SAN102 Critical Interpretation of Religion

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2009
Extent and Intensity
0/0. 9 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Jakub Grygar, Ph.D. (lecturer), Mgr. Klára Vomastková (deputy)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Jakub Grygar, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: doc. Mgr. Jakub Grygar, Ph.D.
Timetable
Tue 12:00–13:30 P52
Prerequisites
Passing through the Introduction to Social Anthropology (SAN 101). Elementary knowledge about Judaism, Christianity, Islam and at least one of the religions of the East (Hinduism, Buddhism).
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 66 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/66, only registered: 0/66, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/66
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
One semester course introducing to the selected topics of anthropological perspective on religion. The course is not outline general overview about world religions, rather it focuses on classic topics of anthropological approach to the religion (sacral and profane, myth and ritual, magic and witchcraft) and on discussing means by which are being these topics constructed and lived.

Main objectives can be summarized as follows:
presentation of the main approaches to religion in social anthropology;
to gain ability to apply anthropological perspective on the study of religion;
to understand and analyze religious experience as an experience bounded by specific mode of thinking and knowledge.
Syllabus
  • I.
  • Religion as an anthropological category, colonial legacy (Clifford Geertz, Talal Assad)
  • Perspectivism and the study of religion
  • Religious and non-religious explanation of reality
  • "Primitive" and "advanced" religions. Written religions
  • II.
  • Myth, cosmology I. (Bronislaw Malinowski, Mircea Eliade, Ernst Cassirer)
  • Myth, cosmology II. (Émile Durkheim, Claude Lévi-Strauss)
  • Ritual I. (Marvin Harris, Mary Douglas)
  • Ritual II. (Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner)
  • III.
  • Pilgrimages (Victor Turner, John Eade)
  • Religion and human body
  • Continuity and change: tradition, cargo cults
  • Diasporas. Religion and globalization
  • Religion and politics
Literature
  • BOWIE, Fiona. Antropologie náboženství. Translated by Vladimír Petkevič. Vyd. 1. Praha: Portál, 2008, 335 s. ISBN 9788073673789. info
  • DURKHEIM, Émile. Elementární formy náboženského života :systém totemismu v Austrálii. Vyd. 1. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 2002, 491 s. ISBN 80-7298-056-4. info
  • DOUGLAS, Mary. Purity and danger :an analysis of the concepts of pollution and taboo. 2nd impr. with corr. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969, viii, 188. ISBN 0-7100-8827-2. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussion
Assessment methods
Course requirements:
3 written essays (1200 words); class participation; oral exam.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2009, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2009/SAN102