RELS 203 Food and Religion: When Eating is Believing
Food practices are fundamentally rooted in religious beliefs and systems of morality, whether through offerings to deities, dietary taboos, or food hospitality. Moreover, eating is an act that can define who belongs in a religious community, or also define the savage Other who eats the wrong thing the wrong way. In this class we will examine a central question: how have religious traditions used food and food symbolism to construct relationships between individuals, the community, and nonhuman beings (animals, deities, ancestors, etc.)? To answer this question, we will employ critical anthropological and historical methods to consider the influence of hunting and farming on religious practices beginning in ancient Mesopotamia, the role of dietary restrictions in the spread of major world religions during the classical age (including guidelines for kosher, halal or vegan consumption), and debates around ritual sacrifice and cannibalism that surfaced in Christian missions in a global early modern world.
Core Requirements Met
- Pre-1800
- Global Connections