THE GOAL: Pilgrimage has been described as "the center out there:" a place far away from home which nevertheless becomes intensely familiar. Our goal for this class is to find and explore several "centers out there" in the pilgrimage events of six religious cultures, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shinto. Together, through readings, discussions, presentations and lectures, we will strive to understand the processes and practices of pilgrimage in order to discern common threads and isolate particularities of pilgrimages across these cultures. We will consistently return to one overarching question: what aspects of the human condition does pilgrimage initiate and fulfill? Many themes will help to comprise our answers to this question, including, contact with the divine, the formation of communities and identities, the role of art in (re)presenting the divine, the importance of ritual and ceremony in forming pilgrimage communities, and the desires and motivations which fuel pilgrims' often courageous displacements. The title of the class also signals our interest in moving from highly organized rituals of devotion (such as the intricately orchestrated Crusades to the Holy Land) to spontaneous manifestations of devotion (such as the site which has developed around Graceland, home of Elvis Presley). back to top

THE CLASSROOM: A seminar is based upon two fundamental activities, critical reading and discussion. Critical reading entails taking notes on the materials you'll read, and asking questions of these materials: where is the author coming from (what discipline, with what thesis in mind?), what is the author's "evidence" for his or her claims (experience? research? tradition?), what are the new claims that the author is making? Critical reading helps you suss out the deeper argument of the article or book, it allows you to go beyond the level of information, and to enter into a conversation with the author. Give yourself the time, always, to read critically. Your careful work outside of class will be the foundation of our time together in the classroom: discussions will continually refer to the materials read for that day. Bring an opinion, a position, on the knowledge you have gained and speak out! back to top

READINGS: We will be reading across a variety of disciplines, notably anthropology, history, and art history. We will also be working with first person accounts, writing of pilgrims who were there, who saw and felt first-hand the complexity and power of holy sites. Two entities (books and articles) will guide our reading: Simon Coleman and John Elsner's book Pilgrimage Past and Present: Sacred Travel and Sacred Space in the World Religions, Harvard University Press, 1995, and Diana Eck, Darsan; Seeing the Divine Image in India, Columbia University Press, 1998(waiting for you at Fine Print Bookstore, 6 E. Washington St., by the square) and a reading packet of articles, (available for you at the University Bookstore). back to top

PARTICIPATION AND PRESENTATION: Class participation is the very dynamo of a seminar - remember, the structure here is not that I lecture to you for the entire class, but that we discern well-reasoned intellectual positions on gripping topics together. Being in the class is just the beginning, participating renders being there interesting. There will be one rather informal presentation before Thanksgiving Break, in which you will have a chance to open the discussion on secular pilgrimage by citing your own discovery of this modern phenomenon. back to top

THE WRITINGS: I am deeply committed to your writing, and keenly interested in how you arrive at your written claims. Consequently, we will examine and better understand this process together through a series of workshops interspersed throughout the semester. These class sessions will cover increasingly demanding and subjective topics, calling for more and more of your interpretive involvement. They will address (in order of appearance): researching a seminar paper, interpretive writing at the seminar level, footnotes and annotated bibliographies, and developing an ability to critique and edit written work more productively. These workshops will be doubled with due dates for several different parts of your seminar paper. We will also work on your writing in a test situation. Thus, there will be an open-notebook midterm, in which you will be able to rely on class notes in answering the essay questions. back to top

SEMINAR PAPER: Through our workshops together, I hope that you will be able to develop a very productive relationship with your research and the writing of a 10-15 page paper and its presentation to the class in a 20-minute presentation. In the initial two weeks of the class, see which of the cultures that we study appeals to you, which awakens your curiosity, and makes you want to know more. We'll want to be very aware of interpretive reading as well as writing, so on Monday, September 10, you will hand in an interpretive essay of an article. On Friday, September 28, I will ask you to hand in a 100-word paragraph (short!) stating the culture within which you'd like to work and why. At this point, you will start to think about a particular aspect of this pilgrimage culture that you'd like to explore (a temple, a specific ceremony, a particular god, etc.). Monday, October 29, you will hand in an annotated bibliography for your paper (more on what that entails further on in the semester). After that, let the writing begin! On Friday, November 9, you will exchange 5-page drafts of your paper with your colleagues and analyze each other's work. Your 20-minute presentation will have your paper as its base - you will read it, show any images you may have, and a lively discussion of your work will ensue. You'll get a chance to incorporate people's comments in your final version. The paper itself is due aMonday, December 10 at 10:00 a.m. in my office - at which point I will congratulate you heartily. back to top

GRADE LOW-DOWN: Classroom Participation (25%), Midterm (25%), Workshops and Presentations (25%), Final Seminar Paper (25%). All of these dates and expectations will be reiterated several times, and you can always consult the Due Dates Calendar on your paper syllabus. back to top

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY AT DEPAUW: I would also invite you to carefully read the Academic Integrity Policy here at DePauw: it maintains that all work should be your own and that, very importantly, you give credit where it is due for what you have learned in your research. This ideal is a challenge to uphold (there's a great deal to keep in mind) and the Policy will help you understand its standards. This ideal is also crucial to intellectual freedom and thus worthy of your closest attention. back to top

THE WEEKLY SCHEDULE: back to top

Wednesday, August 22 – Introduction, I: What is Pilgrimage?
van Gennep. Arnold. “The Territorial Passage,” in The Rites of Passage. Trans. Monika B. Vizedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960: 15-24. Packet

Friday, August 24 – Introduction, II: Where is Pilgrimage?
Turner, Victor. “The Center Out There: Pilgrim’s Goal,” History of Religions 12:3 (1973): 191-230. Packet

People of the Book
Monday, August 27 - Judaism
"Exile and Return: Jewish Pilgrimage," in Pilgrimage Past and Present: 34-51. Book

Wednesday, August 29 - Christianity
"Geographies of Sainthood: Christian Pilgrimage from the Middle Ages to the Present Day," in Pilgrimage Past and Present: 104-135. Book

Friday, August 31 - Islam
"The Center in the Desert: Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca," in Pilgrimage Past and Present: 52-77. Book

People of the Word
Monday, September 3 - Hinduism
"Divinity Diffused: Pilgrimage in the Indian Religions," in Pilgrimage Past and Present: 136-169. Book

Wednesday, September 5 - Buddhism
"Translating the Sacred: Patterns of Pilgrimage in the Buddhist World" in Pilgrimage Past and Present: 170-195. Book

Friday, September 7 - Shinto
Grapard, Allan G. “Flying Mountains and Walkers of Emptiness: toward a Definition of Sacred Space in Japanese Religions,” History of Religions 20 (1982): 195-221. Packet

The Architectures of Pilgrimage
Monday, September 10 - Workshop I and Looking at Pilgrimage back to Seminar Paper or Important Due Dates
Interpretive Reading and Writing
Due: 5 page interpretive essay of Frank, Georgia. “The Pilgrim’s Gaze in the Age before Icons,” in Visuality Before and Beyond the Renaissance. Ed. Robert Nelson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000: 98-115. Packet

Wednesday, September 12 - A Synagogue
Branham, Joan. “Sacred Space under Erasure in Ancient Synagogues and Early Churches,” Art Bulletin 74:3 (September 1992): 375-94. Packet

Friday, September 14 - A Christian Cathedral
Dawn Marie Hayes. "Mundane Uses of Sacred Places in the Central and Later Middle Ages, with a Focus on Chartres Cathedral," Comitatus 30 (1999): 11-36. Packet

Monday, September 17 - A Muslim Monument
Juan Eduardo Campo. "Authority, Ritual, and Spatial Order in Islam: the Pilgrimage to Mecca," Journal of Ritual Studies 5:1 (Winter 1991): 65-91. Reserve

Wednesday, September 19 - A Hindu Temple
Diana Eck. "Image, Temple, and Pilgrimage," from Darsan; Seeing the Divine Image in India. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996: 59-75. Book
Listen to a recent Diane Rehm show on NPR featuring Professor Diana Eck - scroll all the way down the page and then click "Listen in RealAudio!"

Richard Blurton. "The Temple," Hindu Art. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993: 40-75. Reserve

Friday, September 21 - A Shinto Shrine
Reynolds, Jonathan M. “Ise Shrine and a Modernist Construction of Japanese Tradition,” Art Bulletin 83:2 (June 2001): 316-341. Packet

Shared Spaces of Pilgrimage
Monday, September 24 – Jewish, Christian, Muslim Interaction
Idinopulos, Thomas A. “Sacred Space and Profane Power: Victor Turner and the Perspective of Holy Land Pilgrimage,” Pilgrims and Travelers to the Holy Land. Ed. Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick. Creighton University Press, 1996: 9-19.
Find it as an E-Book at http://www.netLibrary.com/index.asp

Wednesday, September 26 - Hindu-Buddhist Interaction
Bryan Pfaffenberger. "The Kataragama Pilgrimage: Hindu-Buddhist Interaction and Its Significance in Sri Lanka's Polyethnic Social System," Journal of Asian Studies 38:2 (February 1979): 253-270. Packet

Friday, September 28 – Workshop II and Christian-Buddhist Interaction back to Seminar Paper or Important Due Dates
Building Bibliography, Knowing When You Have a Good Source
DUE:100-word paragraph identifying your chosen topic.
DUE: Source analysis for R.L. Stirrat. "The Shrine of St Sebastian at Mirisgama: an Aspect of the Cult of the Saints in Catholic Sri Lanka," Man 16:2 (June 1981): 183-200. Packet

Making Divine Statues/Making Statues Divine
Monday, October 1 - Christian Consecration
David Freedberg. "Consecration: Making Images Work," in The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989: 82-98. Packet

Wednesday, October 3 - Hindu Consecration
James Preston. "Creation of the Sacred Image: Apotheosis and Destruction in Hinduism," Gods of Flesh/Gods of Stone: the Embodiment of Divinity in India. ed. Joanne Punzo Weghorne and Norman Cutler. Chambersburg, PA: Anima Publications, 1985: 9-30. Packet

Diana Eck. "The Nature of the Hindu Image," from Darsan; Seeing the Divine Image in India. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996: 32-58. Book

Friday, October 5 -Buddhist Consecration
Leonov Gennady. "The Rite of Consecration in Tibetan Buddhism," Arts of Asia 22 (Sept-Oct 1992): 100-110. Reserve

Bentor, Yal. “Inside Tibetan Images,” Arts of Asia 24 (May-June 1994): 102-110. Reserve

Monday, October 8 - Shinto Consecration
Felicia Bock. "The Rites of Renewal at Ise," Monumenta Nipponica 29:1 (Spring 1974): 55-68.
Find it on JSTOR at http://www.jstor.org/cgi-bin/jstor/listjournal/00270741

Wednesday, October 10 - Puja in Hinduism
Paul Courtright. "On This Holy Day In My Humble Way; Aspects of Puja," in Gods of Flesh/Gods of Stone: the Embodiment of Divinity in India. ed. Joanne Punzo Weghorne Norman Cutler. Chambersburg, PA: Anima Publications, 1985: 33-50. Packet

Friday, October 12 - Open Notebook MIDTERM back to Important Due Dates

Happy Fall Break!

Travel Writings
Monday, October 22 – Margery Kempe goes to Jerusalem (and you do, too!)
Find Margery Kempe’s pilgrimage site at:
http://www.holycross.edu/departments/medren/2.htm (follow the scroll down and clicking instructions below!)
Scroll down and click on to Raguin, then scroll down and click on to "Mapping Margregy Kempe," then click on "Pilgrimage", then click on "Holy Sepulcher" and start exploring!

Wednesday, October 24 - Sir Richard Burton's Muslim Pilgrimage, 1853
Sir Richard Burton. from "A Personal Narrative of a Journey to al-Madinah and Meccah," in One Thousand Roads to Mecca; Ten Centuries of Travelers Writing about the Muslim Pilgrimage. ed. Michael Wolfe. New York: Grove Press, 1997: 197-225. Reserve

Friday, October 26 - Travel Writings from India
I. Karve. "On the Road; a Maharashtrian Pilgrimage," Journal of Asian Studies 22:1 (1962): 13-29. Packet

Dynamic Personas back to Seminar Paper or Important Due Dates
Monday, October 29 - Workshop III
Footnotes and Presentation and Research
DUE: annotated bibliography

Wednesday, October 31 - Jewish Ancestors
John Wilkinson. "Jewish Holy Places and the Origins of Christian Pilgrimage," Blessings of Pilgrimage ed. R. Ousterhout. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1990: 41-53. Packet

Friday, November 2 - The Schöne Maria of Regensburg
Christopher Wood. "Ritual and the Virgin on the Column: the Cult of the Schöne Maria in Regensburg," Journal of Ritual Studies 6:1 (Winter 1992): 87-107. Reserve

Monday, November 5 - Sufis: the Muslim Mystics
Peter van der Veer. "Playing or Praying: A Sufi Saint's Day in Surat," Journal of Asian Studies 51:3 (August 1992): 545-564. Packet

Wednesday, November 7- The Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha
H.L. Seneviratne. "Politics and Pageantry: Universalisation of Ritual in Sri Lanka," Man 12:1 (April 1977): 65-75. Packet

Friday, November 9 - Ganesha, Remover of Obstacles in Hinduism back to Seminar Paper or Important Due Dates
Paul Courtright. "Obstacles and Thresholds," Ganesa, Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings. London: Oxford University Press, 1985: 136-159. Packet

Monday, November 12 - Communitas Rising: Malcom X in Mecca
Malcom X, "Pilgrimage to Mecca," 1964. in One Thousand Roads to Mecca; Ten Centuries of Travelers Writing about the Muslim Pilgrimage. ed. Michael Wolfe. New York: Grove Press: 486-503. Reserve


Wednesday, November 14 - Saint Elvis
Erika Doss, "Saint Elvis," from Elvis Culture: Fans, Faith, and Image. Kansas City: University Press of Kansas, 1999: 69-113. Packet
DUE: 4 copies of 5 page draft of paper (3 for colleagues, one for professor)


Friday, November 16 - Workshop IV back to Important Due Dates
Critiquing writing - editing
DUE: comments on 3 colleagues' drafts


Monday, November 19 - PRESENTATIONS back to Important Due Dates
DUE: 5 minute Presentations of Secular Pilgrimage (as found on Web or in published media)
"Epilogue: Landscapes Reviewed," Pilgrimage Past and Present: 196-220. Book

Happy Thanksgiving Break!

Elvis is Everywhere
Monday, November 26 – The Cult of Baby Lenin and Other Soviet Pilgrimages
Special guest lecture by Steve Harris - readings to be announced

Wednesday, November 28 - Pilgrimage to Graceland
J.W. Davidson et al. "The Pilgrimage to Graceland," Pilgrimage in the United States. ed. G. Rinschede and S.M. Bhardwaj. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1990: 229-252. Packet

Friday, November 30 - Elvis Lives!
Erika Doss. "Who Own Elvis?" and "Elvis is America," in Elvis Culture: Fans, Faith, and Image. Kansas City: University Press of Kansas, 1999: 213-259. Packet

Final Projects
Monday, December 3 - Presentations
4 PRESENTERS

Wednesday, December 5 - Presentations
4 PRESENTERS

Friday, December 7 - Presentations
3 PRESENTERS

Monday, December 10 at 10:00 a.m. - FINAL PAPERS DUE

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IMPORTANT DUE DATES TO REMEMBER (back to top)

Monday, September 10 - WORKSHOP I: Interpretive Readings and Writing
DUE: 5 page interpretive essay of an article

Friday, September 28 - WORKSHOP II: Interpretive Writing
DUE: 100-word paragraph identifying chosen topic and Source analysis of an article

Friday, October 12 - MIDTERM

Monday, October 29 - WORKSHOP III: Footnotes
DUE: annotated bibliography of 5 sources

Wednesday, November 14 - Preparation for Workshop IV
DUE: 4copies of 5 page draft of final paper

Friday, November 16 - WORKSHOP IV: Critiquing and Editing
DUE: analysis of 3 colleagues' papers

Monday, November 19 - PRESENTATION
DUE: 5 minute presentation of secular pilgrimage site

Monday, December 3, Wednesday, December 5, and Friday December 7 - PRESENTATIONS
DUE: 20 minute presentation of final seminar paper

Monday, December 10 at 10:00 a.m. - FINAL PAPERS DUE
10-15 pages, typewritten in Times New Roman Font with 1" margins all around, complete with images, footnotes, and bibliography of works consulted.