ANTHROPOLOGY 2R03E

RELIGION, MAGIC AND WITCHCRAFT

Winter 2014 McMaster University
______________________________________________________________________

Classes Meet:
Location:
Instructor:

Tues 19:00-22:00
CNH 104
Hisako Omori
Email: omorih@mcmaster.ca
Office Hours: Tues 18:00-18:45
Office: CNH 428
Teaching Assistants: Nadia Densmore (Students: A-M)
Email: densmone@mcmaster.ca
Joelle Ingram (Students: N-Z)
Email: ingramjx@mcmaster.ca
Course Descriptions
This course will explore religion, magic and witchcraft from a variety of perspectives. As a
way to cope with illnesses, misfortune, and other peoples envy, and also to bring forth
wealth, health, and equilibrium, human persons have constantly attempted to
communicate with the unseen. In this course, we will study selected topics to explore these
human endeavours. In addition to readings and lectures, the course will utilize audiovisual
materials to further our understanding of transformative powers in ritual, magic and
religion.
Course Textbooks (Available in Bookstore)
Bowie, Fiona. 2006. Anthropology of Religion: Introduction, Second Edition. Blackwell
Publishing.
Course Pack for ANTH2R03E
*Please also see the following section on the book report. There is an additional book
needed for a book report assignment.
COURSE EVALUATION:
Mid-term Exam (multiple choice questions, Feb 25)
Critical Book Report
(5 pages, typed, and double-spaced)
Final Exams (April Exam Period)

30%
30%
40%

The book report will be based one of the following books that are available in Campus
Store. Please choose a book and sign up for it on Avenue to Learn. Books will be available
on a first-come, first-served basis. A maximum of 120 students can review each book.
When you sign up for the book, please note that the first one by Myerhoff is due March 11,
and the one by Stoller is due on April 1.
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Books available for Book Report:

Myerhoff, Barbara. 1980. Number Our Days. New York: A Touchstone Book.
OR
Stoller, Paul. 2005. Stranger in the Village of the Sick: A Memoir of Cancer, Sorcery,
and Healing. Beacon Press.
Reports should include a summary of the authors arguments, and a discussion of how the
book illustrates three topics or theoretical issues that have been covered in class. See p. 45 of syllabus for further instructions about the book report. In fairness to students who
hand in the book report on time, there will be a late penalty of one mark per day for
book reports handed in after the deadline set for each book.
NOTE ON FILM VIEWING
Please note: Videos are only available for viewing during class time and will be
covered in exams. It is not possible to schedule separate viewing times.
Class Schedule:
Week 1
Jan 7

Course Introduction, policies and procedures

Film: Baraka

Week 2
Jan 14

Theories and Controversies

Bowie: Theories and Controversies pp. 12-18; and 25-26;
The Mentalities Debate, pp. 220-223
(Further reading: the rest of Bowie Chapter 1)
Society as God?
CP Durkheim: Excerpt from Origin of the Idea of the Totemic
Bowie: Totemism and the Dreametime pp. 124-127
(Further reading Web Bellah: Civil Religion in America)
http://www.robertbellah.com/articles_5.htm

Week 3
Jan 21

Myth and Magic

CP Malinowski: Except from Magic, Science and Religion
CP Horace Miner, Body Ritual among the Nacirema
Bowie: Chap 10 Myth
Film: Off the Veranda

Week 4
Jan 28

Witchcraft
CP Evans-Pritchard: The Notion of Witchcraft Explains
Unfortunate Events
CP Evans-Pritchard: Consulting the Poison Oracle among
the Azande
Bowie: Chap 8 Witchcraft and the Evil Eye, pp. 200-220.
Film: Strange Beliefs

Week 5

Ritual and Its Transformative Power

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Feb 4

CP Turner: Liminality and Communitas

CP Turner: Humilities and Hierarchy
Bowie: Chap. 6 Ritual Theory, Rites of Passage
Film: Becoming a Woman in Okrika

Week 6
Feb 11

Religion and Symbols

CP Geertz: Religion as a Cultural System
CP Geertz: Ethos, World View and the analysis of Sacred
Symbols
Bowie Defining Religion pp. 18-22.
Film: The Three Worlds of Bali

Week 7
Feb 18

Mid-term Recess No Class

Week 8
Feb 25

Mid-term Exam
Mid-term (In-Class, 50 minutes)
Second half, film viewing:
Film: The Holier It Gets

Week 9
Mar 4

Shamanism
Bowie: Chapter 7 Shamanism
CP Kendall: Of Hungry Ghosts and Other Matters
Film: Macumba, Trance and Spirit Healings

Week 10
Mar 11

Pilgrimage
CP Badone: Pilgrimage, Tourism, and the Da Vinci Code
Bowie: Chap 9 Pilgrimage
Film: The Shrine
Book Report on Myerhoff Due in Class and Avenue to Learn

Week 11
Mar 18

Identity
Bowie: Chapter 3 Maintaining and Transforming Boundaries
CP Brandes: Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for
Mexican National Identity

Week 12
Mar 25

Death, Ancestors, and Body

CP Conklin: thus were our bodies, thus were our customs
CP Schattschneider: Buy me a bride
Bowie: Chapter 2 The Body as Symbols
Film: Homegoings

Week 13
Apr 1

Gender and Religion

Bowie: Chapter 4 Sex, Gender and the Sacred
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CP: Hoodfar, The Veil in Their Minds and on Our Heads

Film: TBA
Book Report on Stoller Due in Class and Avenue to Learn
Week 14
Apr 8

Globalization, Magic, and Transnational Religion

CP Meyer: Commodities and Powers of Prayer
CP Clarke: Transnational Yoruba Revivalism and the Politics of
Heritage
Wrap-up

Final Exam during the Exam Period

TIPS FOR PREPARING BOOK REPORT
1. Read through the book you have selected. As you are reading, look for themes, concepts
or topics that have been covered in lectures, coursepack readings or A-V materials during
the course. Choose three of these themes for your report. Examples might include:
shamanism, witchcraft, ritual and death.
2. Start writing the report by writing a one page introduction to your book in which you
provide a brief overview of the book (i.e. what it is about, why it was written, who wrote it,
what kinds of information/ideas it contains, what is the authors main argument).
3. Move on to discuss each of the three themes you have chosen. You may use sub-titles if
this helps to organize your report. For each theme, write approximately one page. Define
the theme or term. Describe how your book illustrates that theme, citing specific examples
from the book. Provide page references for each example [i.e. This book provides an
example of sorcery practice when the author spells out an incantation chanted in a specific
context (p. 66).] Quotes may be used, but all phrases and sentences directly quoted should
be enclosed in quotation marks, and page references should be provided [i.e. Men have
thirty points of misfortune; women, who rarely fare better than men in Songhay society,
have forty points of misfortune (p. 67)]. Dont use too many quotes rely primarily on
your own words.
4. Write a concluding page in which you critically evaluate the book. State your opinion of
the book and explain your evaluation (justify why you think the book is valuable, accurate,
unhelpful, etc.). In your conclusion, also discuss how this book provides insight into
understanding of the social construction of religious and ritual practices.
5. Include full bibliographic information for your book on your title page, as well as your
name, student number, and course information. Hand in a paper copy of the book report
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and submit it electronically to Avenue to Learn (Turnitin.com) by respective deadline, i.e.

March 11 if you are writing on the book by Myerhoff, and April 1 if you are writing on the
book by Stoller.
Bibliography
Durkheim, Emile. 1973. Origin of the Idea of the Totemic Principle or Mana. In: Emile
Durkheim on Morality and Society, edited by Robert N. Bellah. 167-186. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Bellah, Robert N. 1967. Civil Religion in America. Journal of the American Academy of Arts
and Science 96 (1): 1-21
Miner, Horace. 1956. Body Ritual among the Nacirema. American Anthropologist 58: 503507.
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1948. Excerpt. Magic, Science and Religion. New York: Doubleday.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1937. Excerpt. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande.
Oxford: Claredon Press.
Turner, Victor. 1995. Excerpt. Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-structure. New York: Aldine
de Gruyter.
Geertz, Clifford. 1993. Religion as a Cultural System. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected
Essays. 87-125. Basic Books
Geertz, Clifford. 1993. Ethos, World View and the analysis of Sacred Symbols. The
Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. 126-141. Basic Books.
Kendall, Laurel. 2008. Of Hungry Ghosts and Other Matters of Consumption in Republic of
Korea: The Commodity Becomes a Ritual Prop. American Ethnologist 35(1): 154-170.
Badone, Ellen. 2008. Pilgrimage, Tourism, and the da Vinci code at Les-Saintes-Maries-DeLa-Mer, France. Culture and Religion 9(1): 23-44.
Brandes, Stanley. 1998. Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National
Identity. Journal of American Folklore111 (442): 359-380.
Conklin, Beth A.1995. Thus Are Our Bodies, Thus Was Our Custom Mortuary Cannibalism
in an Amazonian Society. American Ethnologist 22(1): 75-101.
Schattschneider, Ellen. 2001. Buy me a bride: Death and Exchange in Northern Japanese
Bride-doll marriage. American Ethnologist 28(4): 854-880Brandes, Stanley. 1998.
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The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest of National Identity in Mexico. The
Journal of American Folklore 111(452): 359-380.
Hoodfar, Homa. 1992. The Veil in Their Minds and on Our Heads: The Persistence of
Colonial Images of Muslim Women. Resources for Feminist Research 22 (3/4): 5-18
Meyer, Birgit. 1999. Commodities and the Power of Prayer: Pentecostalist Attitudes
Towards Consumption in Contemporary Ghana. In: Globalization and Identity:
Dialectics of Flow and Closure. Birgit Meyer and Peter Geschiere (eds.). Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers.
Clarke, Kamari Maxine. 2007. Transnational Yoruba Revivalism and the Diasporic Politics
of Heritage. American Ethnologist 34 (4): 721-34.
DEPARTMENT, FACULTY AND UNIVERSITY POLICY STATEMENTS
1. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
You are expected to exhibit honesty and use ethical behaviour in all aspects of the
learning process. Academic credentials you earn are rooted in principles of honesty and
academic integrity. Academic dishonesty is to knowingly act or fail to act in a way that
results or could result in unearned academic credit or advantage. This behaviour can
result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit
with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: Grade of F assigned for academic
dishonesty), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university. It is your
responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on
the various types of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy,
located at www.mcmaster.ca/academicintegrity
The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:
1. Plagiarism, e.g. the submission of work that is not ones own or for which other
credit has been obtained.
2. Improper collaboration in group work.
3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations.
2. TURNITIN.COM
In this course we will be using a web-based service (Turnitin.com) to reveal plagiarism.
Students will be expected to submit their work electronically to Turnitin.com and in
hard copy so that it can be checked for academic dishonesty. Students who do not wish
to submit their work to Turnitin.com must still submit a copy to the instructor. No
penalty will be assigned to a student who does not submit work to Turnitin.com. All
submitted work is subject to normal verification that standards of academic integrity
have been upheld (e.g., on-line search, etc.). To see the Turnitin.com Policy, please go to
www.mcmaster.ca/academicintegrity
3. ON-LINE COMPONENT - AVENUE TO LEARN
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In this course we will be using Avenue to Learn. Students should be aware that, when
they access the electronic components of this course, private information such as first
and last names, user names for the McMaster e-mail accounts, and program affiliation
may become apparent to all other students in the same course. The available
information is dependent on the technology used. Continuation in this course will be
deemed consent to this disclosure. If you have any questions or concerns about such
disclosure please discuss this with the course instructor.
All electronic submissions will/may be subject to turnitin. Students should discuss this
element of the course with the instructor if they have any problems or issues with this
policy.
4. MCMASTER STUDENT ABSENCE FORM (MSAF)
The maximum value of the missed work for which the MSAF can be used is 29%.
The maximum number of uses is 1 per term.
Students are required to visit their Faculty/Program Office and complete a Permission to
use MSAF form, for the following reasons:
The request for relief for missed academic work is personal.
The request for relief for missed academic work is religious.
A component of work they have missed is valued at more than 29%.
They have already used the MSAF once in the term.
Such students may be asked by their Faculty/Program Office to provide appropriate
supporting documentation. If the students request to use the MSAF is approved, the
MSAF link will be made available (on a one-time basis) to the student. The student and
faculty member will receive email correspondence regarding the details of the request
for relief for missed academic work.
5.

NOTE ON CHANGES IN THE COURSE

The instructor and university reserve the right to modify elements of the course during
the term. The university may change the dates and deadlines for any or all courses in
extreme circumstances. If either type of modification becomes necessary, reasonable
notice and communication with the students will be given with explanation and the
opportunity to comment on changes. It is the responsibility of the student to check
her/his McMaster email and course websites weekly during the term and to note any
changes.

6. SOCIAL SCIENCES FACULTY E-MAIL COMMUNICATION POLICY

Effective September 1, 2010, it is the policy of the Faculty of Social Sciences that all
email communication sent from students to instructors (including TAs), and from
students to staff, must originate from the students own McMaster University e-mail
account.
This policy protects confidentiality and confirms the identity of the student. It is the
students responsibility to ensure that communication is sent to the university from a
McMaster account. If an instructor becomes aware that a communication has come
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from an alternate address, the instructor may not reply at his or her discretion. Email
Forwarding in MUGSI: http://www.mcmaster.ca/uts/support/email/emailforward.html
*Forwarding will take effect 24-hours after students complete the process at the above