REL 201 The Study of Ritual

Prerequisite: GSTR 210, REL 100, or permission of instructor

An introduction to the study of religious ritual. Through case-studies of religious practices in selected geographical and cultural contexts, this course will explore both the nature of religious ritual and types of religious rituals, considering both theories of ritual and methods for the study of ritual. Inquiring about the nature of ritual as both symbol and performance, the course will examine the relationships among ritual, sacred narratives or stories, music, art, and sacred time and space. This course will employ theoretical models of human action to analyze how performance of rituals both establishes and expresses the cultural identities of religious communities. Religion Perspective