The Lives of Sacred Objects: Studying Religion through Our Material World

Catalog description

This course explores religion through the things that people make, handle, cherish, circulate, and sometimes destroy. Rather than beginning with texts or doctrines, we approach religious life by studying the objects that anchor it. Students will learn how such items acquire meaning through the ways they are made, how they are placed and arranged, and who uses them. We will examine how they move across communities and what happens to them when they reach the end of the lives. Along the way, students will also consider how objects hold memory, carry histories of trauma, and catalyze ethical debates in museums and cultural institutions. Through case studies, field observation, and object based analysis, students will develop the skills to interpret religion as material, embodied, and relational. Specific emphasis will be placed on cross-cultural cases, with analysis of how varied global worldviews shape understandings of the sacred across diverse contexts. Ultimately, the course asks what becomes visible when we study religion not only through what people say or believe, but also through the things they hold sacred. Counts as a Communication Intensive course. Counts as a Understanding Global Perspectives course.