Past Grantees
Bennett Comerford
Awardee: Bennett Comerford
Institution: Central Oregon Community College
Department/Discipline: World Languages and Cultures Department
Course Title: Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion
Description:
What do magic and witchcraft have to do with religion? What do the terms “magic,” “witchcraft,” and “religion” even mean? What similarities do they share? How might they differ? What can we learn from a cross-cultural study of these terms and concepts? This course approaches such questions from an anthropological perspective. By focusing on these central and longstanding topics of interest in the field of anthropology, we will also consider the history of anthropology itself, with an emphasis on the subfield of the anthropology of religion. This course facilitates a deeper awareness of religious pluralism in a multicultural world and promotes openness to and tolerance of perspectives different from the student’s own.
Course Title: Philosophy of Religion: Western and Asian Perspectives
Description:
This course explores key philosophical debates about religion from select Western and Asian perspectives. We begin by considering classical arguments for and against the existence of God and philosophical approaches to religious pluralism in the Western tradition. The second part of the course turns to Asian religious philosophies, including Hindu and Buddhist schools of thought and the traditions of Taoism and Confucianism In the final section, we engage with contemporary critiques that examine colonialism, race, and gender, with special attention to how such perspectives intersect with philosophical discussions of religion. This is an introductory course and no previous experience with philosophy, the study of religion, or philosophy of religion is expected or required.