Topics in Comparative Religion (379-0-24)

Topic

Religion and Magic

Instructors

Richard Kieckhefer
491-2614
1860 Campus Drive, Crowe Hall # 4-141

Meeting Info

Parkes Hall 223: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

Contrary to what many assume, magic and religion are not binary opposites. Rather, magic often draws upon the belief systems, the rituals, even the structures of authority provided by religion. Frequently it meets disapproval from others in the religious tradition, but not always. If magic in many of its forms is integrally linked to religion, however, we still have to examine how the two are connected, how a particular form of magic relates to a specific religious tradition, how it challenges what people believe, how it can both subvert and be coopted by authority, and how it serves people's perceived needs differently from other religious practices.

Counts toward Religion, Health, and Medicine (RHM) religious studies major concentration.

Registration Requirements

N/A

Learning Objectives

Students should know about the complex relationship between religion and magic, and between official and unofficial rituals.