| Unit name | Religion and Cosmology |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ARCH35008 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Bowie |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Religion remains a motivating force in the lives of individuals and societies. This unit is centrally concerned with the relationship between the many forms that religion can take and its role in people's lives. The canvas is broad, looking at notions of religious experience, motivation and conversion, at major world religions and new religious movements, and at the religious beliefs and practices of 'traditional' small-scale societies. We will examine themes such as death and the after-life, mediumship and spirit posession, healing and morality. Religion can be both a force for good and a source of tension and tool of national and sectarian interests. The implications of different cosmological perspecitves for understanding gender relations, social organisation and culture run through the themes dealt with in this unit. The approach is anthropological and ethnographic, and the course will be based on a combination of lectures and seminars, with some ethnographic film.
