Anthropology of Religion

This course examines the cultural nature of belief systems, values, and rituals using a cross-cultural approach. The course introduces students to the various ways in which anthropologists theorize and conceptualize what religion is and what roles it plays in human cultural experience. Topics include the ritual process, rites of passage, myth and symbolism, magic, witchcraft, and the role of gender. Religious revitalization and the globalization of major world religions are analyzed using historical and contemporary examples from around the world.