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  2. ANTHRO 2318

Religion in Mesoamerica: Writing, Rhetoric, and Performance
ANTHRO 2318

Jointly Offered with: Harvard Divinity School as HDS 3159

Course Information

Description

This course is an advanced seminar focusing on the study of sacred writings, political and cultural arts of communication, and ritual processes animating the lives, afterlives, and religious imaginations of various Mesoamerican peoples from the Postclassic and Colonial periods and beyond. Special attention will be given to reconstructing the theologies, moral philosophies and ritual strategies expressed in early colonial texts such as those compiled by Andrés de Olmos, Bernardino de Sahagún, Diego Durán, Domingo Francisco de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, and others. We also work with the indigenous receptions and (re)interpretations of Christianity drawn from a wide range of evidence over time and its critical examination in light of various disciplinary perspectives from the history of religions, social anthropology, art history, archaeology, and performance theory. 

School Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Available for Harvard Cross Registration

Department Anthropology
Course Component Seminar
Grading Basis FAS Letter Graded
General Education N/A
Quantitative Reasoning with Data N/A
Divisional Distribution Social Sciences
Course Level Primarily for Graduate Students