Ivan Brady, Ph.D., Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus
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Ivan Brady, Ph.D., Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus |
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| Other Interests |
Resume .pdf |
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A comparison of religious thought and behavior, the role of ideology and ritual in society, and the nature of religion as a symbolic and cultural system, especially in the tribal world. Emphasis is placed on the role of the observer in establishing meaning and interpreting experience when challenged to study such things as world view, cosmography, shamanism, witchcraft, voodoo, lycanthropy, vampirism, cannibalism, myths, visions, and sacrifice as expressed by some of the Others of our frontiers, past and present. The grounding in phenomenology and hermeneutics and the focus on symbolism make the course an exercise in critical thinking that can be transferred easily to situations wherever Own and Other cultures cross; the theoretical orientation also generates a more self-conscious ("reflexive") science than is usual in the social sciences today.
REQUIRED TEXTS
OPTIONAL TEXTS
PART I [Readings: Becker pp. 1-25; remember to read the introductions to subsections in Lehmann and Myers as you come to them, e.g., pp. 1-5, 120-122] (1) Introduction: knowing too much, not enough; extraordinary reality. Voodoo doll. Crossing the Own/Other boundary. Concept of culture; imagination; religion as a cultural system; reflexive thinking; "card game"; edge of departure to "out of body" experience; "Who's crazy?"; appearance beyond reality: shaman, citizen, priest, scientist. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers 1: Introduction, Geertz, Lee; Halifax 1; handout: "Some Definitions"] (2) Magic. Film: Magical Death. Discussion. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers 3: Howells, Brown; 5: Lévi-Strauss; 7: Malinowski, Gmelch; Halifax 5] (3) Altered States of Consciousness; levels of reality; shamanism as art and science; healing and harming. Empirical phenomena; Hindu rope trick; media and the senses; art of asking the right question; validity and authenticity. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers: all of part 4; 10: Sagan] (4) Film: Holy Ghost People; Who leads? Who is odd? Where are shamans found? Discussion. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers 9: Daugherty; 3: Turner, Von Furer-Haimendorf; 5: Wedenoja; 10: Lee; handout: "What's a Shaman?"] (5) FIRST TEST [Time and place TBA] PART II [Read Becker 26-62, Chapter 8]
(6) Becker summary. Beginnings in ritual studies: efficacy versus entertainment; ritual as theatre. Film: Mehinaku; discussion. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers 2: Firth] (8) Discussion of Dead Birds; What do people do with bodies? Beyond Eden: citizen cannibals and the problem of truth; Kuru and cannibalism; myth summarized; photos as text; prisonhouse of language. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers: 2: Douglas; 6: McPherson; 8: Metcalf, Lindenbaum; handouts: "In Search of the Silver Bullet"; "Cannibalism"] (9) Symbols have histories. Sacrifice. Film: 11 Powers; discussion. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers 2: Douglas, Dubisch; 7: Nash, Mair]
(10) SECOND TEST [Time and place TBA]
(11) Sacred Space. Film: Sun Dagger; discussion. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers 9: Wallace, Worsley] (12) Audio tape: NPR tape or video on Vampires; vampires as religious symbols. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers 8: Barber; Becker pp. 122-123] (13) Voodoo. Film: In Search of Voodoo; discussion. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers 6: Eastwell; 8: Brown, Del Guercio, Booth; handout: "Night of the Wandering Souls"] (14) Witchcraft; image of a witch; symbolic equations, transformations; cross-cultural distribution. Audio tape: NPR on Witchcraft. [Readings: Lehmann and Myers 6: Brain, Stevens, Orion; 9: Lewis; 10: Singer and Benassi]; handouts: "New Age Harmonies"; extract from Adler] (15) THIRD TEST [Time and place TBA] WINTERSESSION TEST AND FILM STUDY QUESTIONS PART I A. Take Home [Due at the beginning of the following day's class] 1. What do the Yanomamo shamans try to accomplish in the film Magical Death? Do they succeed? How do you know? (10 points - no more than one piece of paper, two sides) B. In Class Test [Time and place TBA]: 2. Handling rattlesnakes and drinking poison are important to The Holy Ghost People. Why? What do these activities signify to the participants? What might Becker say about such activities? What do the readings in Lehmann and Myers have to say about this subject? (10 points - one-half page) 3. What is the problem of ethnocentrism and cultural bias? How does this problem relate to the study of primitive religion? To our feelings about "Truth"? (10 points - one-half page) 4. Shamans, priests and mediums are not necessarily the same. How do they differ? (10 points - one-half page) 5. How does drug use figure into the history of shamanism? Give examples from your readings. (10 points - one-half page) 6. What is a "possession state"? How does the concept apply to your understanding of Yanomano shamans and the Holy Ghost people? What does evidence on possession tell us about the supernatural? (10 points - one-half page)
(PLUS 40 POINTS ON OBJECTIVE TEST = 100 points)
A. Take Home [Due dates TBA] 1. The pequi is a staple fruit in the Mehinaku diet. It is also used as an oil base in body decoration. The wekehe are considered to be the spirit masters of the pequi and some other natural resources like corn and manioc. These spirits, less dangerous than many others, are also associated with calendrical harvest rituals, including the pequi harvest festival held in the fall. Learn what you can of these things as displayed and explained in the video, "We are Mehinaku," and then summarize the results in terms of: (a) the discussion of magic and agricultural rituals in the film and in Lehmann and Myers; and, (b) Becker's statements that "ritual is a technique for giving life" (Chapter 1) and that "Food is a sacred element because it contains the power of life" (Chapter 2). Do your results support any general statements about symbolism in magic and religion? (10 points - no more than one piece of paper, two sides). 2. The film Dead Birds illustrates some aspects of bird symbolism among the Dani of New Guinea. What is the myth that makes men ("hu-mans") like birds? How are they believed to be not like birds? How do these ideas pervade the lives of the Dani? Be specific and give examples where pertinent. (10 points - no more than one piece of paper, two sides) 3. The 11 Powers is a film about ritual and belief on the island of Bali. What are the 11 powers ceremonies supposed to represent? Celebrate? Accomplish? How do sacrifice and symbolism enter into the celebration? How do the Balinese know when to start and when to stop these ceremonies? (10 points - no more than one piece of paper, two sides). B. In Class Test [Time and place TBA]: 4. What is cannibalism? Who does it? Under what circumstances? How does symbolism figure into the problem? Scapegoating? Popular prejudice and stereotyping? The problem of evidence? (15 points - one full page) 5. Drawing on your readings in Lehmann and Myers and on class lectures, what is the structure of sacrifice? What does Becker say about its origins, properties, functions, and explanations? (15 points - one full page) (PLUS 40 POINTS ON OBJECTIVE TEST = 100 points) PART III A. Take Home [Due at the beginning of your final examination. Bring them to class.] 1. Drawing on your knowledge of magic in general (e.g., in Lehmann and Myers), and sympathetic magic in particular (e.g., in class discussion), locate and discuss four separate instances of magic described in Halifax's Shamanic Voices. How do words, ritual, and paraphernalia figure into these cases? Be specific and remember to cite your sources by author and page number. (Do your own work. I will not be happy to read identical answers. 10 points - no more than one piece of paper, two sides) 2. What is the "Sun Dagger"? How does your knowledge of it affect your view of so-called "primitive mentality"? How does the "Sun Dagger" relate to problem of sacred space? What is meant by the expression that sacred places are projections of people, not something just waiting to be discovered "out there"? What might account for the fact that different peoples sometimes have very different understandings of the same geographic places? (10 points-no more than one piece of paper, two sides) 3. What is voodoo? Where does it come from? What are its varieties and where are they found? How is "voodoo death" supposed to work? Does it? Why or why not?(10 points - no more than one piece of paper, two sides) B. In ClassTest. [Time and date TBA] 1. What are the basic features and varieties of shamanism? Draw your answer from Harner, Halifax, Lehmann and Myers, class lectures, handouts, films, and other sources where pertinent. Give examples to support your arguments. (20 points - one full page) 2. Vampirism is full of symbolism and rooted widely in mythology, folklore and fiction. Describe those properties. What do you suppose is the main attraction of vampirism? Who was Vlad Dracul? What is the significance of vampirism according to Becker? How does the problem of the hierarchy of the senses fit into the enactment of vampirism in fact and fiction? (20 points - one full page) 3. What are the essential features of witchcraft - its origins, properties, images, and explanations? Why is it difficult to study? How is it represented in modern society? (20 points - one full page) 4. What is ritual? How do symbols figure into it? How is it connected to entertainment? To efficacy? To myth? What are your sources of knowledge on the subject? What did they teach you? Be specific and give examples where pertinent. (20 points - one full page) [PLUS 40 POINTS ON OBJECTIVE TEST = 150 points] TOTAL POINTS FOR COURSE: 350 |