ANTH 4190 - Modern Shamanism

(3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours 3 Credit Hours)

A survey of the contemporary practice of shamanism as a cross-cultural system of divination, healing, and prophecy, foundational to the practice of religion and healing in most cultures (including state societies). Using examples from traditional small-scale indigenous and rural societies to the transposition of shamanism into Western urban cultures/subcultures, we examine the rationale, development, and adaptive practice of shamanism (e.g., altered states of consciousness and the use of shamanic tools and movements) as part of the wider cultural context of faith and healing.