Welcome to the new school year!

Texts
Course Description
Calendar
Assignments
September 11*

Leopards break into the temple and drink the sacrificial chalices dry. This happens again and again, repeatedly. Finally it can be counted on beforehand and becomes part of the ceremony. --Franz Kafka, Parables

TEXTS

Required

Lehmann and Myers, eds. Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

Bell, Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions

Kertzer, David. Ritual, Politics, and Power

articles as assigned

Lehmann and Myers is a good, anthropologically oriented anthology (one of several available) of articles that we are using to illustrate topics covered in class. Bell is an excellent introduction to ritual studies, chock full of information though not a great read. Kertzer is a readable classic that opens up the question of ritual in civic and secular contexts.

DESCRIPTION

This course is offered in conjunction with REL 3022,
Ritual in Religion and Culture. Graduate students attend
lectures and other class sessions concurrently with students
in REL 3002, with an extra, contiguous grad seminar hour.

Grads will read the Lehmann and Myers anthology on the
same schedule with undergrads, but will be assigned
extensive additional reading (students should read these
on a prudent schedule of their own devising). This
semester, grads will focus on ritual, politics, and the very
fuzzy line between religious and non-religious ritual. 

COURSE LECTURE CALENDAR

AUG28 Introduction to course; syllabus, course policies

SEP 2 LABOR DAY -- NO CLASS

4 What is ritual?
READ: Harris; Bell, ch. 1

9 Ritual functions
READ: Bell, ch. 2

11 *CLASS CANCELLED

to allow student participation in and observation of campus 9-11 activities (to be included in paper!) READ: Bell, ch. 4

18 Myth and ritual
READ: Bell, ch. 3; Leech, 39; Douglas, 68
Presentation: Iliana Hakes-Martinez

23 Shamanistic ritual: Spirit and Vision
READ: Turner; Howells; Brown

25 Priestly ritual: liturgy and sacrament
READ: Furer-Haimendorf
Presentation: David Plummer must be rescheduled

30 Functions of religious ritual
READ: Geertz; Lee

OCT 2 Ritual Characteristics
READ: Bell, ch. 5
Presentation: Janine Feiger

7 Ritual and psychology
READ: deRopp; Bergman; Bass; Pattison

9 Magic and Ritual
READ: Levi-Strauss; Brown; del Guercio; Singer
Presentation: Arica Whatmore

14 Trance States: Ruben Garrote
READ: Brain; Orion

16 Rites of passage
READ: Turner; Gordon
Presentation: Walter Milner must be rescheduled

21 Rites of passage: A case

23 Ancestors and Ritual
READ: Mitchell; Truzzi
Presentation: Katy Roper

28 Ritual and culture
READ: Bell, ch. 6-7; Puttick

30 Ritual, politics, and power
READ: Lewis; Slotkin
Presentation: Regina Undorfer

NOV 4 Ritual and the Third Reich

6 American civil religion
DUE: Assignment 2
Presentation: Jeff Sitkiewitz

11 VETERANS' DAY--no school

13 Sports as ritual
READ: Gmelch
Presentation: Gretchen Scharnagl

18 The body: beauty, violence, and sacrifice
READ: Dubitsch; Miner

20 Ritual healing : Michael Martinez, Kelly Muldoon
READ: Kiev; Wedenoja
Presentation: Katherine Hermann

25 Ritualizing death
READ: Barber; Metcalf

27 Ritual salvation: Cults, Sects, and Revitalization
DUE: Assignment 3
READ: Wallace; Worsley; Daugherty; Newsweek
Presentation: Nawa Chaulagain

DEC 2 Ritual as cultural criticism
READ: Sagan, 384

4 Return to the question: What is ritual?
Presentation: Julie Lopez
____________________________________________________________

"READ" = to be read by date shown on syllabus
"DUE" = to be handed in on the day indicated

Assignment 1

Choose a topic related to religious ritual for development and presentation to the class in seminar format. Presentations should take at least 25 minutes or so and be followed by questions and discussion.

In general, you should choose a topic related to your thesis, work in another course, interest in another discipline (e.g., psychology or anthropology), area study (Judaism, Asian religion, etc.), previous research, or area of expertise. That is, it is desirable that the assignment be used as an opportunity to integrate knowledge, using ritual as the thematic focus within a larger context. This is called efficient and productive scholarly activity.

Assignment 2

Read Kertzer, Grimes, and any other material I may come up with to supplement our study of the relationship of politics, religion, and ritual. Carefully watch and read up on anniversary observances of the events of September 11. Write a critical essay examining religion, ritual, and public ceremonial, using 9-11 as a model or paradigm. Evaluate such questions as

• the impact and effectiveness of public rituals
• ritual techniques that make them effective
• the human need or tendency (or not) to ritualize
• the use of religious language and imagery in public rituals
• ritual spontaneity in public life
• manipulation of public reaction/opinion/emotion using ritual
• the extent to which ritual makes politics/nationalism a kind of "religion"
• why an event like 9/11 is "ritualizable"
• other events that have occasioned a similar reaction
• the exclusiveness--or not--of various supposedly "religious" ritual behaviors
• establishing a definition of religious ritual
• etc., etc.

The resulting paper should exhibit proper use of an accepted scholarly annotation style, good writing, logical organization and development, thoroughness, and (of course) solid critical thinking.

Assignment 3

Attend at least three (3) ritual events (to be determined in class). For each event, write a report describing the event, highlighting those elements which you found interesting in terms of the material of the course, relating what you have seen to other experiences you have had, and bringing to the event a critical analytical approach. Apply good principles of field research (insofar as that is possible) to your observation, with careful attention to detail, affect, participants' understanding of the event (not always the last word!), setting, intended purpose, deviations from "standard" performances of the event, roles of performers, and so on.

Look for the details--you want a "thick description." Consider the following aspects of the ritual:
(1) the intended "users" of the ritual
(2) the individual, step-by-step elements of the ritual
(3) the structure of the rituals
(4) the symbols used in the rituals
(5) how the symbols are used
(6) the root metaphor(s) that underly the symbols
(7) the myth(s) the symbols reflect or draw upon
(8) the function the rituals serve for the individual and the group/community/society that uses them
(9) the appropriateness of the rituals
(10) the effectiveness of the rituals
(11) the relationships described/formed/expressed
(12) the identities described/formed/expressed

Take note of things like (this isn't a "to do" list!)
Leaders
Is there one person who controls most of the meeting?
Were the leaders set apart by special clothing?
Are they set apart by special training or ordination?
What part do others play in the ceremony?
Is there much interaction between the leader(s) and the audience?
Message/sermon/homily
How long was it?
Was it the central part of the service?
What place did scripture have in it?
Was it "rational" or did it play to the emotional side of the audience?
Architecture
Is the building plain or ornate?
Does the structure relate anything particular about this group?
Are there many religious symbols (crosses, candles, banners, images)?
How is the platform/altar area arranged? What does this tell you what this
group considers most important?
Music
Was there much, or any, singing?
How would you characterize the music--somber, lively, traditional, etc?
What part, if any, did the songs play in the overall experience?
Were instruments used? Which ones? What affect did they have?
Ritual Behavior
How intricate was it?
What did the congregation do? Did they stand, sit, bow, kneel?
Was the service difficult to follow for the uninitiated?
Were there ritual actions that seemed distinctive to this group?
How were the beliefs and history of the group reflected in the service?
Congregation
How was the congregation dressed?
How many attended?
What was the attitude toward start time of the service?
How did they behave overall?
What proportions of men/women/children were there?
Did children stay throughout the service, or go elsewhere? When and why?
What was the age profile of the congregation?
Were women, men, and children treated alike?

Turn in all 3 reports together.

OR