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Magic, Religion, Witchcraft and Healing - ANTH 12 Las Positas College Spring 2009 V01 - TTh 11:00 - 12:15 PM, room 2205 [CRN: 31541] REQUIRED READING, WEEKLY QUIZZES, AND GRADING RUBRICS CAN BE FOUND ON LPC’S BLACKBOARD WEBSITE. YOU MUST ACCESS THIS WEBSITE EVERY WEEK IN ORDER TO COMPLETE YOUR ASSIGNMENTS AND PASS THE CLASS! Instructor: Lauren Wells Hasten Email: lhasten@laspositascollege.edu (please put "ANTH 12" in the subject field) Office phone: 925-424-1210; please use email for urgent messages. Office hours: M, T, W 12:30 - 1:30 PM, room 2411C ** also available by appointment**
Important Dates: 2/8 - Last day for NGR; 2/20 - Last day for C/NC; 4/10 - Last day for "W".
Click here to jump to class schedule. Course Description: Welcome to the anthropological study of religion, a cross-cultural investigation into the religious beliefs and practices of small-scale societies. This course will combine academic readings with a variety of indigenous sources from ancient India to Viking Iceland. We'll begin by examining some of the classic theoretical approaches to the subject, settling on a combination of cultural materialism and Geertzian interpretivism as our operational paradigms. We'll discuss a great variety of topics, including ritual practices and practitioners, folklore and mythology, ghosts and ancestors, and faith healing. Serious academic study of this topic requires both an open mind and a sense of security in one's own beliefs; the readings selected for the course are not intended to challenge your religious convictions, but to expand your understanding of the human cultural adaptation known as religion. We adhere to the ideal of cultural relativism in this course, wherein we refrain from making ethnocentric judgments about the cultures we study; all cultural practices make sense when viewed in context. Through the exploration of alternative belief systems, students can come to understand both the universality of human faith and the great diversity of its expression. Students are expected to read the assigned pages for the week and log onto Blackboard to take the corresponding quiz before coming to class. More than 13% of your grade will be based on class participation, and you cannot contribute to the conversation if you have not done the reading. Students are also expected to attend designated film screenings and participate in debriefing sessions afterwards; the content of these films will be included in exams. Success in this class depends upon: (1) your consistent and on-time attendance; (2) your informed participation in class discussions; (3) your successful completion of weekly online quizzes; (4) your submission of a final paper, and (5) your performance on midterm and final exams. It is important to keep up with your assignments and come to class prepared to participate. Plagiarism and cheating are serious academic offenses. Any time you provide information that is not common knowledge, you must tell the reader where you obtained it; if you do not, you have committed plagiarism. Plagiarism or cheating of any kind on any assignment will result in a grade of F on that assignment and a deduction of three times its point value from your total score; furthermore, plagiarism on any part of a multi-part assignment will result in the loss of any opportunity to complete that assignment. All instances of cheating or plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Students and noted on the student's academic record.
Class Policies: • No late papers or make-up exams will be granted except in cases of extreme need or emergency. • Regular attendance is required; I reserve the right to drop any student for poor attendance. • You must arrive on time and remain seated until the class is over. Students who consistently arrive late and/or leave early will be counted as absent and dropped from the class. • You must inform me in advance if you anticipate that you will be leaving early; please take a seat close to the exit so as not to distract your fellow students. • Once you have arrived in class you are expected to remain seated for the duration. Students who sign the attendance sheet and then leave without informing me will be counted as absent. • Films are required viewing; attendance is mandatory and notes should be taken. • All cell phones must be turned off during class time. • Any student who arrives for an exam after other students have taken it and left the room will not be allowed to take it. • Sleeping in class will not be tolerated; please stay home if you are that tired. • NO EXTRA CREDIT WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Required Text: 1. Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, 6th Edition, by Arthur C. Lehmann, James E. Myers, and Pamela A. Moro. McGraw Hill 2005. ISBN: 0-07-286318-8. 2. Selected readings, made available in Blackboard. Grading:
1. Weekly Online Essays (25.9% of your grade) Once you have done the reading for the week, you must log onto Blackboard, access the site for the course, and take the online quiz for the week, which will consist of one essay question. You will have only one opportunity to complete the quiz and you must do so the first time you open it, so do not open the quiz until you have completed the assigned reading! DO NOT QUICK ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE PAGE WHEN THE QUIZ IS LOADED OR YOU MAY BE LOCKED OUT! All quizzes must be completed by the beginning of class on the day they are due. Each quiz essay will be worth 2 points per week for a total of 28 points (25.9%) toward your final grade.
2. In-Class Participation (13.8% of your final grade) You are required to speak in this class, and it is difficult to do well without doing so. Anthropology is impossible without dialogue, as is serious scholarship of virtually any kind. The surest way to learn something is to talk it over with someone else, which is the whole point and purpose of attending classes. Reading can be done alone, but change requires human interaction. Secondarily, the course will be a bore for everyone if the only one talking is your instructor. So do the reading, prepare for the weekly group work, and be sure to have at least one relevant thing to contribute to the class discussion each and every week. You can earn up to 15 points (12.5% of your final grade) through class participation, which is absolutely essential if you intend to earn an A or a B in this course.
3. Final Paper - Your Secular Ritual (13.8% of your final grade) Click here for a rubric to attach to your final paper. Use it as a guide to be sure that your submission meets all requirements.
4. Exams (one Midterm and one Final Exam: 46.29% of your grade) Midterm and final examinations will be composed of essays which require you to apply a theoretical analysis to various questions posed. The final examination focuses exclusively on material covered after the midterm exam.
(34 Classes over 17 Weeks)
WEEK 1: Course Introduction: What is an "Anthropology of Religion?" Week of 1/20 - First Week of Class; Course Introduction Reading: 1. Horace Miner, "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema." (in MWR, 3:140)
Week of 1/26 - Film Discussion #1 Reading: 1. Scupin, #1. Film: In the Light of Reverence
WEEK 3: Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, part one Week of 2/2 Readings: 1. Freud. 2. Important Contributors to the Science of Cultural Anthropology
WEEK 4: Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, part two Week of 2/9 Readings: 1. Scupin, #2. 2. Bronislaw Malinowski, "Rational Mastery by Man of His Surroundings." (In MWR, 7:288) 3. Mary Douglas, "Taboo." (In MWR, 2:72)
WEEK 5: Mythology and Folklore, part one Week of 2/16 1. Tarzia.
WEEK 6: Mythology and Folklore, part two Week of 2/24 Readings: 1. "The Lay of Thrym," from The Poetic Edda (Icelandic/Norse) FYI: Click here for a synopsis of the Norse creation story. FYI: The Family Tree of the Norse Gods.
WEEK 7: Mythology and Folklore, part three Week of 3/2 2. "The Lay of Fafnir," from The Poetic Edda (Icelandic/Norse) FYI: Click here for a synopsis of the Volsunga Saga.
WEEK 8: Mythology and Folklore, part three Week of 3/9 Readings: 1. "Agni," from the Rig Veda (India) 2. "Soma," from the Rig Veda (India)
WEEK 9: Midterm Review and Exam Week of 3/16 - 1st meeting - review; 2nd meeting - exam. No readings.
Week of 3/23 Readings: 1. Victor W. Turner, "Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage." (In MWR, 3:96) Film: Ile Aiye (The House of Life)
WEEK 11: Shamans, Priests, and Prophets, part one Week of 3/30 Readings: 1. Victor W. Turner, "Religious Specialists." (In MWR, 4:147) 2. William Howells, "The Shaman: A Siberian Spiritualist." (In MWR, 4:160) 3. Michael Fobes Brown, "Dark Side of the Shaman." (In MWR, 4:168)
-- SPRING BREAK WEEK, 4/6 - 4/10 --
WEEK 12: Shamans, Priests, and Prophets, part two Week of 4/13 - Film Discussion #2 -- Click here for in-class discussion questions. AND Film Discussion #3 -- Click here for in-class discussion questions. No readings. Film: Shaman of the Andes Film: Between Two Worlds: A Hmong Shaman in America
Week of 4/20 Readings: 1. Arthur C. Lehmann, "Eyes of the Ngangas: Ethnomedicine and Power in Central African Republic." (In MWR, 6:211) 2. L. A. Rebhun, "Swallowing Frogs: Anger and Illness in Northeast Brazil." (In MWR, 6:233)
WEEK 14: Witchcraft, Sorcery and Magic Week of 4/27 Readings: 1. George Gmelch, "Baseball Magic." (In MWR, 7:294) 2. E. E. Evans-Pritchard, "Consulting the Poison Oracle Among the Azande." (In MWR, 7:282) 3. James L. Brain, "An Anthropological Perspective on the Witchcraze." (In MWR, 7:258) FINAL PAPER DUE THURSDAY, 4/30! Click here for a rubric to attach to your final paper. Use it as a guide to be sure that your submission meets all requirements.
WEEK 15: Ghosts, Souls, and Ancestors, part one Week of 5/4 Readings: 1. William E. Mitchell, "A New Weapon Stirs Up Old Ghosts." (In MWR, 8:305) 2. C. Allen Haney, Christina Leimer, and Juliann Lowery, "Spontaneous Memorialization: Violent Death and Emerging Mourning Ritual." (In MWR, 8:333)
WEEK 16: Ghosts, Souls, and Ancestors, part three - Inuit "Ghosts" Week of 5/11 Readings: 1. Rachel Attituq Qitsualik, "Anirniq: An Inuit 'Ghost' Story."
WEEK 17: Course Wrap-up Week of 5/18 - Final Exam Review
THE LAST DAY OF CLASSES FOR THE SPRING SEMESTER IS THURSDAY, 5/21. FINALS BEGIN FRIDAY, 5/22!
FINAL EXAM: Thursday, May 28, *9:30 AM*
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Anthropology of Religion Links - still under construction; here's a start. Please submit links! The Textbook Companion Site to Magic, Witchraft, and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural - Use this site to review topics and study for exams.
Folklore: Enclyclopedia Mythica - An exhaustive and award-winning inventory of over 7000 articles. Folktexts - A library of folklore maintained online by the University of Pittsburgh.
Religions: African Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania - Links are provided to well-researched pages various African religions.
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