General Information
| Course Code | S_GRDA |
|---|---|
| Credits | 6 EC |
| Period | P5 |
| Course Level | 300 |
| Language of Tuition | English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences |
| Course Coordinator | E.B. Koemar MSc |
| Examiner | E.B. Koemar MSc |
| Teaching Staff |
E.B. Koemar MSc dr. P.G.A. Versteeg |
|
Part of programme(s)
Use the arrow keys to navigate the list, Enter to select, and Escape to close.
|
|
Practical Information
You need to register for this course yourself. The (de)registration deadlines can be found on VU.nl
| Teaching Methods | Written partial exam, Lecture |
|---|
Target audiences
This course is also available as:
Course Objective
Learning outcomes:
Knowledge and understanding. The student has acquired knowledge and understanding of:
- the anthropological approach to religion.
- religion as a contemporary global phenomenon.
Application. The student has acquired the competencies to:
- ask anthropological questions regarding the religious practices that they encounter during this course.
- critically assess different theoretical approaches in the anthropology of religion and their (in)ability to describe, interpret and represent religious praxis;
- describe some of the methodological problems that are typical for anthropology of religion, i.e. the insider-outsider gap, embodied practice and interpretation, matter vs mind.
Critical attitude. The student is able to:
- reflect on their assumptions and demonstrate an open and interpretive attitude vis-a-vis religious practices.
Course Content
The global, the local, and the digital are the context and canvas for our understanding of contemporary religion. We aim to gain knowledge and insight into forms of religion as a global practice. The starting point is the idea that any investigation of religious practice should begin with the concrete forms in which religion presents itself to us in a research setting. The anthropological approach to religion is a social-scientific angle that looks for the way in which religious practice and social processes are related. This basically boils down to two questions: how social structure influences religious practice and how religious practice influences social processes. This question applies to both small-scale societies and groups and to large-scale societies, as well as to more network-like forms of social organization, for example, in digital media.
Additional Information Teaching Methods
Lectures, documentaries, and a multimedia project.
Method of Assessment
Assignments (individual and collective), midterm exam, and a written final exam
Literature
Bielo, James (2015). Anthropology of Religion: The Basics. London and New York: Routledge.
Articles (to be announced in the course manual).
Additional Information Target Audience
2nd-year bachelor students in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology.
Recommended background knowledge
1st-year program Bachelor Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology.