Course Description
Focuses on the theological history of anthropology, illuminates
deeply held theological assumptions that humans make about the
nature of reality, and illustrates how these theological
assumptions manifest themselves in society.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will develop an ethnographic research project:
Four written exercises and one presentation. 1. Write a short
research proposal (pre-approved by the professor) that guides
their research. 2. Turn in the introduction and methods sections
of their ethnography, which they will correct and integrate into
their final project. 3. Turn in the data, reflections,
interpretation sections of their ethnography which they will
correct and integrate into their final project. 4. Turn in the
complete ethnography with all suggested corrections as their
final project. Finally, they will present their findings to the
class as an oral presentation. Graduate students will be
assigned two additional required readings and other readings
based on their ethnographic research project. Graduate students
will write weekly literature reviews on topics discussed in
class relevant to the ethnographic research.
Athena Title
Theologically Engaged Anth
Prerequisite
Junior or senior standing or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will evaluate how historical and social conditions shape both theology and anthropology, and critically assess how these disciplines challenge and complement each other in understanding the human experience.
- Students will apply theological ideas of justice, covenant, and mercy to anthropological theories of moral communities, analyzing their relevance and impact on cultural practices.
- Students will identify and evaluate theological biases in anthropological fieldwork, considering their influence on interpreting religious practices and belief systems.
- Students will critically analyze the spread of Christianity in the Global South, evaluating its role in shaping Christian theology as a cultural phenomenon.
- Students will apply improved anthropological techniques to study local theological practices, critically assessing how anthropologists can engage with theological questions during fieldwork.
- Students will develop critical thinking skills to assess the applicability and significance of theological categories across different cultures and religious contexts.
Topical Outline
- 1. New Insights from an Old Dialog Partner
2. Which Theology for Anthropology? Types of Theology for
Anthropological Engagement
3. The Dependence of Sociocultural Anthropology on Theological
Anthropology
4. Theology Revealing the Hâjibs of Anthropology
5. What Can Theology Contribute to Cultural Anthropology?
6. Theology’s Contribution to Anthropological Understanding in
7. Narratives of Significance: Reflections on the Engagement of
Anthropology and Christian Theology
8. An Anthropologist Is Listening: A Reply to Ethnographic
Theology
9. Anthropology, Theology, and the Problem of Incommensurability
10. Superstition and Enlightenment: Engagements Between Theology
and Anthropology
11. Anthropology and Theology: Fugues of Thought and Action
12. Athens Engaging Jerusalem
13. World Christianity and the Reorganization of Disciplines: On
the Emerging Dialogue between Anthropology and Theology
14. Latter-Day Saints and the Problem of Theology
15. Theology on the Ground
16. Comparative Theology: Writing Between Worlds of Meaning
17. Passionate Coolness: Exploring Mood and Character
18. The Exclusive Brethren “Doctrine of Separation”: An
Anthropology of Theology
19. Divinity Inhabits the Social: Ethnography in a
Phenomenological Key
20. An Anthropological and Theological Response to Theologically
Engaged Anthropology
