ANTHR 3420 - [Myth, Ritual, and Symbol]

(crosslisted) RELST 3420
(GB) (CA-AS)

Spring. Next Offered: 2020-2021. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Staff.

Examines how systems of thought, symbolic forms, and ritual practice are formulated and expressed in primarily non-Western societies. Focuses on anthropological interpretations of space, time, cosmology, myth, classificatory systems (e.g., color, totems, food, dress, kinship), taboos, sacrifice, witchcraft, sorcery, and rites of passage (birth, initiation, marriage, death). Examines both the roles of specialists (e.g., spirit mediums, curers, priests, ascetics) and nonspecialists in producing these cultural forms.