Tues. 1/4

What is pilgrimage? Where is pilgrimage?

Readings

No readings

Thur. 1/6

Theories of space and travel

Readings

Coleman and Elsner, Pilgrimage, 6-9

* Encyclopedia of Religion, "Pilgrimage: An Overview"

* Gisbert Rinschede, "Forms of Religious Tourism," Annals of Tourism Research 19 (1992): 51-67

recommended: * Michel Foucault, "Of Other Spaces," Diacritics 16 Spring (1986): 22-27

Tues. 1/11

Discussion: Internet Pilgrimage?

Readings

Visit the following sites:

HolyLand Newtork

"Virtual Hajj"

"A Virtual Pilgrimage to the Holy Places in India"

"The HolyLand Model"

For discussion: How are "space" and "presence" conveyed on these websites? Is the experience of "cyber-travel" similar to or different from "real" pilgrimage? What role does (should?) technology play in the experience of religious space?

First "Show and Tell" DUE

Thur. 1/13

Judaism, I: The Temple Mount without a Temple

Readings

Coleman and Elsner, Pilgrimage, 34-51

* Danielle Storper-Perez and Harvey E. Goldberg. "The Kotel: Toward an Ethnographic Portrait." Religion 24 (1994): 309-332.

Look again at "The HolyLand Model"

Tues. 1/18

Judaism, II: Holy Men and Mysticism

Readings

Barbara Sofer, "Frequent Prayer Points," Hadassah Magazine 83.10 (June/July 2002)

Laura King, "Madonna's Pilgrimage Throws Israel into a Tizzy," Los Angeles Times Sept. 20, 2004, pg. A3 (note: Link will only work from UCR computer)

Yossi Klein Halevi, "Commentary: Madonna and the Kabbalah Cult," Los Angeles Times, Sept. 24, 2004, pg. B11 (note: Link will only work from UCR computer)

Gary Rosenblatt, "Madonna's Challenge to Us," The New York Jewish Week, 217.18 (Oct. 1, 2004), pg. 7 (note: Link will only work from UCR computer)

recommended: * Encyclopedia of Religion, "Contemporary Jewish Pilgrimage"

Thur. 1/20

Christianity, I: Building the Holy Land

Readings

Coleman and Elsner, Pilgrimage, 78-99

* "The Piacenza Pilgrim"

Tues. 1/25

Christianity, II: Medieval Pilgrims, Penance, and Relics

Readings

Coleman and Elsner, Pilgrimage, 100-135

Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales general prologue (Modern version)

Thur. 1/27

Discussion: Conrad Rudolph, Pilgrimage to the End of the World

Readings

Conrad Rudolph, Pilgrimage to the End of the World

Special guest: Prof. Rudolph, UCR Department of Art History

For discussion: How do the visual and the spiritual coincide on pilgrimage, and how do archaic material conditions encode the pilgrimage experience for the modern traveler? Can a person participate in pilgrimage without being a "pilgrim" per se? What is the line between participant-observation and participation in the study of pilgrimage?

First "Response Paper" DUE

Tues. 2/1

Islam, I: Mecca and Meaning

Readings

Coleman and Elsner, Pilgrimage, 52-73

* Selections from The Travels of Ibn Jubayr (part 1, required; part 2, optional)

recommended: * Encyclopedia of Religion, "Muslim Pilgrimage"

Thurs. 2/3

Islam, II: Passing Muslim: Mecca and Orientalism

Readings

Coleman and Elsner, Pilgrimage, 74-77

* Selections from Sir Richard Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to al-Madinah and Mecca

* Selections from Edward Said, Orientalism

Tues. 2/8

Discussion: Malcolm X at Mecca

Readings

* Selections from The Autobiography of Malcolm X (written with Alex Haley)

For discussion: How can the experience of pilgrimage be both comforting and alienating? What kinds of things does a pilgrim "learn" about him/herself, his/her "native" land, and his/her "ideal" space? How do race, class, religion, and politics intersect in Malcom's pilgrimage experience? Does the act of writing a pilgrimage narrative transform the "original" experience?

Second "Show and Tell" DUE

Thurs. 2/10

Hinduism: By the Waters of the Ganges

Readings

Coleman and Elsner, Pilgrimage, 136-65

* Selections from Diana L. Eck, Banaras: City of Light

recommended:* Diana L. Eck, "India's Tīrthas: 'Crossings' in Sacred Geography," History of Religions 20 (1981): 323-344

Tues. 2/15

Buddhism, I: The Buddha's Teeth and Other Relics

Readings

Coleman and Elsner, Pilgrimage, 170-180

* Selection from Fa-Hien, A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms

* Nancy Falk, "To Gaze on the Sacred Traces," History of Religions 16 (1977): 281-293

Thur. 2/17

Buddhism, II: Translocated Buddhas, from China to Japan

Readings

Coleman and Elsner, Pilgrimage, 180-195

* Chang Shang-ying, "A Further Record of Ch'ing-liang," tr. Robert M. Gimello in Pilgrims and Sacred Spaces in China

* Selection from Oliver Statler, Japanese Pilgrimage

Tues. 2/22

Discussion: Monkey: A Chinese Folk Tale

Readings

Ch'eng-en Wu, Monkey (aka Journey to the West)

For discussion: Does using pilgrimage as an allegory (i.e., a story with a spiritual, nonliteral meaning) affirm or negate the ritual activity of pilgrimage? Or do pilgrimage allegories shape the spiritual understanding of pilgrims themselves? Does it make a difference if the allegory is "based on a true story"? 

Second "Response Paper" DUE

Thur. 2/24

NO CLASS (Professor away)

Tues. 3/1

Critiques of the Pilgrim: Religion and Cynicism

Readings

Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad, chs. 50, 53, 54 (pp. 525-536, 558-585)

Thur. 3/3

Pilgrims in Conflict: Holy Sites and Confrontation

Readings

* Roger Friedland and Richard Hecht, “The Bodies of Nations: A Comparative Study of Religious Violence in Jerusalem and Ayodhya,” History of Religions 38 (1998): 101-49

Tues. 3/8

Cultural Pilgrims: The U.S. as Holy Land

Readings

* Juan Eduardo Campo, "American Pilgrimage Landscapes," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences 558 (1998): 40-56

Thur. 3/10

Conclusions and Presentations

Conclusions and presentations of final projects