Religion, Ritual & Global Transformation (L6072)

15 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

This module is for you if you have knowledge of anthropological approaches. It helps you develop an understanding of religion and ritual, and their transformations in the modern world. It introduces main theoretical debates in the field of anthropology of religion and ritual, fostering historical awareness of how religion and ritual have affected global economic, political and socio-cultural transformations.

We’ll confront broad assumptions made about modern life, progress, rationality and even science through ethnographic texts and discussion. We ask ‘What is religion?’ and ‘What is the secular?’, exploring:

• cultural taboos on clothing
• totemism in contemporary politics
• elements of belief in science
• witchcraft in economics
• magic in daily practice
• animism in environmental contexts.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.