Fall 2018  |  ANTH 5255 Section 001: Archaeology of Ritual and Religion (34003)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
ANTH 3255 Section 001
RELS 3254 Section 001
RELS 5254 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
09/04/2018 - 12/12/2018
Wed 03:30PM - 06:00PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 145
Enrollment Status:
Open (10 of 20 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
The course discusses evidence for the origins of religion and its diverse roles in human societies over millennia. It focuses on how artifacts and architecture are essential to religious experience. It asks: What constitutes religion for different cultures? Why is religion at the heart of politics, social life, and cultural imagination?
Class Notes:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?skosiba+ANTH5255+Fall2018
Class Description:
This seminar provides an archaeological perspective on religion. It traces the origin and development of religion in several global contexts, and also inquires into how archaeology, with its focus on artifacts and architecture, provide unique insights into religion. Though both academics and media pundits broadly recognize that religion is essential to understanding human social life, they often define religion solely through reference to non- material, symbols, and beliefs about spirits and souls, Instead this course considers how materials, things, and built spaces manifested religious values, in past and present contexts. It does so in three ways. First students will learn about archeaological discoveries - whether of agricultural rituals, theatrical sacrifices, temple complexes, or mummified kings - that have provided windows into religion in the ancient and early modern world. Second, students will become familiar with classic anthropological texts that long ago set the foundations for archaeological inquiry into ritual and religious life. Third, students will critically engage with and discuss the potential practical shortcomings of the methods that archaeologists have deployed to understand religion in prehistory and early modern history. Concentrating on these themes, students will discuss: Can we distinguish ancient and modern religion? How can we decipher broader social meaning from particular religious artifacts or symbols? How do we differentiated between local religious traditions and state religions, and their meaning in people's everyday lives? In asking and answering these questions, students will not only become conversant in archaeological approaches to ritual and religion, but also gain critical insights into how social scientists and scholars of the humanities (and contemporary people) define religion.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/34003/1189
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 April 2018

ClassInfo Links - Fall 2018 Anthropology Classes

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