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1. Insight into the relation between religion and the body in religious traditions.
2. Knowledge of key concepts and theories with regard to the religion/body and mind/body relation in religious studies and beyond.
3. Ability to conduct small observation assignments,
4. Ability to apply theoretical concepts to empirical phenomena.
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Religions are not mere systems of beliefs, but also imply sets of practices that have a forming influence on believers’ bodies. It is because of this forming influence that religion gets anchored in the bodies of its practitioners. This is the starting point of this class, which focuses on the nexus of the body, the senses and emotions, as well as the specific gestalt which this nexus takes. The following issues will be discussed: a) religious conceptions of the bodies of humans and gods; b) the specific body techniques (for instance techniques for mediation, contemplation and prayer, dance and trance, inducement of pain, circumcision, body mutilations, gender-specific gestures, body adornments and dress, dance and trance, etc.) that are characteristic for a religious tradition or group; c) the sensorial dimension of religious experience (a.o. the role of hearing, seeing, smelling, touching) and the concomitant religious perception of the world, and d) the invocation of religious emotions. Next to discussing a broad array of articles on the attitudes of religious traditions (in past and present) with regard to the body, attention will also be paid to broader theoretical issues in relation to religious embodiment– from a phenomenological, religio-aesthetic and neuroscience perspective.
This Course is part of the In-depth Courses 'Religie, medialiteit en cultuur'.
LAS and TCS students who follow this course as part of the core curriculum of their major, need to complete a compulsory preparation course/assignment. See for more information: https://tcs.sites.uu.nl/
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