Rites of Passage

Catalog description

Rites of passage are the hinges of human life, allowing individuals and communities to negotiate complex life transitions meaningfully in relationship to one another, the roles and responsibilities of one's society, the land and creatures among whom one lives, and the divine and/or the transcendent nature of human experience. Yet as traditional cultural and religious traditions erode, many individuals, families, and communities are left without the psychic/communal structures these rites once provided, often to devastating effect. This course will examine the importance of rites of passage in human development, the impact of their widespread loss in globalized/virtual childhood, adolescence, and adulthood today, and the creation of new or renewed forms of such rites for healthy and resilient global-ecological citizenship.