This course explores some fundamental questions about the role that religious institutions, practices and commitments play in shaping contemporary social, cultural and political life.
Attention to the diversity of human religious practice has been central to anthropology and remains a topic of considerable interest and continuing research.
The course will considers a variety of religious phenomena found throughout the world and the theoretical and methodological approaches anthropologists use to account for them.
Emphasis is given to the analysis of religious forms of representation, symbolic settings and social action, understanding how religious experience is perceived and interpreted by adherents, and highlighting the way in which individual and group identities are constructed, maintained and contested within religious contexts.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Completion of this course will enable students to:
- Appreciate the centrality of religion to human social life and to the theoretical ambitions of the social sciences.
- Describe some of the enormous variability of religious phenomena.
- Explain the basis of anthropological critiques of taken-for-granted categories such as "religion".
- Place perspectives on the explanation of religion in the wider context of theoretical orientations in the social sciences.
Other Information
This course may be counted towards an Anthropology or Religious Studies major.
Indicative Assessment
Tutorial paper (10%), tutorial participation (15%), research essay (35%) and take-home exam (40%).
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from: a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of tutorials; and b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.Requisite and Incompatibility
Majors
Minors
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $2856 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $4080 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8289 | 24 Jul 2017 | 31 Jul 2017 | 31 Aug 2017 | 27 Oct 2017 | In Person | N/A |
