FF:RLMgA005 Religion and the Body - Course Information

RLMgA005 Religion and the Body

Extent and Intensity

1/1/0. 9 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching

Teacher(s)

doc. PhDr. David Zbíral, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jakub Cigán, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Aleš Chalupa, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Eva Kundtová Klocová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Dalibor Papoušek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jana Valtrová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Iva Doležalová (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Radek Kundt, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Tereza Menšíková (lecturer)
Dr. phil. Anna Michalík Kvíčalová, MA (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

doc. PhDr. David Zbíral, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Kristýna Čižmářová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Study of Religions (programme FF, N-RL_) (3)

Course objectives

The course focuses on religious symbolization, use, and disciplining of the body and bodily experience; on bodily practice and performance in the context of religion and spirituality; on religious representations of the body and corporeality as tools of cognition, classification, and constitution of symbolic boundaries; and on the discursive formation of gender and other aspects of identity through the body. Lectures address these topics within individual case studies of particular material from different areas, periods and environments. Students work on a similar written case study from the thematic scope of the course.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, students will be able to:

recall and analyze the problems addressed by the course, framed by the concept of religious uses of the body, and by the concept of gender;

identify the contribution and consequences of the analyzed cases to theory and method in the study of religions and in the social sciences more generally;

formulate a research project proposal of a case study concerning the religious uses of the body or gender;

present and defend a paper respecting the requirements of an academic text;

adopt and justify a stance on gender as a structural factor in the institutional academia.

Syllabus

• Embodied cognition as a source and means of forming religious contents (Eva Kundtová Klocová) Conversion in body and soul? Problematika a výskum telesného ukotvenia konvertovania (Jakub Cigán) Body and Physicality in Historical Perspective: Jewish and Greco-Roman Conceptions of Homosexuality (Dalibor Papoušek) Intuition and Control over Life: The Body, Knowledge and the Sources of Coping with Uncertainty and Suffering (Milan Fujda) How to grasp the shared ecstatic experience? Vtělení (embodiment) jako paradigma ve výzkumu kultury (Milan Fujda) Purifying the Light: Překonání duality tělesného a netělesného v manichejské eschatologii (Aleš Chalupa) Transformation of sensory perception at the centre of religious change: deafness as a religious-physiological construct (Anna Michalík Kvíčalová) Hindu nationalism and concepts of race and caste against the background of Indian antropometrie (Tereza Menšíková) Thekla or Mary? Proměny ideálu panenství (Iva Doležalová) Ritual practices affecting the body (Eva Kundtová Klocová)

Literature

required literature
• HAMAR, Eleonóra. Náboženství a tělo. Teoretické perspektivy v diskursu religionistiky (Religions and the body: theoretical perspectives in the study of religions). In DOLEŽALOVÁ, Iva, Eleonóra HAMAR and Luboš BĚLKA. Náboženství a tělo. Brno: Masarykova universita, 2006, p. 15-22, 7 pp. ISBN 80-210-4115-3. info
• Další četba dle individuálního projektu. / Further reading depending on the individual project.

Teaching methods

Lectures with discussion, discussion about the topics of essays, research project proposal with written feedback from the teachers, essay.

Assessment methods

During the course Active participation in lectures with discussion (40 points). Presentation of a research project (60 points). Admission to the examination (and the award of the colloquium) is conditional on achieving at least 60 points out of 100 (i.e. the sum of active participation and presentation). Completion of the course Colloquium Achievement of at least 60 points out of a possible 100 (i.e. the sum of active participation and presentation). Exam Seminar paper on a pre-presented topic from the course subject area, to be submitted in the examination period at least 5 working days before the examination date (50 points = 50 %). Oral presentation and defence of the seminar paper in the examination period (50 points = 50 %).

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujících.

• Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/RLMgA005