1. Chapter 1 THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF RELIGION

2.  People like to make sense of their world and explain occurrences  They often use religious beliefs to do this  We will study different religions using  The comparative approach  No judgment  An open mind  Cultural relativity  A method that tries to find similarities  Anthropology studies all aspects of being human  It uses different perspectives  Holism (or being holistic): looks at integrated parts to get the whole picture INTRODUCTION

3.  Definition: the study of humankind  Four branches:  Cultural  Studies culture, or learned, transmitted behavior of living people  Archaeology  Studies culture of past societies by analyzing artifacts  Linguistic  Studies study construction and evolution of language  Physical/biological  Studies relationship of biology and culture ANTHROPOLOGY

4.  Anthropologist study a narrow focus of a population for long periods of time  They use participant observation  We call small, traditional groups of people small-scale instead of primitive  Examples: hunter/gatherers, nomads  We study smaller populations to look for human universals and to study the range of variation in humans HOLISTIC APPROACH

5.  How many religions are there in the world?  Is there variation within religions? VARIATION

8.  How do anthropologists collect data?  Fieldwork: moving to the society under study and immersing yourself in that culture  Involves participant observation  Ethnography: a written account of how a human population lives  We organize societies into cultural areas: geographic areas in which societies tend to share cultural traits  Examples: subsistence or technology  Hunting and Gathering (aka HG or foraging)  Agriculture (cultivation)  Pastoralism (herding)  Industrialism THE STUDY OF SOCIETIES

9.  The Fore of New Guinea  New Guinea, horticulturalists, 1950s  Many suffered from unknown disease called kuru or shaking disease  Affected women more ETHNOGRAPHIC EXAMPLE

10.  Medical team needed to take holistic approach  Discovered that disease was caused by prions  Fore contracted prions by eating their relative’s remains (especially brains) at funeral ceremonies  Fore thought disease was from sorcery  Do the Kore and Western doctors view this disease in the same way?  How would this affect those with the disease? ETHNOGRAPHIC EXAMPLE

12.  An anthropologist (or any researcher) cannot be 100% objective  Anthropology unlocked the answer of kuru, not medical knowledge  Holism involves viewing something from the insider (emic) and outsider (etic) perspectives  Both views provide a holistic picture  Keep this in mind while reading the novel for this class WAYS TO VIEW CULTURE

14.  It is difficult to not judge others’ cultural practices  We have to be careful of ethnocentrism  Belief that one’s own culture is superior  Can cultures or beliefs be superior/inferior?  Take the stance of cultural relativism CULTURAL RELATIVISM

15.  Is it possible to understand the “true” meaning of another's culture or about the world?  Cultural knowledge and viewpoints are social constructions  There are multiple ways to see the world  There are no right or wrong practices or beliefs  We take a middle approach:  Non-judgment is objective  Postmodernism is subjective POSTMODERNISM

16. NOVEL  While reading the novel, work on the study guide (posted on portal)  You want to pay attention to the different ways the family and Western doctors explain and treat the child’s disease  Look for examples of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism  Try to see the story from both sides  Ask yourself what you would do in that situation  Quiz #1 is on March 13

17.  One main goal of anthropology is to study things in context  What about human rights?  Can we view a practice and understand its meaning but still think it is wrong?  Cannibalism  Revenge killings  Infanticide  Female genital mutilation HUMAN RIGHTS

18.  It is a “complex whole”  Culture gives meaning to reality  Culture  Is not biological  Is learned by living in that group  Is shared by members of a group  Accounts for differences between groups of people  Based on symbolism  Culture is highly variable and changes quickly WHAT IS CULTURE?

20.  How do we define religion?  Discuss with your group and come up with a simple definition of religion DEFINING RELIGION

21.  How do we define religion?  Use operant definitions so we can observe and study religion  We use analytic definitions to explain how it is expressed  We use functional definitions to explain social functions  We us essentialist definitions to show that much of the core parts of religion are extraordinary  We use supernatural classifications to explain things not explained in the natural world DEFINING RELIGION

22.  So, religion deals with  The supernatural  Not of this world  The sacred  Things to be respected  Animism  Belief in spirits  Ritual  Symbolic and repeated behavior  Worldview  Perception of reality  Explanations  Social control  Concept of right and wrong/good and evil DEFINING RELIGION

23.  Next we’ll watch two short videos on ancient religions  As you watch, practice cultural relativity and comparative approach  What aspects are similar between the two ancient religions? VIDEOS

24.  Hammurabi  https://www.khanaca demy.org/test- prep/ap-art- history/ancient- mediterranean- AP/ancient-near-east- AP/v/law-code-stele- of-king-hammurabi-- 792-1750-b-c-e  Ancient Egypt  https://www.khanaca demy.org/test- prep/ap-art- history/ancient- mediterranean- AP/ancient-egypt- AP/v/judgement-in- the-presence-of-osiris- -hunefer-s-book-of- the-dead EXAMPLES OF ANCIENT RELIGIONS

25.  One aspect of studying religion is to try to see what purpose the religion has THE STUDY OF RELIGION

26.  1. Evolutionary approach  Evolution of culture (simple to complex)  Animism  Judgment and ethnocentrism  2. Marxist approach  Religion is created by those in power  “opiate of the masses” THEORETICAL APPROACHES

27.  3. Functional approach  What is religion’s role in society?  Collective conscious, promotes social cooperation  Gives society rules to be integrative  Gives comfort or reason during hard times THEORETICAL APPROACHES

28.  4. Interpretive approach  Make sense of culture by studying meaning  Symbols represent things and direct human behaviors  5. Psychosocial approach  Connection between society and the individual  Freudian THEORETICAL APPROACHES

29.  What we think is real is really a creation of our brains  We get cues from the environment and our brains  Can certain religious experiences be created by brain?  Out of body experience,  Talking in tongues  Need to consider all aspects to be holistic BIOLOGICAL BASIS

30.  Most cultures believe in spirits  Anthropomorphic means treating non-human things in a human way  Theory of mind allows us to think we understand what other beings are feeling  Empathy  Critical for living in social systems  This may lead into the supernatural  Maybe a way to control or understand nature BELIEFS IN SPIRITS

31.  Maybe it evolve as a way to ensure cooperation  Or to enforce kinship  Or to stabilize society and people’s behavior  Our cognition sees two representations of the world:  The physical  The psychological  We impose our hopes and desires onto things and can “see” what we want to see (even if it is not there) EVOLUTION OF RELIGION

32.  There is evidence that human ancestors had religious thought  Homo heidelbergensis  At least 600,000 years ago  Buried dead  Symbolic pink handaxe  Homo neanderthalensis  At least 250,000 years ago  Buried dead  Used flowers in graves RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS?

33.  1. Describe what it means to be holistic  2. Describe why it is important to have cultural relativism  3. Identify three religious ceremonies you have participated in  4. Do you think there is a biological basis for religious beliefs? Or is religion entirely social? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

34.  Read “Body Ritual of the Nacirema” and work on questions in group ASSIGNMENT