Course Syllabus

Material Divinity (RLGN/IST 3080 1)

Jacob N. Kinnard    

jkinnard@iliff.edu                                                                         

Office: I-305                                                                                    

Course Description

This course explores how religion happens in material culture – broadly defined as images, devotional and liturgical objects, architecture and sacred space, works of art, and mass-produced artifacts. No less important than these material forms are the many different practices that put them to work; ritual, communication, ceremony, instruction, meditation, propaganda, pilgrimage, display, magic, liturgy and interpretation constitute many of the practices whereby religious material culture constructs the worlds of belief. Through looking at a variety of forms of material culture, and the ways in which religion is at play in these objects and places, the goal of the course is not so much to shift our focus away from texts, but rather to supplement our knowledge of the textual aspects of religious experience with an equally rich understanding of the material.

 This is a decidedly text-centered course, and necessitates a high degree of participation on the part of students: the course will be conducted as a seminar, and the focus of class time will be close readings of the texts and extended critical discussion.  

Course Objectives

-To acquire orderly knowledge of the historical development, major teachings, and current practices of selected living religious traditions;

-To try to understand a religion as a committed practitioner might, not simply as a detached observer;

-To develop a richly nuanced conception of religion that recognizes both the social and the personal dimensions of religious belief and practice; and

-To develop and maintain an attitude of critical self-awareness about the limits and possibilities of our intellectual tools and methods for understanding religion.

Requirements 

For each set of readings, a two-page analysis is to be prepared and distributed to the class; each student will also be responsible to introduce at least one book, and to lead the discussion on that text: 50%. 2. A 12-15 page final paper: 50%, which will be the basis of the presentation each student will give on 10 March.

Required Readings 

- David Morgan, Religion and Material Culture: The Matter of Belief (Routledge 2008).

- S. Brent Plate, A History of Religion in 51/2 Objects: Bringing the Spiritual to Its Senses (Beacon 2014).

- Thomas Tweed, Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Religion (Harvard, 2008)

- Manuel Vasquez, Beyond Belief: A Materialist Theory of Religion (Oxford 2011)

- Ian Reader, Pilgrimage in the Marketplace (Routledge, 2014); this book is available as electronically through Penrose.

- Articles to be provided by instructor. 

Class Schedule and Readings:

Jaunuary       7           Overview of the Course

                                    Reading: Please spend some time on the website http://materialreligions.blogspot.com. I do not                                               have a set amount of time that I would like you to devote to this task, but I want you to acquaint yourself with the discourse of material religion. What are some of the key questions that you see being posed. Please expand your reading after you acquaint yourself with Material Religions; what other sites do you find helpful or compelling? Why? Be prepared to discuss this.

                        14        What's the Problem?

                                    Reading: Morgan

                        21        Bringing in the Sensual

                                    Reading: Plate

                        28        The Textual Bias in the Study of Religion

                                    Reading: Vasquez

February        4         Materiality and Borders

                                    Readings: Elsner; Edney, Brown.

                        11        Presence and Embodiment

                                    Readings: Kinnard; Kinnard 2 (pp. 81-103 only).

                        18        Materiality and Theory

                                    Readings: Tweed

                        25        Meeting the Divine

                                    Readings: Reader 

March             3          No Class

                        10        Paper Presentations