ASIA4014 Religion, Magic & Modernity I: The Paradox of Spirituality in Contemporary Asian & Pacific Cultures

Later Year Course

Offered By	School of Culture, History and Language
Academic Career	Undergraduate
Course Subject	Asian Studies
Offered in	ASIA4014 will not be offered in 2011
Unit Value	6 units
Course Description	The spread of Western institutions across the societies of Asia and the Pacific over recent decades has produced certain profound paradoxes: contrary to most observers' expectations, modernity, globalisation, secularism, liberalism, democracy, free markets and so on have resulted in the intensification and expansion of seemingly "irrational" religiously inspired phenomena rather than their historical decline. Examples would include various forms of spiritualism, religious fundamentalism and extremism, millenarian and religious reform movements, a proliferation of magic, sorcery and witchcraft, the spread of charismatic and Pentecostal Christian sects, and the florescence of "cargo cults". Not only have such religions phenomena grown and proliferated, but anthropologists have realised that even supposedly secular institutions involve sacred symbols, ritual, hope, and spiritualism. The cultural overlap between the religious and the secular, the interaction between the two realms and the intensification of spirituality all point to the importance of comparative anthropological examinations of the religious for understanding social change in the contemporary Asia Pacific region. This course is one half of a two-semester sequence (ASIA4014 and ASIA4015) that seeks to describe, analyse and compare a sample of these remarkable phenomena from the perspective of Anthropology, that is, on the basis of intimate ethnographic field studies conducted at first-hand by members of the lecturing team. Case studies examined in detail include changing religious systems (Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Maoism, and indigenous religions) drawn from China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu.
Learning Outcomes	With satisfactory performance demonstrated by the end of the semester, students should emerge from the course with a greatly enhanced understanding of the character of religious transformation and its relationships with other sectors of contemporary social life in the Asia Pacific region. In this way, students will be guided toward a less ethnocentric world view of the peoples neighboring Australia. Some familiarity with Anthropology or its sister disciplines in the social knowledge: sciences or humanities would be helpful, but not necessary.
Indicative Assessment	10% Lecture and Tutorial/seminar class participation 20% Midterm Exam (one-hour, in class) 40% Research Essay (4,000 word maximum) 30% Final Exam (2,000 word maximum, take home)
Workload	The course is scheduled for 25 January to 5 February 4-6pm for lecture/seminar and 6-7pm for tutorial. There will be an additional class on 29 January from 1-4pm to make up for class missed due to the Australia Day holiday on 26 Jan followed by the usual 4-7pm meeting.
Requisite Statement	Prerequisites: 6 post-Introductory/advanced university courses in Anthropology or related disciplines in the social sciences and/or humanities (CAP or CASS) plus permission of course convenor. This course is designed primarily as a Masters level course. However, Honours and qualified advanced undergraduates in CAP and/or CASS with strong backgrounds in Anthropology or its sister disciplines of the social sciences and humanities can enroll in the course for honours and undergraduate credit with the written permission of the course convenor.
Indicative Reading List	Readings for this course will involve a mix of several full ethnographies describing the religious systems of various Asian and Pacific Island religions and societies, excerpts from authoritative books on the topic, and a number of journal articles. As many of these sources as possible have been deposited for student access on Web CT (further information will be presented on the first class meeting). Other materials which cannot be posted on Web CT because of copyright restrictions will be placed on reserve in Chifley Library.
Academic Contact	Prof Mark Mosko

The information published on the Study at ANU 2011 website applies to the 2011 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2010 website.