All Courses
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2021SP - INTERDIS HONORS SEM 01:090:294:H2
The socialist state of China has risen spectacularly as the world’s second economic and political superpower in the past several decade. Yet much of the news about China in the rest of the world is about religion: state suppression of the Tibetan Buddhist culture, the Uighur Islamic faith, and the Falungong meditative practice in pursuit of healing, health and spirituality. Meanwhile, we are baffled as to how and why Chinese religious traditions were able to survive and even thrive under state restrictions and even persecution in the past several decades. Why is religion—as in many parts of the world—relevant and important to modern China? What is in store for the future of religion in China? What does the Chinese religious experience teach us about the dynamics between modern state and religion, the role of religion in modern society, and the relevance of classical Western theories of secularism? This seminar addresses such issues by exploring the modes of practices and traditions of Chinese religions, the evolving state regulatory framework under which religion operated in China, and the roles and functions which religion played in shaping the modern Chinese state and secularizing society. The goal of the seminar is twofold. First, to introduce to students a basic understanding of Chinese religious life and culture in the context of modernizing state, rising nationalism, gender and other social revolutions, and unfolding economic reforms and globalization in modern China from 1800 to the present. Second, to cultivate in students the ability to think critically and historically about issues related to the complex dynamic among religion, society, and state. Students are encouraged to develop research on issues or topics of their own interest related to the seminar. Join us to go beyond the political and economic headlines and understand one of the great shaping forces in Chinese society and how it impacts the rest of the world today.
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Rutgers-Camden Psi Chi Chapter
This is a page for members of the Rutges-Camden chapter of Psi Chi
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2021FA - ANTHRO OF ROBOTS 01:070:161:MA
This course takes an anthropological approach to robotics, A.I., artificial life, and cyborgs. Focusing on ethnographic studies of robotics and A.I. labs in the U.S., Japan, and India. It introduces students to anthropological methods and theory and interrogates assumptions on kinship, personhood, gender, class, race, and religion. Does “culture” unconsciously affect ideas about humanity engineers encode into their creations? How can preexisting notions lead them to reproduce or challenge familiar social hierarchies in their visions of the future they attempt to create?
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2021FA - ANTHRO MOVIES 01:070:367:01
This course explores the role of film in ethnographic representation and ethnographic representation in popular film. It looks at the relationship of anthropology to the construction of popular film and of popular film to the construction of culture. We will analyze films with anthro themes from black and white era Charlie Chaplain images of cavemen to Black Panther
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2021FA - BAROQUE MAGNIFICENCE 01:082:215:01
Magnificent public squares, palaces and churches with sumptuously decorated interiors played a central role in legitimizing the beliefs and values of the triumphalist Catholic Church but also those of European monarchies and fledging nation states. This course explores the virtue of magnificence underlying the profusion of the arts of conspicuous display across Europe, 1600-1800, in a period of political and religious crisis, scientific discoveries and intellectual developments that shaped the modern world. Lectures and discussions consider topics such as the imagery of the Catholic Church in its spiritual heart in Rome where it struggled to retain its relevance, royal iconography in the powerful courts of Spain and France, and art produced in the very different climate of the Protestant Dutch Republic, fueled by capitalism and a rising middle class. We examine new trends such as the art market, the Academy, travel and tourism, and the formation of private collections and cabinets of wonders. Our final weeks follow the exportation of Baroque art and artists to Russia, the Americas and Asia. How did Baroque art express the shifting balance of political power in Europe, national aspirations and global exchange, and Catholic vs. Protestant ideals? What role did Baroque art play in conveying collective identity, capturing everyday experience in a more and more secular society, and guiding the individual’s response to the world and beyond?