University at Buffalo 3 credits Anthropology
The history and nature of the social scientific study of religion will be considered, and various theories and explanations offered. Religion will be viewed as a cultural system which cannot be satisfactorily understood without reference to its relationships with other cultural systems; and โcultureโ is based in human neurobiology. Specific topics include: the nature of the ?supernatural;? types of supernatural agencies; types of religious practitioners; theories of religion; myth; ritual; divination; sacrifice; totemism; taboo; magic and sorcery; witchcraft; shamanism; religious altered states of consciousness: spirit possession, ecstasy, and simple trance; supernaturally-caused illness and religious-based healing; religion in cultural change; new religions, cults, and ?the occult? today; and others. The course will be illustrated throughout with films, slides, videos, religious objects, etc.
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