Introduction to the Study of Religion
Paper and Group Assignments
| Rough Draft Myth paper is due September 18 at 5 pm emailed to your group, FINAL Paper is Due September 22 at 5 pm in my Box in Cook Hall or emailed to me (with read-receipt). |
| Rough Draft Ritual paper is due November 6 at 5 pm emailed to your group, FINAL Paper is Due November 10 at 5 pm in my Box in Cook Hall or emailed to me (with read-receipt). |
| Rough Draft Civil Religion paper is due December 4 at 5 pm emailed to your group, FINAL Paper is Due December 8 at 5 pm in my Box in Cook Hall or emailed to me (with read-receipt). |
Paper Topics:
Myth Paper
Your assignment is to examine the film, "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" in light of Eliade's understanding of the nature and role of myth in human society. Questions to consider: How have the Cohen brothers used the iconic myths of Western Civilization to shape the moral orders of their film? What other traditions are they drawing from? What is the relationship between the music, and in particular its performance, and these myths? How might Eliade explain the landscape in the film? What heirophanies define the space the characters inhabit?
Ritual Analysis
You ritual analysis paper will address the Snake Handling Service we see in the film "Holy Ghost People" and we read about in Dennis Covington's Salvation on Sand Mountain. Your paper will consist of three parts: a thick description of the overall ritual with emphasis on a particular aspect of the service that you choose. Questions to keep in mind: How does the model of the ritual differ from its actual implementation? How do participants perceive these signs and symbols? Pay attention to the tone and well as timing of the events. What happens before, during and after the ritual. How do participants behave during the events? How do they feel about the events? Who is there? Who is not there? Secondly you must analyze how this ritual reflects or reifies the belief structure of the group. What particular tradition (religious, cultural, ethnic) is the ritual apart of? What signs and symbols are used to convey meaning? How do the members of the groups understand what is taking place in the ritual? How does the ritual relate to the various tradition's worldview? Finally, drawing upon the scholars we have read who address religion and ritual (e.g. Douglas, Turner, Grimes, Geertz, etc...), discuss how one of their analysis applies to the ritual you are describing. Remember, you are not to write on the whole of the ritual, rather you are to focus on what you think is a key facet of the ritual.
Civil Religion
The events of September 11th, 2001 left an indellible mark on American society. Ground Zero, the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania where Flight 93 crashed were all elevated to status of sacred space, on par with the Gettysburg battlefield and the Lincoln Memorial. The date itself became imbued with religious significance. In the five years since then, we have witnessed what Robert Bellah calls American Civil Religion, struggle to clarify what the proper response is to those events: how we as a nation should memorialize the dead and what is left for the living to accomplish? Choose one aspect of this phenomenon to discuss in your paper. Questions to keep in mind: What elements of American civil religion have been employed to shape the meaning of the events of 9/11. Are there competing interpretations of these symbols and events? Who are the key players in shaping this new aspect of American Civil Religion?
Group Assignments
| Group 1
Anna Hamilton |
Group 2
John Witte |
Group 3
Jessica Gonzalez |
| Group 4
Alia Schultz |
Group 5
Tom Mawn |
Group 6
Kevin Blythe |
| Group 7
Randi Reams |
Group 8
John Mazzocchi |
Group 9
Jody Mailer |