Course Description:
This course considers the origins and varieties of religious beliefs and practices cross-culturally.
Topics include mythology, symbolism, shamanism, altered states of consciousness, magic, divination, witchcraft, and the question of cults.
Student Learning Outcomes:
1.
Using a culturally relativistic and ethnographic framework, students should recognize a variety of religious experiences.
2.
Define the term “culture” and explain how it impacts the lives of individuals.
3.
Compare the different ways the term religion is defined and distinguish different anthropological approaches to the study of religion.
4.
Identify and discuss the functions served by various religious phenomena, both for the individual and society.
5.
Explain how religious phenomena, such as the nature of supernatural beings and witchcraft beliefs, reflect the culture in which they are found.
6.
Identify and apply the basic concepts of the class, including mythology, symbolism, rituals, specialists, altered states, magic, divination, supernatural beings, and witchcraft.
7.
Examine how and why new religious movements arise, and why others decline.
Assigned readings for the course:
Stein, Rebecca and Stein, Philip. 2010. The Anthropology of Religion, Magic and Witchcraft (3 rd
New York: Pearson Publishers.
edition).
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C OURSE W ORK :
Group Discussion Activities: In this class we will learn through hands-on activities. During class, we will read scholarly papers that pertain to the anthropology of magic, religion and witchcraft, as well as watch TED talks, YouTube clips, and documentaries on these topics. Discussion will be student-generated and all members of the class will be required to participate.
Pop Quizzes: On certain days, there will be a pop quiz at the end of class, to check to make sure you were paying attention during the class discussion. The pop quiz will only cover that day’s material and you will be allowed to use any notes you have taken. Any failed pop quiz will result in 1 point deducted from your final grade for the course.
Reading Quizzes: These quizzes will assess your mastery of the material in the assigned textbook reading. See below for Reading Quiz dates and the chapters they will cover. These quizzes consist of five True/False questions. Make sure you study the reading in depth for these quizzes.
Group Presentation: You and your assigned group members will be asked to present a chapter from the textbook. This presentation is essentially an oral midterm exam. Your group’s presentation should summarize the main points made by the readings (15 minutes total); include a sense of your own personal reactions to these writings (5 minutes total); and pose discussion questions to your classmates about the readings – not just pass around stuff for people to look at or do word search puzzles (10 minutes total). Be certain to cover all of these elements, following the time guidelines, if you would like to receive an A for your presentation. The presentation should last 30 minutes
total. If your presentation exceeds 30 minutes, your group will be stopped before the presentation is complete. 1
Final Paper: For this assignment, you will conduct an ethnographic interview with a participant of your choosing. The overall purpose of this interview is to answer the following questions:
1.) What role does faith play in the life of your interview participant?
2.) How have his or her beliefs been influenced by his or her culture(s)?
The following questions could be useful for this interview:
-What are your religious affiliations?
-Have you ever changed religious affiliations, and why?
-Do you worship with a group, alone, or not at all?
-If you do not believe in a higher power, why not?
-If you do not believe in a higher power, is there anything else you believe in?
1 Please note that Prezi does NOT work on the classroom computer, and laptops do not work with the projector, either.
If you wish to use the classroom computer for your presentation, make sure that you email me your file in advance of your presentation date, so that I can check it for compatibility. The classroom computer has very limited compatibility.
If you find on the day of your presentation that your file is not compatible, you will be asked to present without it.
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-What do you imagine your higher power looks like?
-Do you pray as part of your faith?
-If so, when do you pray, how do you pray, and what do you pray about?
-Do you do anything besides just praying to make your prayers more effective?
-How do your spiritual practices influence your social life?
-How do your spiritual practices influence your work life?
-Why have you chosen your particular spiritual beliefs?
-How important is spirituality in your life? Has its importance to you ever been different in the past?
-How have your beliefs influenced the choices you have made in life, such as choosing a marriage partner, your career, your political views, or how to raise your children?
-How has your faith been influenced by your family’s faith?
In addition to asking these questions, you can allow your respondent to lead the interview in any other direction that speaks to the two primary questions noted above.
You should plan to meet with your respondent for an initial interview, lasting an hour or more. It would also be helpful to schedule in advance a follow-up meeting in which you can clarify any loose ends from the previous meeting.
It is suggested that you locate your informant as soon as possible, since life (yours and your respondent’s) can be unpredictable, and no late papers will be accepted.
Lastly, you must commit to maintaining the complete anonymity of your research subject in your final write-up as well as during class discussions, so do not choose to interview any individual whom a classmate would be able to identify based on their personal details.
This paper needs to be five to seven pages, double spaced, Times New Roman font, with 1” margins at the top, bottom, and sides.
You are expected to integrate into this paper five BOLD-FACED, UNDERLINED
references to the Stein and Stein book. (In other words, you need to connect your paper back to the textbook reading in five different places.)
This paper is due in class, on the last day of class.
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G RADING FOR THE C OURSE :
Reading Quizzes: Six quizzes worth a total of 30% of your final grade total; each quiz is worth 5% of your final grade for the course.
Group Presentation: Worth 35% of your final grade for the course.
Final Paper: Worth 35% of your final grade for the course.
Pop Quizzes: One point deducted from your final grade for the course for each failed quiz.
Extra Credit: Ten points will be added to your final grade for the course based upon successful completion of the course Service Learning. (For example, a final grade of 75/C will become 85/B with the extra credit.) Please see the accompanying handout for information on this course and how to enroll. It can be taken online or in-person. There will be no other extra credit offered for this course. I highly suggest that you do Service Learning, as life is unpredictable, and no early or late quizzes or papers will be accepted. You can also expect to find the quizzes very challenging.
Calculation of final grades: This class will use the traditional numerical values for each letter grade.
(A = 90%-100%; B = 80%-89%; C = 70%-79%; D = 60%-69%; F = 59% or lower.)
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C
OURSE
P
OLICIES
:
Attendance: Attendance is only taken once, at the beginning of class. Attendance will be called at every class. If you are not present for roll call, you will be considered absent from the class that day.
If you leave class for longer than five minutes, you will be considered absent from that class, even if you return. You are allowed to leave class once per class. Any student who sleeps during class for any period of time will be considered absent from that class.
Excused Absences: No absence will be excused, regardless of circumstance.
Drop Policy: If you are absent from five or more classes cumulatively from the start of the semester, you may be dropped according to Title V regulations. After the first week of class, it is your responsibility to drop the class if you will no longer be participating.
Test Taking Policy: You must be present at the beginning of any quiz in order to take it. This pertains to all pop quizzes and reading quizzes. Make sure to bring an unwrinkled, 50-question per side Scantron form and pencil with you for every reading quiz.
Make-Up or Late Work: There will be no make-up quizzes given for this class. You will only be able to take the quizzes for this class at the time that they are given in class; you will not be able to take them earlier or later than the scheduled time and date. No late final papers will be accepted.
Academic Honesty/Plagiarism Statement: All students are expected to adhere to the Los Angeles
Harbor College standards of academic honesty. These standards forbid plagiarism, unlawful copying and, or, failure to give credit to sources that you may use in the research and writing of your class
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work. Cheating and other forms of misconduct are covered under this statement. Failure to comply with these standards will result in a failed assignment and, or, a failed grade in this class.
Controversial Content Statement: This course includes discussions of a frank nature regarding particular subjects including race, religion and sexual orientation protected by the college’s academic freedom statutes that may be considered offensive and controversial to some. When such topics may arise during the course of this semester and a student wishes to be excused, please notify the instructor that you wish to be excluded from class discussion on the ground that it is personally offensive and the instructor will excuse you until such discussion has concluded.
Cell phone policy: If your cell phone goes off during class or if I see it in your hand, I will keep it for the rest of the class period. Cell phones may not be on the desk, in your hand or in any way visible while class is in session—including during testing.
Disruptive behavior: Students who engage in behavior that is disruptive to the learning environment will lose their attendance credit for the day and they will be asked to leave the classroom and not return until the following class meeting. (“Disruptive behavior” is defined as interacting with one’s neighbor at an inappropriate time, sleeping, using the Internet, or otherwise disturbing the learning environment.) Repeated instances of disruptive behavior may lead to a failed grade or withdrawal from the class.
Disability Statement: Students with a verified disability who may need authorized accommodation(s) for this class are encouraged to notify the instructor and the Office of Special Services or Disabled
Students as soon as possible, at least two weeks before any exam or quiz. All information will remain confidential.
P LEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO ANY OF THE ABOVE POLICIES ,
REGARDLESS OF CIRCUMSTANCE
.
***
S
OME WORDS OF ADVICE
:
Hearing from Dr. David: All emails that I send to you—and there may be quite a few—will only go to your LACCD email account, so make sure you have it up and running ASAP. Also, there is a good chance that the emails I send you will go to your spam/bulk/junk folder.
Start Keeping a Calendar: If you don’t have one already, use a calendar (whether it’s a desk or wall calendar, or an app on your phone) and keep all your assignment dates marked in it. I am not
going to remind you about the reading quiz dates.
Financial aid students: Please be aware that you will likely not receive your aid until several weeks into the semester. The textbook is on reserve at the library from the beginning to the end of the semester, so not having your textbook will not be accepted as a reason to take the reading quiz late.
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C LASS S CHEDULE :
Tuesday 2/10
Syllabus Review
Thursday 2/12
What is Socio-Cultural Anthropology?
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 2/17
What is Socio-Cultural Anthropology?
Formation of Presentation Groups
Thursday 2/19
Cultural Relativism
JSTOR: “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?”
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 2/24
Reading Quiz #1: Chapters 1 &2
Interview Practice
Film TBA
Thursday 2/26
Group Presentations: Chapters 1 & 2
Tweet of the Week
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Tuesday 3/3
Human Rights Watch:
“Iraq: Islamic State Executions in Tikrit”
“Indonesia: Aceh’s New Islamic Laws Violate Rights”
Thursday 3/5
TED Talks:
“When People of Muslim Heritage Challenge Fundamentalism”
“Is Religion Good or Bad? This Is a Trick Question”
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 3/10
Reading Quiz #2: Chapters 3 & 4
Interview Practice
Film TBA
Thursday 3/12
Group Presentations: Chapters 3 & 4
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 3/17
JSTOR: “Indigenous Spirit and Ghost Folklore of Settled Australia”
Thursday 3/19
Youtube: “The Oracle of Delphi”
Tweet of the Week
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Tuesday 3/24
Reading Quiz #3: Chapters 5 & 6
Interview Practice
Film TBA
Thursday 3/26
Group Presentations: Chapters 5 & 6
Tweet of the Week
Thursday 4/2
The New York Times: “To Dream in Different Cultures”
TED Talk: “How Do You Explain Consciousness?”
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 4/14
Film: The Dhamma Brothers
Thursday 4/16
Reading Quiz #4: Chapters 7 & 8
YouTube: “Conscious Dreaming” (Valo Films)
Interview Practice
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 4/21
Group Presentations: Chapters 7 & 8
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Thursday 4/23
“Connecting Modern Medicine to Traditional Healing: Dr. Cheo Torres at TEDxABQ”
TED Talk: “Dean Ornish: Healing Through Diet”
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 4/28
JSTOR: “Shamanisms Today”
Thursday 4/30
The New York Times:
“The Rules of Magic”
“For Young Offenders, a New Confidence Game”
YouTube: “The Placebo Effect – Mind-Body Interactions”
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 5/5
Reading Quiz #5: Chapters 9 & 10
Interview Practice
Film TBA
Thursday 5/7
Group Presentations: Chapters 9 & 10
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 5/12
TED Talk: “The Four Stories We Tell Ourselves about Death”
YouTube: “Hindu Funeral Ceremony”
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Thursday 5/14
Reading Quiz #6: Chapter 11
Interview Practice
Film TBA
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 5/19
Group Presentation: Chapter 11
Thursday 5/21
The New York Times: “Lessons in Modern Witchcraft, Minus the Broomsticks”
Film TBA
Tweet of the Week
Tuesday 5/26
Final Paper Prep Work
Thursday 5/28
Final Papers Due
Discussion of Final Papers
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