THEO56730: Ritual, Symbolism and Belief in the Anthropology of Religion

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• To introduce students to selected theories and theorists in social-cultural anthropology that relate to key aspects of the interplay of religious thought and practice.
• To enable students to develop a critically informed approach to religious organization and belief.
• To develop a competence in interdisciplinary conversation between the above aspects of anthropology and theology.
• To develop skilled engagement with religious communities, objects or texts.

• The first half of this module involves an exploration of the long and ongoing conversations that have been central to the anthropological exploration of religion. Part of this takes the form of an exploratory conversation between theology and social anthropology on certain key issues of religious belief and practice. Theological ideas concerning human nature, creativity and worship, for example, are related to anthropological theories concerning self, society, symbol and ritual Students are also introduced to a wide range of practices and ontologies of being, drawn from both global and indigenous religious traditions. Through these examples of anthropological practice students are introduced to the key tools necessary to carry out anthropological work with religious people, places and things.
• The second half of the module both further develops the above themes and allows for students to engage anthropologically with a religious group, body of literature, sacred object, or sacred place. By entering into the practice of anthropology students will both develop the necessary skills for doing anthropological research with religious communities and be better able to engage with debates that emerge from the practice of the anthropology of religion. The course concludes with a consideration of the distinction between doing the anthropology of religion and anthropology with religion,

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Critical appreciation of the nature of anthropological approaches to belief and practice

Subject-specific Skills:

• Demonstrate an overview of anthropological theories as they relate to aspects of religion and to issues of reflexivity raised within the study of religious groups.
• Demonstrate the ability to engage in the anthropology of religion.

Key Skills:

• Developing a sense both of critical distance and of issues aligned with participant knowledge of a group.
• The nature of cumulative competence in working with groups.
• The ability to carry out anthropological research with religious groups, objects and texts.

• Tutorials (on a one-to-one basis) will offer an opportunity for feedback on assigned work.
• The weekly seminars will enable students to develop advanced subject-specific knowledge and skills in the communication of ideas and critical interpretation of sources. This will be facilitated through peer-group discussion of selected key texts, moderated by the module leader.
• Formative essays develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding, and the skills of written presentation. These skills and the knowledge and understanding they serve are assessed in the summative essay.
• Presentations assess subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the structured presentation of information in oral form under time constraints.
• Summative essays assess subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the acquisition of information through reading and research, and in the structured presentation of information in written form.

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