ANTHROP 796 / Religion, Illness and Healing

3 unit(s)

(cross-listed as RELIG ST 786)

This course examines ritual and symbolic healing practices in a variety of social, cultural and religious contexts and geographic locales. The course facilitates critical reflection on how social and cultural theories have been employed by anthropologists, religious studies scholars, and others to interpret diverse healing practices. Other topics addressed in the course include the construction of religious meaning through illness narratives, gender and ritual healing, and the relationships among healing, affliction and structures of social power and domination.