Overview
An introduction to the anthropological study of religion and the supernatural, providing critical, cross-cultural and comparative perspectives of human belief systems.
This paper explores the social, cultural, and political aspects of religious practice; also offering students a chance to think about the broader role of belief, ritual, symbol, myth, pilgrimage, and more, in contemporary societies. In the first part of the course we focus on lived experiences of religious, spiritual, and magical lifeworlds. We examine some of the ways people engage with deities, magic, witchcraft, shamanism, ghosts, spirits, and ancestors, across a variety of different cultural settings. In the second part of the course we focus on the social context of religious and supernatural practice, using both classical and contemporary scholarship to consider the role of historical, economic, and political factors. We learn to apply a critical lens to tensions and debates around religion in contemporary New Zealand, the Pacific, and elsewhere; for example about alternative medicine, secularism in education, welfare policy, biculturalism, and more.
While we survey key concepts in the anthropology of religion, we also attempt to cultivate a particular way of thinking about the world, the supernatural, and our assumptions about it, deconstructing key terms and reflexively assessing our encounter with the study of ‘religion’.
About this paper
| Paper title | Anthropology of Religion and the Supernatural |
|---|---|
| Subject | Anthropology |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 2 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,040.70 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- ANTH 103 or ANTH 105 or 54 points
- Restriction
- ANTH 328
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Eligibility
- This paper is designed for students with and without strong backgrounds in Anthropology.
- Contact
- More information link
Please visit the Programme of Social Anthropology
- Teaching staff
- Paper Structure
The paper involves active learning and students are requested to read their required weekly readings before attending class.
- Textbooks
- Required reading is from journal articles and book chapters available electronically through the library using course reserve.
- Course outline
Will be available on Blackboard at the beginning of the course.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Research.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will:
- Understand some of the seminal anthropological approaches to the study of religion and the supernatural
- Evaluate approaches to the study of symbols, myths and rituals and be able to provide ethnographic examples
- Critically discuss contemporary anthropological debates surrounding the study of religion and the supernatural
- Gain proficiency in the use of critical thinking skills in the assessment of analytical texts on religion and ritual
- Enhance research and academic reading skills, the use of central concepts and approaches to the study of religion and society, and develop a comparative approach to cultural and social difference in the context of religion
- Assessment details
This paper is 100% internally assessed:
- Research Essay: Students are supported to select and develop their own research project, using a literature-based method or a component of fieldwork
- Two in-class short-answer/multiple choice tests
- A multi-part reflexive journal assignment, to be completed throughout semester