Pilgrimage/Comparative Perspective

Course Description :

Pilgrimage is one of the most important aspects of religious life; indeed, in a very real sense, life itself can considered to be a pilgrimage. This course explores the dynamics of pilgrimage across several different religious traditions. The heart of this course will be a close look at several key pilgrimage sites and the actual pilgrims who visit these sites; we will thus approach pilgrimage from a number of different angles (theoretical, doctrinal, ritual, social) and we will utilize a variety of sources (including classical, ethnographic studies of actual pilgrimages, and focused studies of particular pilgrimage places) with the goal of gaining a thorough understanding of the phenomena of pilgrimage in all of its complexity.

Course Objectives:

Course Goals :

1. to acquaint you with the dynamics of pilgrimage across several religions
2. to examine several specific pilgrimage phenomena
3. to help you think critically about the differences between different pilgrimage traditions
4. to expose you to some of the key debates and disputes within the study of pilgrimage

Course Objectives :

1. You will gain a broad understanding of the phenomenon of pilgrimage in religions
2. You will learn about the commonalities and differences between different pilgrimage traditions
3. You will learn about the social and political dimensions of pilgrimage
4. You will be exposed to the ways in which pilgrimage forms both personal and social identities

Course Requirements:

Grades will be based on: 1. Two essays of approximately 1500 words (50%); 2. Active participation in all aspects of the course (50%) .

By the end of Week Eight, you will submit a 1000 word (maximum) Evaluation of your participation in the course and the grade you believe you deserve. Although I will reserve the final decision in this matter, I will very heavily weigh your own evaluation of your written participation in the course in assigning you a final grade.

Incompletes and Pass/Fail are not offered for this course

Required Readings

Books: Conrad Rudolph, Pilgrimage to the End of the World: The Road to Santiago de Compostela (Chicago)

Additional readings will be made available by the instructor.

29 March: Introduction to the Course

Please watch the film "The Way" before class.

Reading : 1) Victor Turner, “Introduction: Pilgrimage as a Liminoid Phenomenon,” Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, pp. 1-39 ; 2) James J. Preston, “Spiritual Magnetism: An Organizing Principle for the Study of Pilgrimage,” Sacred Journeys: The Anthropology of Pilgrimage, pp. 31-46 ; 3) Erik Cohen, “Pilgrimage and Tourism: Convergence and Divergence,” Sacred Journeys, pp. 47-61 .

5 April: The Concept of Tirtha in India

Reading : 1) Simon Coleman and John Elsner, “Divinity Diffused: Pilgrimage in the Indian Religions,” Pilgrimage: Past and Present in the World Religions, pp. 136-65 ; 2) Diana Eck, “India’s Tirthas: ‘Crossings’ in the Sacred Geography,” History of Religions (1981), 323-44 .

12 April: On Pilgrimage in India

Readings: Kathleen Erndl, Victory to the Mother , selections ; 2) Ann Gold, Fruitful Journeys ; 3) Daniels, Fluid Signs .

19 April: Varieties of Buddhist Pilgrimage

Reading : 1) John Huntington, “Sowing the Seeds of the Lotus: A Journey to the Great Pilgrimage Sites of Buddhism,” parts I-II and III-V ; 2) Richard Gombrich and Gananath Obeyesekere, “Kataragama, a Center of Hindu-Buddhist Syncretism,” Buddhism Transformed, pp. 163-99 ; 3) John C. Holt, “Pilgrimage and the Structure of Sinhalese Buddhism,” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, pp. 23-40 .

First Essay Due

26: Pilgrimage in a Secular Context

Reading : 1) Jacob N. Kinnard, "The Question of Places" and "Power Fallen from the Sky," Places in Motion ; 2) Erica Doss, "Believing in Elvis," Theories of Religion and Media .

3 May: Pilgrimage, Exile, and Ritual Space

Reading : 1) “Exodus”; Simon Coleman and John Elsner, “Jewish Pilgrimage,” Pilgrimage: Past and Present in the World Religions, pp. 34-51 ; 2) Gideon Bar, "Reconstructing the Past: The Creation of Jewish Sacred Space in the State of Israel,1948–1967," Israel Studies, Vol. 13, No. 3, Israeli Secular-Religious Dialectics (Fall, 2008), pp. 1-21 ; 3) Jackie Feldman, "Constructing a Shared Bible Land: Jewish Israeli Guiding Performances for Protestant Pilgrims," American Ethnologist, Vol. 34, No. 2 (May, 2007), pp. 351-374 .

10 May: Pilgrimage and the Spread of Christianity

Reading : 1) Simon Coleman and John Elsner, “The Gospels Embodied: Christian Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and “Geographies of Sainthood: Christian Pilgrimage from the Middle Ages to the Present Day,” Pilgrimage: Past and Present in the World Religions, pp. 78-135 ; 2) Robert Markus, “How on Earth Could Places Become Holy? Origins of the Christian Idea of Holy Places,” Journal of Early Christian Studies, pp. 257-71 .

17 May: A Personal Christian Pilgrimage

Reading : 1) Conrad Rudolph, Pilgrimage to the End of the World: The Road to Santiago Compostela , pp. 1-131.

24 May: Mecca as Ideal and Reality

Reading : 1) Simon Coleman and John Elsner, “Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca,” Pilgrimage: Past and Present in the World Religions, pp. 52-73 ; 2) C. Delaney, “The Hajj: Sacred and Secular,” American Ethnologist 17.3 (1990): 513-30 ; 3) S. Bhardwaj “Non-Hajj Pilgrimage in Islam: A Neglected Dimension of Religious Circulation, Journal of Cultural Geography, pp. 69-87 ; 4) Haley, Autobiography of Malcom X, pp. 325-48 .

Second Essay Due