Magic, Ritual, and Religion

Professor: Richard Warms
Class Meets: 12-1:40 daily
0ffice: LA 258
Office Hours: 8:30 - 9:45 daily
Tel: 245-2504 / 243-8272 (main office)
E-mail: r.warms@txstate.edu

For additional information please see the Warms' Anthro FAQ

Web Site: All information for this course is available through Tracs

Course Objectives: Through films, lectures, readings, and discussions, we explore the various ways that cultures deal with supernatural forces. We examine the use of drugs and other forms of altered consciousness in religious contexts. We look at curing and bewitching and see how religion plays an important role in social change. Examples come from both primitive and civilized peoples. We will discuss anthropological interpretations of these phenomena.

Required Text: Warms, Garber, McGee Sacred Realms: Readings in the Anthropology of Religion 2nd ed.

Exams: There will be two exams: a midterm and a final.  Each exam will have multiple choice and true/false questions. Exam questions will come from lectures, readings, and films. You can expect between 15% and 20% of exam questions to come from the reading. While the exams WILL NOT be cumulative later exams may include a few questions from earlier portions of the course.  The midterm 40% of your grade, the final for 60%.

IMPORTANT POLICIES CONCERNING EXAMS: 1) You may not begin an exam after the first person to complete the exam has left the room.  If you arrive later than this, you will have to take a make up exam.  2) I will be pleased to provide make-up exams for any legitimate reason.  HOWEVER, all make up exams, regardless of the reason for the missed exam, will be given immediately following the final exam.  No exceptions will be made.  3) All grades will be kept on file a minimum of five years.

RECEIVING YOUR EXAM AND COURSE GRADES:  Your grades both for exams and the course will be posted to a World Wide Web page and listed by your Texas State Student ID number.  You can see an example of the way the listing works by clicking here.  Students should be aware that these web pages are public access and can be seen by anyone.  If you have any objection to your grade being posted in this way, please let me know and alternate arrangements will be made.

Attendance: The attendance policy is designed to reward those who attend regularly but allow students considerable freedom in choosing their own attendance.  Here it is:

Attendance will be taken starting Wednesday, June 4
Students who miss two or fewer classes will have five points added to their second (final) exam grade.
Students who miss three to five classes will have no penalty.
Students who miss six to eight will have five points subtracted from their second (final) exam grade.
Students who miss more than eight classes will have ten points subtracted from their second (final) exam grade.

Grading:  This class will be graded on the following scale: 90-100 = "A," 80-89 = "B," 70-79 = "C," 60-69 = "D," Below 60 = "F."

Curve: If the actual average falls below 78, a "curve" equal to the difference between the actual average and 78 will be added to all grades.

Courtesies:  Please observe the following simple courtesies.   Please do not read or study for a class during lectures or films.  Please try to arrive on time.  If you must leave early, please let me know before hand.  Thank you.

Students with special needs:  Students with special needs (as documented by the Office of Disability Services) should identify themselves at the beginning of the term.  The Department of Anthropology is dedicated to providing these students with necessary academic adjustments and auxiliary aids to facilitate their participation and performance in the classroom.

All syllabi are subject to change...and this one is more subject to change than most.

Internet: All presentation material for this course is available to you on the internet.  You can access the website through Tracs or directly at http://classopener.sanmartians.net/opening_pages/magic_ritual.htm   Please remember that the web pages only provide an outline of the class.  If you study the web pages without attending the class, the best you can expect on exams are "Cs."

Extra Credit:  I offer a great deal of extra credit, and the system is complicated so please read carefully.  

There are two forms of extra credit available for this class, form "A" and form "C."

Form "A" extra credit is always available to all members of the class regardless of their performance.  All form "A" extra credit is added to your grade on the first exam.  You may receive up to 10 points of extra credit in the following two ways:

I am always on the lookout for good photos.  You may submit up to ten original photos to me an receive one point of extra credit for each one.

Rules for photos: 1) Please submit photos as email attachments in jpeg format.  If you are unable to do this, I will accept paper copies.  2) Please name each photo with your last name_first initial_photo number.  Thus, my first two photos would be warms_r_1.jpg and warms_r_2.jpg.   3)Please submit complete information for each photo.  Do this by right clicking on the photo and selecting "properties."  Then select the "summary" tab.  On that tab, please fill out the title, subject, author, keywords, and comments fields.  In the comments field, provide a 25 word description of the photo.  4) If you are unable to submit photos electronically, you may submit paper copies but must include all of the same information (title, subject, author, keywords, and 25 word description).  Whether submitted electronically or on paper, all photos must have complete information to receive credit. 5) Photos of theme parks, zoos, Las Vegas casinos, and friends hanging out are not acceptable.  You can find additional information about . 6) By submitting photos, you are entering into a contract with me that gives me permission to use them on the web or in print.  All photos become my property and will not be returned.  You can find the full terms of the contract at photo extra credit.

If you don't like to do photography (or don't have any good photos) you can earn 10 points by reading articles from academic journals, writing brief analyses of these and submitting them.  You will receive five points per article and analysis you turn it.  Articles must come from either  Annual Review of Anthropology or American Anthropologist.  Both are available at the Texas State Library (and, for older issues, JSTOR)..

Both of these forms of extra credit are described under "Extra Credit" on my web page.  Please be sure to read the description before you turn anything in!!

Form "C" extra credit is available only to those who make less than a 75 on the midterm exam.  You may use this form of credit to bring those grades up to 75s, but not higher.  Thus, for example, if you make a "55" on the midterm you are eligible for up to 20 points of form "C" extra credit on that exam.  If you make a 73 on the midterm, you are only eligible for 2 points of form "C" extra credit on that exam.   You earn form "C" extra credit by reading articles about religion from The New York Times.  New York Times articles are available to all Texas State students through Lexis/Nexis (look under databases on the library website, use the "guided search" to enter the name of the publication).  The articles must be at least 500 words long.  You must submit  each article with a 25 word summary written on the back of the last page of each article. You earn three (3) points of extra credit for each article submitted.

3) "Prepayment" of form "C" extra credit:  You may submit form "C" extra credit at any time (within the deadlines imposed elsewhere in this syllabus).  Form "C" extra credit submitted before you take the midterm will only count if your grade on that exam is below 75 (and, as always, only up to a 75).   While anybody may use this, it is is most useful if you miss an exam.  For example, if you miss the midterm, you may still submit form "C" extra credit for it.  Then, if when you take the make-up, you score less than 75, that extra credit will be applied.  Because make-up grades are frequently lower than regular grades, I urge you to make use of this opportunity.

Important note: You can definitely improve your grade using extra credit.  However, extra credit does not guarantee you a good grade in the class.  Keep in mind that no extra credit is available for the final which counts for 60% of your grade. This means that if you get a "D" or "F" on the midterm, use all the extra credit available to you, and get a very low grade on the final, you can still get a "D" or "F" for the course.

Important note two: Students who use form "C" extra credit remain eligible for form "A" extra credit.  

Course Outline

IMPORTANT  DATES:

Midterm: Tuesday June 17
Final: Thursday, July 3, regular class time.

Last day to drop: June 20.

All extra credit is due by Monday June 30!

SECTION ONE: BASICS OF THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION

SPECIAL TOPICS IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION

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