University of Kentucky 3 credits Anthropology
Directed at non-majors (with no anthropology prerequisite), this course is intended to introduce the student to the diversity and unity of religious beliefs and practices in everyday life throughout the world through the lens of the social science anthropology. This includes the study of religions both textual and non-textual, large-scale and small-scale. The course content will include ethnographic materials as well as an examination of various methods and theoretical approaches used in anthropology in the cross-cultural study of religion. Questions that are addressed in this course include: Why do humans have/need religion? What is “religion”? Where, when, and how did “religion” evolve as a cultural universal in the human species? We will examine the basic components of religious beliefs and practices and how they are integrated into human life both individually and in communities. Students will think critically about the social organization of religion and impact of religion on society. Other areas of discussion will include: religious specialists, sacred places, religion and adaptation, religion and gender, and politics and religion. This course is much more than a typical survey of world religions and will specifically encourage the cross-cultural comparative perspective of a significant feature of all human groups.
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