ANTHRO 13 — Anthropology of Religion, Magic, Witchcraft, and Healing
This course explores religious beliefs and practices using the anthropological perspective. Students will learn the various ways religion is lived and practiced in diverse cultures, the relationship between religious behavior and other domains of culture, and the role of religious beliefs in human experiences of health and healing. Anthropological theories of religion will be covered using specific forms, functions, and expressions of belief systems and ritual within their cultural contexts. With an emphasis on small-scale societies and communities, this course uses local perspectives as well as cross-cultural understandings to explore the variations of religious rituals and beliefs, immeasurable beings and powers, sacred stories and symbols, religious roles and practitioners, religious healing and medical systems, concepts of the body, birth, death, and religious change. (A, CSU, UC, Cal-GETC)