Syllabus Project: Myth, Ritual and Symbolism

By Brian Collins
 

Myth, Ritual and Symbolism

Generally students come to the class thinking of myths either as stories about toga-clad gods and goddesses or ignorant superstitions that can be dispelled with a few simple science experiments. My goal for this course is help students develop a broader and more nuanced view of myth that will inspire them to develop broader and more nuanced views of other terms that seem so transparent and obvious at first glance. This is a fun class to teach, partly because it attracts students of an intellectual or curious bent. When designing it, I find myself torn between the desire to frustrate their expectations and the desire to hold their attention. I find that I can sometimes fulfill both desires by presenting material that is infrequently taught AND interesting to students (and perhaps it is the one because it is the other) like demonology.

 

The course is a challenge with regard to determining the reading list. I generally try to tackle the terms in the titular triad in order and so I begin with Obeyesekere, whose study of the practices surrounding the Sri Lankan shrine of Kataragama builds on my psychoanalytic introduction, presents some interesting case material, and provides a bridge between Freud’s analysis of the Schreber case (discussion of which recurs frequently throughout the course, to my surprise) and the debate with Marshall Sahlins over the death of Captain Cook, which I love to teach. For ritual I have twice used Bell’s book. But Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice, seminal as it is, is generally a failure when it comes to teaching. The references to theorists are too many, the style is too dry, and the argument takes too long to build. I have decided to replace it with (parts I and II of) Ronald Grimes’ The Craft of Ritual Studies next year, which is linked to a selection of videos on Vimeo for the students to watch as they read. When it comes to myth, the students generally enjoy and engage Eliade (the choice of which book to read was something of a toss-up) and I like to contrast his notion of the sacred with that of René Girard. For the latter theorist (who gets short shrift, I am sorry to say) we read Sacrifice because it is short and because the myths it engages are ones we have usually already encountered.

 

For this class, I consider the theoretical materials to be primary sources since we are studying mythology (which, as someone whose name I can’t recall once pointed out on a Great Courses tape on Greek myth, refers simultaneously to the thing and the study of the thing). But there is still the matter of which myths to read. This class, I tell them, is not a literature class. So we do not read any myths except to explore or try out some way of thinking about myths. As an example of this principle, I had the students break up into small groups and pick out a flood myth from those collected online (thanks to Michael Witzel for pointing this out in The Origin of the World’s Mythologies), break it down into Levi-Straussian mythemes, write each on a notecard, and then use the cards to build a giant comparative chart a la Bruce Lincoln on the classroom floor. I used to have the students do group presentations, but I was not pleased with them on the whole and they were difficult to evaluate so this year I had them turn in discussion questions every class. This has been a great success since I used the questions to guide the lecture-discussion nearly every class meeting and greatly increased participation on the part of the students.

Finally, a word about videos. I use Altar of Fire here for ritual, but this may change when I incorporate Grimes’ study of the Santa Fe Fiesta into the syllabus. But I also incorporate Kenneth Anger and Matthew Barney’s ritualistic movies into the course, which generally elicit bemused responses but which, I think, stick with them and have a delayed effect. I also like to compare two US exorcism videos, one made before and one after the 1973 blockbuster The Exorcist. The influence of the film is striking. See for yourself: here and here. The study of Internet myths is new to me and to the class and was a great success, inspiring several students to explore the subject and greater length in their research papers.

SYLLABUS

 CLWR 4810/5810: Myth, Ritual and Symbolism

Fall 2014

10:30-11:50 Tuesday/Thursday

I. Purpose: This course aims to explore the overlapping categories of myth, ritual and symbol and understand their role in creating systems of meaning, both local and cross-cultural. We will ask questions about the ways these categories function to integrate or disintegrate individual personalities, authorize and undermine social hierarchies, and shape the way we think and act in ways that are often hidden. Along the way we will examine approaches to these issues from the fields of anthropology, history of religions, philosophy, psychoanalysis and sociology. We will also be looking at examples from all over the world, especially South and Southeast Asia, the islands of the Pacific and the indigenous cultures of the Americas. Above all, we will try to comprehend the ways in which myth, ritual and symbol do not belong solely to ancient or non-industrial cultures but are present and active in almost every aspect of our world today. 

II. Outcome Goals: 

1.      To become familiar with a variety of myths, symbols and rituals from the students’ own and others’ cultures

2.      To develop a cultural sensitivity that allows students to understand unfamiliar data in their unique contexts

3.      To improve the students’ critical thinking and reading skills through reading assignments and weekly quizzes

      4.      To improve their written and oral communication skills through class presentations
 

III. Required Texts: 

1.      Catherine Bell, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009 [1982])

2.      Mircea Eliade, Myth and Reality (Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 1998 [1963])

3.      René Girard, Sacrifice (East Lansing: MSU Press, 2011)

4.      Gananath Obeyesekere, Medusa's Hair (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981)

5.      Additional readings available on Blackboard.

IV. Expectations:

A. Yours: As students in a 4000-level course (the most advanced available to undergraduates), you should expect to do quite a bit of reading—usually around 80-100 pages a week, sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on print size, illustrations, difficulty of material, etc. Part of what you will be learning is how to read texts like a historian of religions, which is different from how you read a novel, a newspaper or a blog post. I suggest you read (or watch or listen to) the assigned material in the order in which it appears in the syllabus. Please begin your reading with the following tips based on those found in Study Guides and Strategies.

• Get a grasp of how the material is organized: Scan the section for titles, headings, sub-headings, and topic sentences to get its general idea; pay attention to graphs, charts, and diagrams.
• Read first for what you do understand, and to determine difficulty.
• Mark what you do not understand to review later.
• As you read, practice the look-away method: Periodically look away from the text and ask yourself a stimulus question relating to the text. [THESE MAY OR MAY NOT BE THE SAME QUESTIONS YOU TURN IN AS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS]

·         Phrase the question positively!

·         Respond, or restate, in your own words.

·         Make connections and associations, but don't use this exercise to memorize—but rather understand.

• Look up words: Look up words whose meanings are important to your understanding of the material, but which you cannot discern from the context. [KEEP A HARD COPY OF THIS LIST AND BRING IT TO CLASS WITH YOU. IF YOU ARE HAVING A HARD TIME WITH THE MATERIAL I WILL WANT TO SEE THIS LIST]
• Read to the end: Do not get discouraged and stop reading. Ideas can become clearer the more you read. When you finish reading, review to see what you have learned, and reread those ideas that are not clear.
• Organize your notes by connecting ideas you choose into an outline or concept map. [SEE LINK ON BLACKBOARD PAGE]
• Pay attention to relationships between ideas.
• Do not confine yourself to words! Use representations, graphics, pictures, colors, even movement to visualize and connect ideas. Use whatever techniques work to help you understand.
• At this point, if you do not understand your reading, do not panic! Set it aside, and read it again the next day. If necessary, repeat. This allows your brain to process the material, even while you sleep. This is referred to as distributed reading.
• Re-read the section you have chosen with the framework (outline or concept map) you have constructed in mind. Separate out what you do understand from what you do not.
• If the reading is still a challenge, consult with your teacher.

With that said, I expect you to come to every class well prepared and ready to participate. Since we are a relatively small group, I am looking forward to a lot of spirited discussion of this fascinating, challenging and provocative material. With respect to quizzes, exams, discussion questions and the research paper I expect you to do your own work turn in your assignments on time.  

Since the material we will be reading and discussing is so inherently fascinating and provocative, I know there won’t be any napping, texting, tweeting, facebooking or any of the other things first-year students may tend to do in a big boring lecture course like Geology 101.   

B. Mine: I will return emails promptly (within 3 hours if they are sent between 9 AM and 5 PM Monday-Thursday and with 12 hours if they are sent any other time). I will be in my office between 1:30 PM and 3:00 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays unless otherwise announced but if you really need to see me, please make an appointment so I can set aside time for you. And if you are in class or otherwise unable to make my regular hours, I will be glad to schedule an appointment at another time when we can both make it. 

V. Assignments:

1.      Discussion questions for each class meeting

2.      Ten Blackboard quizzes

3.      Midterm exam

4.      Final exam

5.      Research paper 

VI. Basis of Grades:

A. Attendance (10%): I will calculate attendance as a percentage. There are 29 classes, so if you attend 20, you will get a 69 as 10% of your grade. If you attend all 29, you will get a 100, and so on.

B. Weekly Blackboard quizzes (15%): Quizzes are due 30 minutes before class begins on Thursday and will cover the material for that week.

C. Discussion questions (15%): Three discussion questions from the reading will be due on Blackboard at 5pm each evening before class. I will use these questions to guide our class discussion, so be sure you are prepared to answer your own questions (and hopefully one or more of your classmates’).

D. Midterm exam (15%): This will be due on Blackboard October 2^nd 30 minutes before class starts. You may use your books and your notes, but do not cut and paste anything off the Internet or anywhere else because Turnitin will return it to you as “plagiarized” and you will not be given extra time to retake the exam.

E. Final exam (15%): The final exam will be cumulative and due on Blackboard Tuesday, December 9^th at 12:10 pm.

F. 3000-word research paper (30%): Due on December 4th, this assignment allows you to choose, in consultation with me and World Religions librarian Tim SMith, whatever creative topic you wish to explore that relates to myth, ritual and symbolism. The only requirement is that you use at least three scholarly sources that have not been assigned for class. The entire paper will be worth 200 points, divided up below. Please note that there are three separate components to this paper, each with its own due date.

1.      50 points: An annotated bibliography of at least three scholarly sources due on Blackboard on November 13^th.

2.      50 points: A clearly stated thesis due in the form a250-wrod paper proposal on Blackboard on November 20th.  

3.      100 points: Paper. I will grade the paper itself according to a rubric (available on Blackboard) adapted from Marie Norman of Carnegie Mellon University.

 

G. Extra Credit: From time to time there will be opportunities for extra credit work that will allow students to replace a low or missed quiz grade. Throughout the semester I will announce opportunities for extra credit either in class or on the Ohio University Comparative Religion Club Facebook page.

VII. Attendance Policy:

Attendance is mandatory and crucial to getting anything out of this course. My policies regarding attendance and your grade are explained above.

VIII. Academic Misconduct:
I am required by Ohio University to inform you that academic integrity and honesty are basic values of Ohio University.  Students are expected to follow standards of academic integrity and honesty.  Academic misconduct implies dishonesty or deception in fulfilling academic requirements.  It includes, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, un-permitted collaboration, forged attendance (when attendance is required), fabrication (e.g., use of invented information or falsification of research or other findings), using advantages not approved by the instructor (e.g., unauthorized review of a copy of an exam ahead of time), knowingly permitting another student to plagiarize or cheat from one's work, or submitting the same assignment in different courses without consent of the instructor.

 

If you cheat, you will fail the assignment and may face additional sanctions from the university. Don’t do it. There is no need. If you are having trouble with an assignment, talk to me about it and we will address whatever problem you are having together.

IX. Intellectual Property: The lectures, classroom activities, and all materials associated with this class and developed by the instructor are copyrighted in the name of Brian Collins on August 23, 2014.

X. Student Accessibility:

Any student who suspects s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the class instructor privately to discuss the student’s specific needs and provide written documentation from the Office of Student Accessibility Services. If the student is not yet registered as a student with a disability, s/he should contact the Office of Student Accessibility Services. 

XI. Schedule:

 

WEEK ONE: READING MYTHOLOGY, A HIGH-STAKES GAME

 

T 8/26: Myths Matter!
Agenda:
1. Introductions
2. The Da Vinci Code; or, Why There’s No Such Thing as a “Symbologist”
3. Ayodhya 1992: The Myth Vs. the Mosque

 

Th 8/28: Psychoanalysis, Sex and Symbols
Reading (47 pages):
1. Freud, Three Case Histories 87-134 on BB

Assignment:
1. First set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #1 due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. The case of Daniel Paul Schreber
2. What is a fetish?
3. Freud v. Jung: Private or collective unconscious?

 

WEEK TWO: SYMBOLS AS THE LINK BETWEEN THE SOCIAL AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

 

T 9/2: Weber on the social
Reading (45 pages):
1. Medusa’s Hair, 1-11
2. Weber, “The Social Psychology of World Religions” 267-301 on BB

Assignment:
1. Second set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. The religious virtuoso
2. Power and charisma
3. The business of making meaning

 

Th 9/4: Interpreting dreadlocks
Reading (38 pages):
1. Medusa’s Hair 13-51

Watch:
1. “Fakir Musafar” video on BB

Agenda:
1. Symbols of asceticism and ecstasy
2. Becoming a monk and a hero
3. The “pool of signifiers”

Assignment:
1. Third set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #2 due at 10am on BB

 

WEEK THREE: SELF, CULTURE AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE; OR, BETTER LIVING THROUGH PIERCING

 

T 9/9: The case of Premavati Vitarana
Reading (37 pages):
1. Medusa’s Hair 53-90
Assignment:
1. Fourth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. Personal symbols and psychic conflict; or, Schreber in Sri Lanka
2. Expressing guilt in symbols, dreams and visions
3. Pain and religious experience

 

Th 9/11: Possession and self-possession
Reading (53 pages):
1. Medusa’s Hair 91-122
2. Ariel Glucklich, “Ghost Trauma” 106-128 on BB
3. Glance over “Rite of Exorcism” on BB

Watch:
1. “Exorcism in India” video on BB

Assignment:
1. Fifth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #3 due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. Possession and exorcism in South Asia and the Catholic Church
2. Karma and meaning
3. Repression and ghosts

WEEK FOUR: GHOSTS, DEMONS AND SYMBOLIC NETWORKS

 

T 9/16: Hook-swinging
Reading (44 pages):
1. Medusa’s Hair 123-167

Assignment:
1. Sixth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. Religion and obsession
2. Attitudes toward sex and violence in South Asia
3. Kali’s tongue

 

T 9/18: Hypnomantic states and personal symbols
Reading (35 pages):
1. Medusa’s Hair 168-192
2. Carlo Ginzburg, “Freud, the Wolf-man, and the Werewolves” 146-156 on BB

Assignment:
1. Seventh set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #4 due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. Dreams and visions
2. Modern images and ancient icons
3. To dream of wolves; or, Do we think myths or do myths think us?

 

WEEK FIVE: HOW GREEKS AND HAWAIIANS THINK

 

T 9/23: Symbolism and ritual in Greek “Mystery Religions”
Reading (28 pages):
1. Walter Burkert, “Mysteries and Asceticism” 276-304 on BB

Assignment:
1. Eighth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. Guest Lecture by Prof. Thomas Carpenter

 

Th 9/25: Meaning and culture
Watch (Before Reading):
1. “The Amazing Life and Strange Death of Captain Cook: Crash Course World History #27” video on BB

Reading (27 pages):
1. Robert Borofsky, “Cook, Lono, Obeyesekere, and Sahlins,” Current Anthropology 38:2 (April 1997), pp. 255-282

Assignment:
1. Ninth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #5 due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. Classroom debate on the death of Captain Cook

 

WEEK SIX: IMAGE AND SYMBOL

 

T 9/30: The work of Clifford Geertz
Reading (45 pages):
1. Daniel L. Pals, Eight Theories of Religion 260-291 on BB
2. Clifford Geertz, “Ethos, Worldview, and the Analysis of Sacred Symbols” 126-141 on BB

Assignment:
1. Tenth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. Watch “Wayang Mahabharata”
2. The signs of nobility
3. The function of symbol’s in Geertz’s definition of religion

 

Th 10/2: The divine image in India
Reading (21 pages):
1. James J. Preston, “Creation of the Sacred Image” 9-30 on BB

Watch:
1. “Clay Sculpting of Lord Ganesh” on BB

Assignment:
1. ***MIDTERM EXAM DUE AT 10AM ON BB***

Agenda:
1. Introducing the concept of darshan
2. What is present in the icon?
3. Group activity on murtis

 

WEEK SEVEN: HOW DOES RITUAL WORK?

 

T 10/7: Theories of ritual
Reading (41 pages):
1. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice 13-54

Assignment:
1. Eleventh set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. Unpacking the concept of discourse
2. Understanding Bell’s critique of Geertz
3. Ritual as text, ritual as performance

 

Th 10/9: Ritual as social action
Reading (26 pages):
1. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice 67-93

Assignment:
1. Twelfth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #6 due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. What is “cultural logic”?
2. Meaning and deconstruction
3. Relating ritual to form and routine

 

WEEK EIGHT: RITUAL, SELF AND SOCIETY

 

T 10/14: Ritual and the body
Reading (42 pages):
1. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice 94-117
2. Sarah Iles Johnston, “Fiat Lux, Fiat Ritus” 5-24 on BB

Assignment:
1. Thirteenth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. Blindness and misrecognition
2. Unpacking the concept of embodiment
3. The presence of light

 

Th 10/16: Continuity and Change
Reading (24 pages):
1. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice 118-142

Assignment:
1. Fourteenth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #7 due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. Watch Altar of Fire in class

 

WEEK NINE: RITUAL AND POWER

 

T 10/21: Ritual as social control
Reading (51 pages):
1. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice 169-196
2. Talal Asad, “Toward a Genealogy of the Concept of Ritual” 55-79 on BB

Assignment:
1. Fifteenth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. What does ritual say it does?
2. How does ideology work?
3. Christianity and the internalization of religion

 

Th 10/23: “Ritualization”
Reading (50 pages):
1. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice 197-223
2.  Maurice Bloch, “The Royal Bath in Madagascar” 187-211 on BB

Assignment:
1. Sixteenth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #8 due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. What do we mean when we say “power”?
2. The rites of the sovereign
3. Watch “The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II”

 

WEEK TEN: MYTH BETWEEN RELIGION AND CULTURE

 

T 10/28: Myth, ritual and structure
Reading (36 pages):
1. Lord Raglan, “Myth and Ritual” 122-134 on BB
2. Edmund R. Leach, “Genesis as Myth” 1-13
3. Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Four Winnebago Myths” 15-26 on BB (NB- Last two readings are together under the title “Myth and Cosmos”)

Assignment:
1. Seventeenth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. The myth-ritual school
2. A very complicated way to read the Bible
3. Introducing “structure”

 

Th 10/30: Making up Myths: Slenderman, Annabelle and the Satanic Panic
Reading (about 22 pages):
1. Goode and Ben-Yehuda, “A Representative Moral Panic: Satanic Ritual Abuse,” Moral Panics 57-65 on BB
2. Frankfurter, “The Satanic Ritual Abuse Panic as Religious-Studies Data,” Numen 50 109-117 on BB
3. Laycock, “The Paranormal to Pop Culture Pipeline,” Religion Dispatches on BB
4. “The Slenderman Wiki: Original Mythos” on BB
5. Laycock, “‘Slender Man’ Murder Attempt Wasn’t Media or Madness,” Religion Dispatches on BB
6. Laycock, “‘Another Slender Man Attack?” Religion Dispatches on BB

Listen:
1. Goldman, “Managing a Monster” TLDR on BB

Watch:
1. “Ed and Lorraine Warren: The Occult Museum” on BB

Assignment:
1. Eighteenth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #9 due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. Watch in class 20/20: The Devil Worshippers
2. What is a moral panic?
3. Myths vs. Urban Legends

 

WEEK ELEVEN: MYTHOLOGY AND THE SACRED

 

T 11/4: Imagining the end
Reading (93 pages):
1. Myth and Reality 1-74
2. David Adams Leeming, “The Apocalypse” 78-89 on BB
3. Alan Weisman, “Earth without People” 28-36 on BB

Assignment:
3. Nineteenth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. The eternal return
2. Understanding apocalyptic themes
3. “The World without Us” as the primal scene

 

Th 11/6: Myth, memory and time
Reading (74 pages):
1. Myth and Reality 75-138
2. Wendy Doniger, “Minimyths and Maximyths and Political Points of View” 109-126 on BB

Assignment:
1. Twentieth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Quiz #10 due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. Hegel, briefly
2. What do we mean we say “difference”?
3. Synchronic or diachronic readings?

 

WEEK TWELVE: MYTH AND MODERNITY

 

T 11/11: The end of myth?
Reading (64 pages):
1. Myth and Reality 139-193
2. “Mircea Eliade” in Encyclopedia of Religion 2753-2763 on BB

Assignment:
1. Twenty-first set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. Considering Eliade
2. Myths and fascist fantasies
2. Romantic nostalgia

 

Th 11/13: Religious evolution and typology
Reading (43 pages):
1. Robert Bellah, “Religious Evolution” 20-45
2. Paul Bloom, “Is God an Accident?” 272-290 on BB

Assignment:
1. Twenty-second set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. Annotated bibliography due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. Unpacking the categories of “primitive,” “archaic” and “historical”
2. Symbolism vs. literalism
3. The “universality” of myths; or, What kind of thing is the Milky Way?

 

WEEK THIRTEEN: LOOKING CLOSELY AT MYTHS

 

T 11/18: Tricksters and gurus
Reading (48 pages):
1. Jon Engle, “Guru Nanak” 15-46 on BB
2. Martha Beckwith, “Trickster Stories” 430-447 on BB

Assignment:
1. Twenty-third set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. Hagiography and mythology
2. Animals and spirits in Hawaii
3. Introducing the “Indo-European”

 

Th 11/20: Cosmogony and politics
Reading (44 pages):
1. Bruce Lincoln, “The Politics of Myth” 27-37 on BB
2. M. L. West, “Cosmos and Canon” 340-374 on BB

Assignment:
1. Twenty-fourth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class
2. A clearly stated thesis due in the form of a 250-word paper proposal due at 10am on BB

Agenda:
1. Ireland, Iran, Aryan
2. How the past shapes the present
3. Turning myths on their heads

 

WEEK FOURTEEN: RITUAL, SYMBOL AND FILM

 

T 11/25: Is a film a ritual?
Reading (23 pages):
1. Lyn Brunet, “Homage to Freemasonry or Indictment?” 98-112 on BB
2. Carel Rowe, “Illuminating Lucifer” 24-33 on BB

Agenda:
1. Watch Matthew Barney’s Cremaster 3
2. Watch Kenneth Anger’s Lucifer Rising

Assignment:
1. In-class exercise

 

Th 11/27: THANKSGIVING-NO CLASS

 

WEEK FIFTEEN: SCAPEGOATING, MYTH AND SACRIFICE IN INDIA AND MESOAMERICA

 

T 12/2: René Girard and the GMSM
Reading (127 pages):
1. Robert Hamerton-Kelly, “The Generative Mimetic Scapegoating Mechanism” 129-152 on BB
2. Sacrifice (in its entirety)

Assignment:
1. Twenty-fifth set of discussion questions due at 8pm the night before class

Agenda:
1. How to read a myth (according to Girard)
2. The gospels and the scapegoat
3. The crumbling edifice

 

Th 12/4: The Aztec Sacrifice
Reading (58 pages):
1. Roberta H. and Peter T. Markman, “Flayed Gods, Snake-Women, and Were-Jaguars” 174-225 on BB
2. Vincent Stanzione, “The Sacrifice of MaNawal JesuKristo” 146-155 on BB

Assignment:
1. ***RESEARCH PAPER DUE***

Agenda:
1. Beyond Apocalypto
2. Feeding the sun, building the empire
3. Jesus comes to Tenochtitlan