REL 225 - Magic, Science, and Religion

FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Planned Offering: Not offered in 2010-2011

How do religious and scientific explanations and methods of inquiry differ? What are the roles of reason and authority in each case? This course draws together materials from antiquity to the present, from the West and from Asia, to illustrate a variety of types of “systems of knowledge.” Theoretical readings are balanced with diverse case studies from diverse contexts: religious doctrines, mystical practices, alchemy, astrology, sorcery, “traditional medicines,” and modern religious movements. Students research a system of their choice and analyze its claims and methods in comparison with those of other traditions covered in the course.Lubin.