LALS 120 Cultures of the Sacred

Comprehensive seminar on notions of the sacred, dealing with the complexities of magic and religious themes in the Americas as seen from an anthropological perspective. Topics include both popular religion as well as non-Christian religious practices. Based on recent anthropological literature, as well as new developments concerning rituals related to the sacred (spiritualism, voodoo, santeria, magical curing, spirit possession, glossolalia, earth feeding, rituals of reciprocity).