Anthrop 2r03e Omori - Winter
Anthrop 2r03e Omori - Winter
Classes Meet:
Location:
Instructor:
Tues 19:00-22:00
CNH 104
Hisako Omori
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: Tues 18:00-18:45
Office: CNH 428
Teaching Assistants: Nadia Densmore (Students: A-M)
Email: [email protected]
Joelle Ingram (Students: N-Z)
Email: [email protected]
Course Descriptions
This course will explore religion, magic and witchcraft from a variety of perspectives. As a
way to cope with illnesses, misfortune, and other peoples envy, and also to bring forth
wealth, health, and equilibrium, human persons have constantly attempted to
communicate with the unseen. In this course, we will study selected topics to explore these
human endeavours. In addition to readings and lectures, the course will utilize audiovisual
materials to further our understanding of transformative powers in ritual, magic and
religion.
Course Textbooks (Available in Bookstore)
Bowie, Fiona. 2006. Anthropology of Religion: Introduction, Second Edition. Blackwell
Publishing.
Course Pack for ANTH2R03E
*Please also see the following section on the book report. There is an additional book
needed for a book report assignment.
COURSE EVALUATION:
Mid-term Exam (multiple choice questions, Feb 25)
Critical Book Report
(5 pages, typed, and double-spaced)
Final Exams (April Exam Period)
30%
30%
40%
The book report will be based one of the following books that are available in Campus
Store. Please choose a book and sign up for it on Avenue to Learn. Books will be available
on a first-come, first-served basis. A maximum of 120 students can review each book.
When you sign up for the book, please note that the first one by Myerhoff is due March 11,
and the one by Stoller is due on April 1.
1
Week 2
Jan 14
Week 3
Jan 21
Week 4
Jan 28
Witchcraft
CP Evans-Pritchard: The Notion of Witchcraft Explains
Unfortunate Events
CP Evans-Pritchard: Consulting the Poison Oracle among
the Azande
Bowie: Chap 8 Witchcraft and the Evil Eye, pp. 200-220.
Film: Strange Beliefs
Week 5
Feb 4
Week 6
Feb 11
Week 7
Feb 18
Week 8
Feb 25
Mid-term Exam
Mid-term (In-Class, 50 minutes)
Second half, film viewing:
Film: The Holier It Gets
Week 9
Mar 4
Shamanism
Bowie: Chapter 7 Shamanism
CP Kendall: Of Hungry Ghosts and Other Matters
Film: Macumba, Trance and Spirit Healings
Week 10
Mar 11
Pilgrimage
CP Badone: Pilgrimage, Tourism, and the Da Vinci Code
Bowie: Chap 9 Pilgrimage
Film: The Shrine
Book Report on Myerhoff Due in Class and Avenue to Learn
Week 11
Mar 18
Identity
Bowie: Chapter 3 Maintaining and Transforming Boundaries
CP Brandes: Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for
Mexican National Identity
Week 12
Mar 25
Week 13
Apr 1
The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest of National Identity in Mexico. The
Journal of American Folklore 111(452): 359-380.
Hoodfar, Homa. 1992. The Veil in Their Minds and on Our Heads: The Persistence of
Colonial Images of Muslim Women. Resources for Feminist Research 22 (3/4): 5-18
Meyer, Birgit. 1999. Commodities and the Power of Prayer: Pentecostalist Attitudes
Towards Consumption in Contemporary Ghana. In: Globalization and Identity:
Dialectics of Flow and Closure. Birgit Meyer and Peter Geschiere (eds.). Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers.
Clarke, Kamari Maxine. 2007. Transnational Yoruba Revivalism and the Diasporic Politics
of Heritage. American Ethnologist 34 (4): 721-34.
DEPARTMENT, FACULTY AND UNIVERSITY POLICY STATEMENTS
1. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
You are expected to exhibit honesty and use ethical behaviour in all aspects of the
learning process. Academic credentials you earn are rooted in principles of honesty and
academic integrity. Academic dishonesty is to knowingly act or fail to act in a way that
results or could result in unearned academic credit or advantage. This behaviour can
result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit
with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: Grade of F assigned for academic
dishonesty), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university. It is your
responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on
the various types of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy,
located at www.mcmaster.ca/academicintegrity
The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:
1. Plagiarism, e.g. the submission of work that is not ones own or for which other
credit has been obtained.
2. Improper collaboration in group work.
3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations.
2. TURNITIN.COM
In this course we will be using a web-based service (Turnitin.com) to reveal plagiarism.
Students will be expected to submit their work electronically to Turnitin.com and in
hard copy so that it can be checked for academic dishonesty. Students who do not wish
to submit their work to Turnitin.com must still submit a copy to the instructor. No
penalty will be assigned to a student who does not submit work to Turnitin.com. All
submitted work is subject to normal verification that standards of academic integrity
have been upheld (e.g., on-line search, etc.). To see the Turnitin.com Policy, please go to
www.mcmaster.ca/academicintegrity
3. ON-LINE COMPONENT - AVENUE TO LEARN
6
In this course we will be using Avenue to Learn. Students should be aware that, when
they access the electronic components of this course, private information such as first
and last names, user names for the McMaster e-mail accounts, and program affiliation
may become apparent to all other students in the same course. The available
information is dependent on the technology used. Continuation in this course will be
deemed consent to this disclosure. If you have any questions or concerns about such
disclosure please discuss this with the course instructor.
All electronic submissions will/may be subject to turnitin. Students should discuss this
element of the course with the instructor if they have any problems or issues with this
policy.
4. MCMASTER STUDENT ABSENCE FORM (MSAF)
The maximum value of the missed work for which the MSAF can be used is 29%.
The maximum number of uses is 1 per term.
Students are required to visit their Faculty/Program Office and complete a Permission to
use MSAF form, for the following reasons:
The request for relief for missed academic work is personal.
The request for relief for missed academic work is religious.
A component of work they have missed is valued at more than 29%.
They have already used the MSAF once in the term.
Such students may be asked by their Faculty/Program Office to provide appropriate
supporting documentation. If the students request to use the MSAF is approved, the
MSAF link will be made available (on a one-time basis) to the student. The student and
faculty member will receive email correspondence regarding the details of the request
for relief for missed academic work.
5.
from an alternate address, the instructor may not reply at his or her discretion. Email
Forwarding in MUGSI: http://www.mcmaster.ca/uts/support/email/emailforward.html
*Forwarding will take effect 24-hours after students complete the process at the above