Course Title：Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, Culture and Society

This course is intended for students interested in the anthropological approaches and methods in studying religious and cultural practices both in western and non-western societies. The course will enable students to gain insight into the development of anthropology and learn from anthropological forefathers and their theoretical ideas that examine religion, culture and society. Students will also be informed of key debates in anthropology and be encouraged to critically examine cross-cultural issues in the following key areas; ritual, symbolism, purity and pollution, gender, body, spirit possession, healing, wellbeing, death, and religious practices in the Diaspora, by way of attending lectures, reading monographs, discussing ethnographic films, and examining empirical case studies. The students are expected to conduct a short fieldwork (qualitative research) on one of the topics discussed in the lectures and produce a research report.