87367 - Entangled History and Religions (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have acquired a thorough knowledge of the methods and historiography necessary for the study of religions in interconnected contexts. They will be able to analyze different source material in order to understand and describe how religions create their worldviews and interact with the broader cultural, economic and material context.

Course contents

The Shapes of Religion: Sacrifice and Its Afterlives

Course Description

This course equips students with conceptual, historical, and comparative tools to explore sacrifice as ritual practice, theoretical category, and cultural process. Drawing on major religious traditions and classical social theory, it examines both concrete historical case studies and changing interpretations of sacrifice from antiquity to the modern world. Particular emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary and global perspectives, highlighting the transformations, contestations, and reinterpretations of sacrifice across diverse cultural and historical contexts. More specifically, the course will pursue two key lines of inquiry: one centered on violence and sacred violence, the other on consumption and economic life. These distinct yet intersecting perspectives will enable students to reflect on the multiple trajectories shaped by the notion of sacrifice, engaging with complex themes such as human sacrifice, ritualized violence, environmental relations, and economic structures.

W1 – Theories, histories, and where we stand

W2 – The Christian experiment and its archive

W3 – European expansion and global perspectives

W4 – Politics, Violence, and the Deactivation of Sacrifice

W5 – Afterlives of Sacrifice: Returning to History and Theory

A detailed Syllabus is uploaded in Virtuale for students who attend and for those who wish to specialize in a specific theme.

Readings/Bibliography

A. Attending-students will bring:

1. Jonathan Sheehan, On the Altar: A History of Sacrifice from the Sacred to the Secular (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2026)

2. 5 articles+Introduction from:

C. Facchini, G. Imbruglia, V. Lavenia, S. Pavone, Sacrifice and Sacred Violence: History, Comparisons, and the Early Modern World (Turnhout: Brepols, 2025)

3. Discussion and participation in class' discussions.

B. Non-attending students will bring:

1. Jonathan Sheehan, On the Altar: A History of Sacrifice from the Sacred to the Secular (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2026)

2. 5 articles+Introduction from:

C. Facchini, G. Imbruglia, V. Lavenia, S. Pavone, Sacrifice and Sacred Violence: History, Comparisons, and the Early Modern World (Turnhout: Brepols, 2025)

3. One book from the list:

H. Hubert & M. Mauss, Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function (any edition).

Guy G. Stroumsa,The End of Sacrifice: Religious Transformations in Late Antiquity (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009)

Violent Origins: Ritual Killing and Cultural Formation. Walter Burkert, René Girard, and Jonathan Z. Smith on Ritual Killing and Cultural Formation, edited by Robert G. Hamerton-Kelly (Los Angeles: Stanford University Press, 1989)

René Girard, Violence and the Sacred (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979)

Nancy Jay, Throughout Your Generations Forever: Sacrifice, Religion, and Paternity (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992)

Debora K. Shuger, The Renaissance Bible: Scholarship, Sacrifice, and Subjectivity (Baylor University Press, 2010)

Sacrifice and Modern Thought, edited by Julia Meszaros and Johannes Zachhuber (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013)

The Strange World of Human Sacrifice, edited by Jan Bremmer (Leuven-Paris: Peeters, 2007)

Pennock CD (2011) Bonds of Blood: Gender, Lifecycle and Sacrifice in Aztec Culture . Palgrave MacMillan

David Carrasco, City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999

Terry Eagleton, Radical Sacrifice (New Have & London: Yale University Press, 2018)

Teaching methods

Lectures are conducted in a seminar format, emphasizing collective discussion of texts and primary sources. Students are expected to engage actively in class by contributing thoughtful questions and comments. Assigned readings listed in the syllabus must be completed before each session. In some cases, students may be asked to lead discussions, present brief reflections, or respond to their peers’ contributions.

Assessment methods

Assessment for attending students

• Participation and Weekly Discussion – 20% (attendance is acquired with 75% of class hours)
• Short Reading Responses – 20%
• see above – 60%

General Assessment
Students are required to select readings from the course bibliography and will be assessed through an oral examination. The exam will evaluate the student's ability to present and discuss key topics using appropriate academic language, as well as their capacity to make connections across different texts in order to develop a coherent argument.

A good to excellent grade will be awarded to students who demonstrate critical engagement with the material, fluency in academic expression, and the ability to synthesize and compare perspectives from multiple sources. A sufficient or fair grade will be assigned to students who can adequately summarize the content of the texts using generally appropriate language. An exam will be considered unsuccessful if the student displays poor linguistic competence and/or a fragmented and superficial understanding of the readings.

During the academic year, six exam sessions are scheduled, generally in the following months: January, February, May, June, September, and December, for all students.

Teaching tools

The course will make use of a variety of learning tools, including visual aids, PowerPoint presentations, and selected documentary films, in order to support and enrich the discussion of texts and case studies.

Students with learning disorders and/or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Cristiana Facchini