Innumerable cultures, past and present, have singled out specific locales and even whole landscapes as powerful vectors for communicating with the divine. What makes these places somehow different from all others? Do sacred spaces have distinct, identifiable characteristics that separate them from ordinary, profane spaces? In what ways do individuals and societies react differently to such spaces thereby transforming their authority and power as sites of action, interaction, and knowledge? This course seeks to understand both the diversity and the social workings of these spaces through the ways in which they bring together material, social and spiritual worlds. In particular this course will explore the ways in which archaeology has consider sacred space as part of the material record of past societies and how that might serve to reframe debates about the role of place in the study of religion more generally.
Archaeologists and other scholars have approached the materiality of sacred space from a number of perspectives: as a particular set of architectural institutions; a dimension or layer in the broader concept of landscape; as a result of ritual practice; and even as an extension of nature itself. In this way archaeology has tended more towards the anthropological than the theological, concerned more with the ritual role of sacred space than with the question of its natural, supernatural, or socially constructed origins. We must therefore pose the question of whether it is possible to reconcile such concerns with both the social and ontological status of sacred space through thinking comparatively across time and culture. Inevitably such questioning draws us into debates about the fetishism, iconoclasm and the political dynamics that often mark these places as special. Ultimately we are left to grapple with how such places to act upon us even if seemingly against our own will. Is this a form of agency? It will be our challenge in this course either to accept that we cannot fully distance ourselves from our attraction to such spaces or to find a suitable position of objectivity afforded by “the secular” with which to gaze upon those caught in the undeniable light of such situated beacons.
COURSE DESIGN:
This course is designed as a seminar in which students will engage each week with a particular set of readings and other materials (images, websites, films) and be prepared to outline the arguments in those materials and discuss their own reactions and critiques. Throughout the course we will continual tack back and forth between abstract, theoretical debates about sacred space and particular, situated empirical studies. One of the bigger picture goals is to think about the level of abstraction that can be made from a particular case study and look at various approaches for employing a comparative method in the study not only of sacred space but of religion, culture and the past more generally.
While the course has no rigid geographical, cultural, or temporal boundaries a significant portion of our material will draw on the pre-modern Mediterranean world.
PREREQUISITES:
This course is a graduate level seminar that assumes that students have some background in archaeology and the study of religion.
We will not spend significant amounts of time reviewing the various theories of religion that have dominated the social sciences. Students are encouraged to use the following works as useful references:
• Morris, B. (1987). Anthropological studies of religion : an introductory text. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Pals, D. L. and D. L. Pals (2006). Eight theories of religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Students who are interested in additional background readings in the anthropology of religion or archaeological theory and method are encouraged to see me in office hours.
Advanced undergraduates (Juniors and Seniors) wishing to take this course must have a minimum of three upper level (100 and above) courses in archaeology, anthropology or religious studies. Decisions regarding undergraduate enrollment will be at the discretion of the instructor. Those who are interested should meet with me during the first two weeks of the semester.
