the help of theories of anthropology of religion and their personal experiences of our field trips. After the semester the students will be able to interpret religious practises, ideas, myths and rituals. The knowledge and skills which they can improve during the semester can be used in the theoretical and methodological courses of the Master Programme and their final thesis research.
- Tantárgy tartalma
- Course description Every culture has ideas about supernatural existences. The anthropology of religion studies these ideas from the perspective of the religious practises and institutions. The research of religion can show us diverse systems and forms of religion as animism, shamanism, Buddhism or the monotheist religions. According to the research results of anthropology we can understand in deep numerous “hidden” phenomena of the cultures as metaphysical or ontological ideas, concepts of body, soul and spirit, magic beliefs, practise and symbols. In the semester we analyse these mentioned phenomena with examples of particular religious processes and activities as pilgrimage, spiritual healing or the forms of rite of passage. We also pay a detailed attention to correlations of religion, cultural identity and politics as well as the modern secularism, spirituality and fundamentalism. The anthropology of religion as every cultural anthropological approach, interpret religion from the perspective of everyday practice, rituals and the personal level of the people. With this in mind, in the semester we visit six religious or spiritual communities to receive a deep empirical impression and knowledge about their ethos and everyday culture. Furthermore, in the semester we meet the questions of mythology and rituals. According to the social and cultural anthropological theories, the myths tell and interpret for the members of a community what and why does everything exist in the world and our society. In the rituals these narratives become experienced. The basic narratives of the cultures and the connected rituals are not belongs only to the religions, they are fundamental parts of the common sense of every society. The myths express the ethos of an ethnic or social group, a nation, a state or a generation. The rituals are emotive possibilities for the participants to relive the feelings of the common belongings and to be received from the common cultural knowledge. Structure of the course Lectures 1-3: Introduction lectures about the science history of anthropology of religion and the main approach, questions and theories of the anthropology of religion. Explanations of the terms of religion and culture with their universal and particular attributes. Lectures 4-6: Visiting an ashram of the Hare Krishna Movement (ISCON), a Buddhist community or a Yoga studio, and a Muslim mosque Lecture 7: Discussion the students’ experiences in the ashram, Buddhist community and mosque. Lectures 8-10: Visiting a synagogue, a Christian congregation and an organization of Scientology. Lecture 11: Discussion the student’ experiences in the synagogue, Christian congregation and Scientologist organization. Lecture 12: Summary of the course
- Számonkérés és értékelés
- Conditions of the course completion and assessment 50% Participation in the visiting field trips and active participation in the classwork and discussion the field experiences. (Absences are acceptable in accordance with the rules of the Faculty) 50 %: Writing an essay about the experiences in at least one visited community from the perspective of anthropology of religion. The length of the essay is not specified. The criterion for the essay is to contain reflexive interpretations of the chosen community’s symbols, space, narratives of the communities’ members who we meet. Furthermore, the students must interpret their descriptions and experiences with using relevant terms and theories of anthropology of religion. The essays will be discussed with the professor.
- Irodalomjegyzék
- Bibliography, additional materials Bowie, Fiona 2006. The Anthropology of Religion. Blackwell Publishing and Maljefit, Annemarie de Waal 1968. Religion and Culture. New York – London: The Macmillan Company – Collier – Macmillan Limited are highly recommended readings. You will find chapters related to our topics. Detailed syllabus 1-3. Approaches, theories and terms of anthropology of religion The scientific aim of anthropology of religion is to understand and interpret the religious significances in their holistic context. With this in mind, in the first lectures the students are introduced to the common scientific pillars of social and cultural anthropology of religion. During the lectures we explore the history and academic schools of social and cultural anthropology, the main theories and their changes from the perspective of today’s anthropology of religion. Furthermore, we also dispute ethical and methodological dilemmas of the social and cultural anthropological research on religion with the students. READINGS: Bowie, Fiona 2006. The Anthropology of Religion. Blackwell Publishing : 1-34 Maljefit, Annemarie de Waal 1968. Religion and Culture. New York – London: The Macmillan Company – Collier – Macmillan Limited: 172–196 4. Visiting an ashram of the Hare Krishna Movement (ISCON) 5. Visiting a Buddhist community or a Yoga class 6. Visiting a mosque 7. Discussion in the class/ I. Discussion the students’ experiences in the ashram, Buddhist community and mosque. The students reflect on their personal impressions and observations from the anthropological perspective. The discussion is organized and reflected by the professor Readings: Geertz, Clifford : Religion as a cultural system http://nideffer.net/classes/GCT_RPI_S14/readings/Geertz_Religon_as_a_Cultural_System The Encyclopedia of World Religions armchairpatriot.com/Encyclopedias/Encyclopedia%20of%20World%20Religions.pdf 8. Visiting a synagogue 9. Visiting a Christian congregation 10. Visiting an organization of Scientology 11. Discussion in the class/ II. Discussion the students’ experiences in the synagogue, Christian congregation, and organization of Scientology. The students reflect on their personal impressions and observations from the anthropological perspective. The discussion is organized and reflected by the professor Readings: Malcolm Hamilton 2001. The Sociology of Religion. Theoretical and comparative perspectives. New York, Routledge The Encyclopedia of World Religions armchairpatriot.com/Encyclopedias/Encyclopedia%20of%20World%20Religions.pdf 12. Summary of the course by the professor