RELI479 - Anthropology of Himalayan Religions

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Academic Year 2003/2004

Anthropology of Himalayan Religions
RELI 479 FA

Crosslistings:
ANTH 479

This course deconstructs some of the common assumptions about Himalayan religions using ethnography as a point of entry. It begins by deconstructing the orientalist and millennarian construction of a lost Himalayan paradise known as Shangri La lying on the borderland between India and Tibet. Throughout, it pays close attention to the gap between the reality of lived religious practices in the Himalayan borderland and their academic and popular construction. It also attends to how ritual and religious practices reflect and produce critical social, symbolic, and historical categories. Topics to be discussed include Buddhism, shamanism, sacrifice, mountaineering, sacred landscape, merit, and monasticism.

MAJOR READINGS

James Hilton, SHANGRI LA
Don Lopez, PRISONERS OF SHANGRI LA
Sherry Ortner, LIFE AND DEATH ON MT. EVEREST
Vincanne Adams, TIGERS IN THE SNOW AND OTHER VIRTUAL SHERPAS
Geoffrey Samuels, CIVILIZED SHAMANS
Stan Mumford, HIMALAYAN DIALOGUES
Joanne Watkins, SPIRITED WOMEN

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Class Participation, Oral presentations, 2 essays (1 research)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This fulfills a "Religion in Society" requirement.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS RELI Grading Mode: Graded

Prerequisites: RELI242

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Gutschow,Kim I.

Times: ..T.... 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: RSCSEM

Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 20)

SR. major: 6 Jr. major: 6

SR. non-major: 3 Jr. non-major: 3 SO: 2 FR: 0

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal: Speaking, Writing

Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004