HISTORY OF RELIGIONS - I

The course is useful for the different areas of research since it gives fundamental tools for scientific studies of religious traditions and rituals.

For any further information please: scrippa@unive.it

The course aims to provide initial awareness and critical assessment ability with regard to the main religious perspectives and institutions, both from the point of view of their historical development and from that of their meaning. Alongside the value of the History of Religions as a critical investigation method into an important aspect of each and every society, the more theoretical function of the discipline should be emphasised, having represented the first specific sphere of application of the intercultural reflection and the related historical comparison, and which by its very nature has often performed a function of theoretical and methodological connection and mediation between the 'historical sciences' and the anthropological, ethnographical, sociological and psychological disciplines.

Basic cultural and historical competences.

The students should be interested in fundamental subjects and categories of History of Religions in order to use a scientific approach to rituals, behaviors and traditions of various religions.

Title: Sacred, Languages, Knowledge.
The first course is a
historical-methodological introduction.
a)The scientific discussion about the “sacer” (sacred), religion, ritual.
b)Analysis of interpretative
 categories: myth, possession, initiation, sacrifice, trance.

c)Comparativism: the historical-comparative method used both in the history of religions and 
in anthropology.
d)History of Religions as object of historical research in the European culture.

A)-Brelich, A. Introduzione alla storia delle religioni, Roma, Ed.Ateneo 2003 (pp.1-70)

Massenzio, M. Sacro e identità etnica. Franco Angeli Milano 1994 ( chapt. I )



Cardona , G. R. La foresta di piume Laterza (1 chapter) or Cardona , G. R. I linguaggi del sapere, Laterza Roma. Bari 1990

S. Crippa Corpi e saperi Pendragon 2019 ( 1 chapter and Introduction)


B)-Specific in-depth readings will be distributed during the course

C)-Lecture notes

The choosen Method to evaluate the student's Knowledge consists in an oral examination on the topics dealt with the course; with result recording

Lecture.
Moreover, further activities of course are the seminar POIKILIA and the visite to Grottanelli's library at BAUM.

Italian

Attendance is recommended.

For non-attending students, it is necessary to add a text to be agreed with the Professor.

For specific studies of students it is possible to choose in-deepth or different readings.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development