M1ANM425 - New Perspectives in Religious Studies - NCaron

Semester 1

Embodied Religion

The seminar is an introduction to the study of religion, spirituality and secularism in the United States. We will start with a discussion on definitions of religion, and the distinctive ways diverse religious traditions understand the “body,” and relate to the five senses. We will look at the ways in which the body is imagined and deployed in religious practices and beliefs. We will seek to highlight religion’s role in constructing and shaping the believers’ bodies, and the contribution of new understandings of the body to the evolution of religion. In particular, we will address the relationship between art, body, and religion—and that will include tatoos and fashion—as well as issues of sexuality and gender.

Course requirements: Student participation is an integral component for the success of this class. All course participants will be expected to arrive to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings.

Assignments: In-class oral presentations of sources and at least one response paper to the assigned readings, as well as a field study report.


Bibliography

  • Anker, Richard, et Nathalie Caron. “Sécularisation et transferts du religieux. De la fin de la religion à l’ouverture indécise.” Revue française d’études américaines, n° 141, 4e trimestre 2014
  • Arthur, Linda B., ed. Religion, Dress and the Body (1999).
  • Azria, Régine et Danièle Hervieu-Léger, dir. Dictionnaire des faits religieux, 2010.
  • Britnall, Kent, ed. Religion: Embodied Religion, 2016.
  • Coakley, Sarah, ed. Religion and the Body, 2000.
  • Fuller, Robert. “Religion and the Body,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, 2015.
  • Greenberg, Yudit Kornberg, ed. The Body in Religion: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, 2017.
  • Neal, Lynn S. Religion in Vogue: Christianity and Fashion in America, 2018.
  • Scott, Joan Wallach. Sex and Secularism, 2018.
  • Weissenrieder, Annette, Gregor Etzelmuller, ed. Religion and Illness, 2016.
  • Zeller, Benjamin E., Marie W. Dallam, Reid L. Neilson, and Nora L. Rubel, ed. Religion, Food, and Eating in North America, 2014.