Summer Quarter 2024
- For day, time, room, and TA information
- For all courses not described here, please refer to the General Catalog course descriptions: https://catalog.ucdavis.edu/courses-subject-code/rst/
Summer Session I
RST 001C: Sacrifice
What does it mean to sacrifice something? Why have so many people believed that supernatural beings demand the sacrificial death of women, children, and animals? How have conceptions of sacrifice transformed through time and where can we find sacrifice in the modern world? In RST1C we will use the lenses of religious studies and anthropology to explore how people have conceived of sacrifice in different times, places, and belief systems. We will analyze and evaluate various scholarly theories and see how they apply to specific case studies of sacrifice, including rituals from major world religions (including Islam, Christianity, and Judaism), Pre-Columbian American cultures (Aztec, Inca, and Maya), and small-scale societies around the world. Finally, we will turn our attention to our own society and examine both the conception and practice of sacrifice in the contemporary U.S.
Instructor: Lauren Eastland
Summer Session II
RST 012: Jews, Christians, and Muslims
