GCS352

This course focuses on the rites of passage practiced in different societies, with Chinese tradition as the primary example. The rites of passage includes the life-cycle rituals of birth-marriage-death, seasonal festivals, and other types like the rite of firsts. Related issues like beliefs, tales, gender, age, and ethnicity will be studied in depth. Participants will learn and apply related ideas from various disciplines like folkloristics, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, linguistics, history and religious studies. The readings include translations of the ancient ritual books and contemporary studies. Historical and cultural context will be emphasized in understanding some representative cultures. The goal of the course is to provide the students a platform to learn the subject as a body of knowledge, as a disciplinary theory, and as a method to understand everyday ritual practices, and to equip with some theories in understanding the making and maintaining of identity in multicultural environments.

Willamette College

Salem