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Semester 2

Global Indigenous Religions (DIVI08021)

Subject

Divinity

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

1

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Course Summary

This course highlights various thematic, theoretical and methodological issues when studying Global Indigenous Religions. Drawing on case studies from many indigenous and non-indigenous contexts, the course seeks to understand both the experience of those who we label as practising 'indigenous religions' and their relationship to the larger community in both national and international contexts.

Course Description

Academic Description: The aim of the course is to examine various themes, theories, and methodologies in the study of indigenous religions, both as a 'local' and 'global' experience. It will engage with historical and contemporary ideas and practices, without losing sight of the complex geo-political landscapes that indigenous peoples find themselves in. The course will highlight key questions related to religious practice, belief, myths, healing, stories, knowledge, performance, nationalism, and transnationalism and the way these ideas are navigated across time and space. It will also bring these ideas to bear on the academic study of 'indigenous religions', and critically assess its engagement with the hegemonic model of 'world religions'. Outline Content: The lectures are organised into two sections, one focusing on African traditions and the other on their manifestation in the diaspora. The first section will examine the themes, theories and methodologies in the study of indigenous religions in Africa. It provides three case studies from the global south. It concludes by examining the impact of African indigenous religions on contemporary civil society and other religions. The second half charts a trajectory of religiosity as it is articulated in the African diaspora pulling from several different traditions such as Palo, Obeah and Ifa (among others) and look at several different nation-states such as the United States, Cuba, and Brazil. Student Learning Experience Information: The course has a 3-hour lecture plus a 1-hour tutorial per week. Lectures are based around presentations from the lecturer and include some audio-visual content. Background readings are set for each week's topics. Tutorials are student-led discussions of set readings based on a full bibliography built into the syllabus, and involving student presentations. Students will demonstrate their completion of the intended learning outcomes through a combination of lecture and tutorial activities, by the tutorial assessments, a main essay, and by completion of an exam. The main essay will require attention to points and themes crossing two or more weeks, and the exam will require 3 questions to be answered from three sections covering the entire course (based on traditions, themes and methodologies), with the aim to achieve a whole course coverage in assessment.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 60%, Coursework 40%, Practical Exam 0% 15% - Tutorial assessment, comprising two parts: two mini-essays of 500 words each, and one verbal tutorial presentation, each counting for 5% 25% - Essay: 2000 words on a topic to be chosen 60% - Final Written Exam (3 questions) (in person exam)

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