UMass Boston

University Hall viewed from front at night with students visible through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Shamanisms: Anthropological Perspectives

Course Overview

Date / Time Location Credits Minimium Tuition*
1/27/25 - 5/14/25
TuTh 2p.m. – 3:15p.m.
McCormack M01-0410 3 $1984 (guest students)
Date
1/27/25 - 5/14/25
Time
TuTh 2p.m. – 3:15p.m.
Location
McCormack M01-0410
Credits
3
Min. Tuition*
$1984 (guest students)

Description

This course examines the varieties of religious experience, ritual, and practice that fall under the rubric of `shamanism' and `shaman'. Originally a Tungus (Siberian tribal people) word, `shaman' has been extended to include diverse group of specialists: from midwives to Shamans, Priests, Sorcerers, Prophets, and New Shamans. All these religious practitioners use their skills to achieve direct communication with the spiritual realm. The course focuses on the shamanism that is integral to many indigenous religions, and how it aims to fortify relations between humans and the spiritual world in order to validate cultural knowledge, regulate human relations with the natural environment, diagnose and heal human suffering, and build community solidarity.

This course is closed for registration.

Course Details