RELG 017. Animal Religion

This course examines the multiple, sometimes dissonant, connections between animals and religion. Do animals have religion? Why have some religions venerated animals as divine beings while others claim to be against such "strange worship"? What are the religious ethics of sacrificing-or eating-animals? How does grappling with questions about personhood, the soul, and emotions help us better understand the relationship between animality and humanity? By critically examining the range of connections between animals and religion, this class introduces students to far larger questions about what it means to be human and what differentiates-yet binds together-human and non-human animals.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Religion
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/religion

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