Los Angeles Harbor College
Anthropology 121 Fall 2016
The Anthropology of Magic, Religion and Witchcraft
Dr. Sasha David
Section 0109: Tuesdays and Thursdays 8 -- 9:25 AM
Office Hours: Monday – Thursday 1 – 3 PM
Office Phone and Location: (310) 233-4577; NEA 157
Course Description: This course considers the origins and varieties of religious beliefs and practices cross-culturally. Topics include mythology, symbolism, shamanism, altered states of consciousness, magic, divination, witchcraft, and the question of cults.
Los Angeles Harbor College Mission Statement:
Los Angeles Harbor College promotes access and student success through associate and transfer degrees, certificates, economic and workforce development, and basic skills instruction. Our educationalprograms and supportservices meet the needs of diverse communities as measured by campus institutional learning outcomes.
Student Learning Outcomes:
1. Using a culturally relativistic and ethnographic framework, students should recognize a variety of religious experiences.
2. Define the term “culture” and explain how it impacts the lives of individuals.
3. Compare the different ways the term religion is defined and distinguish different anthropological approaches to the study of religion.
4. Identify and discuss the functions served by various religious phenomena, both for the individual and society.
5. Explain how religious phenomena, such as the nature of supernatural beings and witchcraft beliefs, reflect the culture in which they are found.
6. Identify and apply the basic concepts of the class, including mythology, symbolism, rituals, specialists, altered states, magic, divination, supernatural beings, and witchcraft.
7. Examine how and why new religious movements arise, and why others decline.
Assigned readings for the course:
Stein, Rebecca and Stein, Philip. 2010. The Anthropology of Religion, Magic and Witchcraft (3rd edition). New York: Pearson Publishers. ISBN-10: 0-205-71811-6. ISBN-13: 978-0-205-71811-5.
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Course Work:
Group Discussion Activities: In this class we will learn through hands-on activities. During class, we will read scholarly papers that pertain to the anthropology of magic, religion and witchcraft, as well as watch TED talks, YouTube clips, and documentaries on these topics. Discussion will be student-generated and all members of the class will be required to participate.
Pop Quizzes: On certain days, there will be a pop quiz at the end of class, to check to make sure you were paying attention during the class discussion. The pop quiz will only cover that day’s material and you will be allowed to use any notes you have taken. Any failed pop quiz will result in 1 point deducted from your final grade for the course.
Reading Quizzes: These quizzes will assess your mastery of the material in the assigned textbook reading. See below for Reading Quiz dates and the chapters they will cover. These quizzes consist of five True/False questions. These quizzes are open-note; you are allowed to use the notes you have taken on the reading (so make sure to take good notes!). Your notes can be handwritten on paper or printouts of typed notes. If you are using printouts of typed notes, you must show them to me for approval before the quiz begins, otherwise you will not be allowed to use them. Textbooks must be put away during the quizzes.
Group Presentation: You and your assigned group members will be asked to present a chapter from the textbook. This presentation is essentially an oral midterm exam. Your group’s presentation should summarize the main points made by the readings (15 minutes total); include a sense of your own personal reactions to the chapter material (5 minutes total); and pose discussion questions to your classmates about the readings – not just pass around stuff for people to look at or do word search puzzles (10 minutes total). Be certain to cover all of these elements, following the time guidelines, if you would like to receive an A for your presentation. The presentation should last 30 minutes total. If your presentation exceeds 30 minutes, your group will be stopped before the presentation is complete.
When planning the presentation, your group may want to consider using Skype, Facebook video chat or FaceTime if there are certain group members who cannot make it in person to the group meetings. If there are any group members who do not make an effort to participate in planning the presentation, please let me know immediately, as their grade will be negatively affected. It is not your job to track down unresponsive group members.
Please note that Prezi does NOT work on the classroom computer, and laptops do not work with the projector, either. If you wish to use the classroom computer for your presentation, make sure that you email me your file in advance of your presentation date, so that I can check it for compatibility. The classroom computer has very limited compatibility. If you find on the day of your presentation that your file is not compatible, you will be asked to present without it.
Final Paper: For this assignment, you will conduct an ethnographic interview with a participant of your choosing. The overall purpose of this interview is to answer the following questions:
1.) What role does faith play in the life of your interview participant?
2.) How have his or her beliefs been influenced by his or her culture(s)?
The following questions could be useful for this interview:
-What are your religious affiliations?
-Have you ever changed religious affiliations, and why?
-Do you worship with a group, alone, or not at all?
-If you do not believe in a higher power, why not?
-If you do not believe in a higher power, is there anything else you believe in?
-What do you imagine your higher power looks like?
-Do you pray as part of your faith?
-If so, when do you pray, how do you pray, and what do you pray about?
-Do you do anything besides just praying to make your prayers more effective?
-How do your spiritual practices influence your social life?
-How do your spiritual practices influence your work life?
-Why have you chosen your particular spiritual beliefs?
-How important is spirituality in your life? Has its importance to you ever been different in the past?
-How have your beliefs influenced the choices you have made in life, such as choosing a marriage partner, your career, your political views, or how to raise your children?
-How has your faith been influenced by your family’s faith?
In addition to asking these questions, you can allow your respondent to lead the interview in any other direction that speaks to the two primary questions noted above.
You should plan to meet with your respondent for an initial interview, lasting an hour or more. It would also be helpful to schedule in advance a follow-up meeting in which you can clarify any loose ends from the previous meeting.
It is suggested that you locate your informant as soon as possible, since life (yours and your respondent’s) can be unpredictable, and no late papers will be accepted.
Lastly, you must commit to maintaining the complete anonymity of your research subject in your final write-up as well as during class discussions, so do not choose to interview any individual whom a classmate would be able to identify based on their personal details.
This paper needs to be five to seven pages, double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1” margins at the top, bottom, and sides.
You are expected to include in this paper five BOLD-FACED, UNDERLINED references to the Stein and Stein book. (In other words, you need to connect your paper back to the textbook reading five different times in your essay.)
This paper is due in class, on the last day of class.
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Grading for the Course:
Reading Quizzes: Six quizzes worth a total of 30% of your final grade total; each quiz is worth 5% of your final grade for the course.
Group Presentation: Worth 35% of your final grade for the course.
Final Paper: Worth 35% of your final grade for the course.
Pop Quizzes: One point deducted from your final grade for the course for each failed quiz. If you come to class but do not turn in the quiz, it will count as a failed pop quiz.
Extra Credit: Ten points will be added to your final grade for the course based upon successful completion of the course Service Learning. (For example, a final grade of 75/C will become 85/B with the extra credit.) There will be no other extra credit offered for this course. Service Learning is taught by Prof. Lori Minor and Prof. Megan Lange; you may enroll with either instructor. I will distribute two handouts that give you further information about this course and enrollment instructions.
If you have taken Service Learning during a previous semester, please give me a copy of your unofficial transcript on or before the last day of class, so I can give you your extra credit for the class. Make sure to let me know if you are enrolled in multiple sections of mine, so I can apply it to all your sections.
Calculation of final grades: This class will use the traditional numerical values for each letter grade. (A = 90%-100%; B = 80%-89%; C = 70%-79%; D = 60%-69%; F = 59% or lower.)
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Course Policies:
Attendance: Attendance is taken at the end of class using a sign-in sheet. Whenever a student’s absences exceed the number of hours a class meets per week, the instructor will consider whether there are mitigating circumstances which justify the absences. It is the student’s responsibility to consult with his or her instructor regarding any absences that would alter the student’s status in the class.
Latecomers: Always enter through the rear door to the classroom. Do not walk in through the front of the class when instruction is occurring.
Drop Policy: After the first week of class, it is your responsibility to drop the class if you will no longer be participating.
Test Taking Policy: You must be present at the very beginning of any quiz or exam in order to take it. This pertains to all pop quizzes and reading quizzes. Make sure to bring an unwrinkled, 50-question per side Scantron form and pencil with you for every reading quiz. You must take all quizzes for the class during the time that is specified for the section in which you are enrolled. You will not be permitted to take any tests or exams during a class in which you are not enrolled.
Make-Up or Late Work: There will be no make-up quizzes or assignments given for this class and no late final papers will be accepted. You will only be able to take the quizzes for this class at the time that they are given in class; you will not be able to take them earlier or later than the scheduled time and date. If you are sick, have car trouble, cannot find a babysitter, have a doctor’s appointment, etc., you will NOT be given an early or late make-up test. If you miss the test, you miss the test. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY, REGARDLESS OF CIRCUMSTANCE. Therefore it is wise to do the Service Learning extra credit opportunity in case anything like this should come up for you during the semester. Remember, you must add Service Learning at the start of the semester. You will not be able to add it later on.
Academic Honesty/Plagiarism Statement: All students are expected to adhere to the Los Angeles Harbor College standards of academic honesty. These standards forbid plagiarism, unlawful copying and, or, failure to give credit to sources that you may use in the research and writing of your class work. Cheating and other forms of misconduct are covered under this statement. Failure to comply with these standards will result in a failed assignment and, or, a failed grade in this class.
Controversial Content Statement: This course includes visual presentations and discussions of a frank nature regarding particular subjects including race, religion and sexual orientation protected by the college’s academic freedom statutes that may be considered offensive and controversial to some. When such topics may arise during the course of this semester and a student wishes to be excused, please notify the instructor that you wish to be excluded from class discussion on the grounds that it is personally offensive and the instructor will excuse you until such discussion has concluded.
Cell phone and laptop policy: The use of cell phones and laptops is strictly prohibited during class. All electronic items, including cell phones and laptops, must be put away at all times. I will confiscate any cell phone or electronic item that is used during class; you may pick it up from me at the end of class.
Disruptive behavior: Students who engage in behavior that is disruptive to the learning environment will be asked to leave the classroom and not return until the following class meeting, which may involve missing a quiz or test that cannot be made up, as per the policies stated above. Assigned seats may also be given. “Disruptive behavior” is defined as interacting with one’s neighbor at an inappropriate time, sleeping, using the Internet, or otherwise disturbing the learning environment. Repeated instances of disruptive behavior may lead to a failed grade or withdrawal from the class.
Disability Statement: Students with a verified disability who may need authorized accommodation(s) for this class are encouraged to notify the instructor and the Office of Special Services or Disabled Students as soon as possible, at least two weeks before any exam or quiz. All information will remain confidential.