Magic, Witchcraft, Ritual, Myth and Religion

Catalog description

Units: 3 Hours: 54 lecture Exploration of people’s religious and spiritual lives around the world and through time. Comparative analysis of the forms and functions of myths, symbols, and rituals as well as religious specialists, institutions, and movements. Examination of cross-cultural cases of altered states of consciousness, medicines, ancestor veneration, spirit possession, divination, witchcraft, monsters, haunting, and other phenomenon which connect with religious worlds. Addresses religious dimensions of power and control as well as the relationship between religious and sociocultural change. (CSU, UC)