Professors:
John S. Hawley
219A Milbank
4-5292; jsh3@columbia.edu
Office hours: TW 11-12
Courtney Bender
613 Kent Hall
4-3716; cb337@columbia.edu
Office hours: Wed 4-6
1) Observing religion.
Much work in the Religion Departments at Barnard and Columbia is text-based.
We will read in this course too, but a major objective here is to learn
to "read experience."
We hope to develop the capability to observe religion as lived.
2) New York religion.
We expect, through readings and projects already structured into this
syllabus
and through sustained exposure to projects of studentsí own devising,
to learn something of the complex
texture of religious life in New York City.
3) Urban/metropolitan religion.
The argument is sometimes made that religion in dense urban spaces
is characteristically very different
from religion as it appears elsewhere. New York provides numerous
ways to explore that idea, especially
insofar as it encompasses a variety of ethnic and immigrant groups
and individuals; encourages the
generation of new, complex, and hybrid forms of cultural life that
are less possible in smaller populations;
and is in places unusually "virtual" and transnational in its sense
of itself.
Field observation: three projects of growing intensity, with accompanying write-ups
1. Mapping the religious landscape:
You and a partner will canvass a discrete area of Morningside Heights
for public displays of religion.
This project will introduce you to the variety of ways that religion
is manifest throughout daily life
in the city, and (with any luck) expand your vision of religious life
in New York.
Assignment: a visual map, and a short written analysis.
2. Initial religious investigations:
A one-time visit to a Hindu temple. You will write field notes and
a short field report based on your visit.
You will also read others' reports and generate reflections on
the differences or similarities in field reports
based on the same events. This project will provide you with some excellent
experience in "the field," and a
chance to think specifically about the ways that different styles and
pre-existing assumptions influence the field research project.
Assignment: Field notes (no page limit), field report (3-5 pages) and
written critique of the process (5-7 pages).
3. "In-depth" religious encounters:
You will select a religious community or site to visit individually
on an ongoing basis throughout the term.
To best facilitate learning in this course, we ask that you choose
to investigate a religious community in which you
have not previously participated in any extended way. Your visits to
this site or community will form the backbone of
your seminar paper.
Assignment: Seminar paper (10-15 pages).
Class presentation
The following texts are available for purchase at Labyrinth Books.
Other required readings will be distributed in class or made available
to photocopy.
Karen Brown, Mama Lola, A Voudou Priestess in Brooklyn
Lis Harris, Holy Days, the World of a Hasidic Family
Robert Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street
H. Wolcott, The Art of Field Work
Robert Orsi, ed., Gods of the City
Johanna Lessinger, From Ganges to the Hudson
All books are on reserve in the Barnard library.
In addition, the following books on ethnographic practice may be of interest. They are on reserve at Barnard.
Robert Emerson, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (California)
Lofland and Lofland, Analyzing Social Settings (Wadsworth)
G. McCracken, The Long Interview (Sage)
John van Maanen, Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography
(Chicago)
Robert Emerson, ed., Contemporary Field Research (Waveland)
6 September
Introductions
13 September
Encounters
Assignment:
Mapping projectReadings:
"Crossing the City Line," Robert Orsi (introduction to Gods of the City)
Excerpts from One Nation Under God, Kosmin and Lachman
"Religion" in Encyclopedia of New York, Kenneth Jackson, ed.
20 September
Field Work: time, space, ethnographer
Assignment: 1-2 page independent project proposal
Readings:
Wolcott, The Art of Fieldwork ch. 5
William H. Whyte, "The Social Life of Streets" in City
Emerson, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes chs. 1-3
22 and 24 September: class visits to temples on Bowne Street,
Queens
27 September
Hinduism in New York
Assignment:
Fieldnotes and field report from QueensReadings:
Lessinger, From Ganges to the Hudson
4 October
Hinduism continued
Assignment:
Critical reflection on field report and notesReadings:
Diana L. Eck, "Negotiating Hindu Identities in America"
Joanne Waghorne, "The Hindu Gods in a Split-Level World: The Sri Siva-Visnu Temple in Suburban Washington, D.C.," in Gods of the City
Anand Mohan et al., "The Pilgrimage" and other snippets, in Asian Religions in America
R. Scott Hanson, "Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam of Flushing, New York."Compare the temple website at http://www.indianet.com/ganesh.Raymond Brady Williams, Religions of Immigrants from India and Pakistan: New Threads in an American Tapestry chapter 5 pp. 152-185.Compare the website at http://www.swaminarayan-baps.org.Gregg Hansbury, "Twice Exiled: Devotion, Community, and Education in a Guyanese-American Mandir," paper for "Religious World of New York," 1999.
Michelle Caswell, "Hindu Sacred Space on American Soil: The Divya Dham Temple of Woodside, Queens," paper for "Religious Worlds of New York," Columbia University, 1996. http://www.barnard.edu/religion/pages/students.html
11 October
Fieldwork discussions
Readings:
Emerson, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, chapters 4 and 6 (recommended: ch. 5)18 October
Samuel Freedman, "Return to the Rock"
Robert Orsi, "Have You Ever Prayed to St. Jude?"
Gary Alan Fine, "Ten Fictions of Ethnography"
Assignment:
Field notes, analytical notes and "theme"Readings:
R. Stephen Warner, "The Place of the Congregation in American Religious History" in American Congregations
Nancy Ammerman, "Bowling Together"
Scott Cormode, "Churches and Secular Voluntary Associations in the Turn of the Century City" in Sacred Companies
Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf, "Structural Adaptations in an Immigrant Muslim Congregation in New York" in Gatherings in the Diaspora
25 October
Religion on the street
Readings:
Joseph Sciorra, "We Go Where the Italians Live: Religious Processions as Ethnic and Territorial Markers in a Multi-Ethnic Brooklyn Neighborhood" in Orsi, ed. Gods of the City
Wayne Ashley, "The Stations of the Cross: Christ, Politics, and Processions on New York City's Lower East Side" in Gods of the City
Diane Winston, "Cathedral of the Open Air" in Gods of the City
1 November
Reading New York's Religious Worlds
Reading:
Robert Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street8 November
Assignment:
Field notes and analytical writingReading:
Lis Harris, Holy Days: The World of a Hasidic Family15 November
Reading:
Karen Brown, Mama Lola: A Voudou Priestess in Brooklyn22 November NO CLASS MEETING
Assignment:
Draft of project due 12 noon
28 November TUESDAY EVENING
Class presentations: Professor Hawley's residence, 7-9 p.m.29 November and 6 December
Class presentationsMONDAY 11 December
Final draft of independent project due
Last updated: 6 September2000