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

Learning outcomes

After completing the course students are familiar with the main interdisciplinary theoretical, methodological and technical tools of the historical-religious studies, that deal with religious pluralism in urban contexts in the Modern and Contemporary Ages. 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. They can critically identify the socio-cultural matrix of religions, as well as connections, developments, persistences and transformations of religious phenomena and the socio-political implications of the interaction between groups in complex societies in the Modern and Contemporary Ages. They can identify the specific contribution of different disciplines in addressing issues and problems of interest to the community such as the analysis of problems related to contexts characterised by cultural, linguistic and religious pluralism. They are able to give form to the results of their own research on the history of religious pluralism in the Modern and Contemporary Ages, documenting in an accurate and complete way the information on which they base their conclusions and giving an account of the methodologies and research tools used. They know how to apply the tools of communication and digital data in the editorial and publishing field.

Course contents

The Shapes of Religion: Sacrifice and Its Afterlives

Course Description

This course provides students with conceptual, historical, and comparative tools to explore the role of sacrifice as a ritual practice, theoretical category, and cultural device. Drawing on major religious traditions and classical social theory, we will examine concrete case studies and religious interpretations of sacrifice from antiquity to the modern world. Emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary and global approaches, 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, the other on consumption. 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.

Course Structure and Weekly Topics

W1 – Theorizing Sacrifice

• J. G. Frazer: The Dying God
• W. Robertson Smith: ‘sacrifice’ as a collective ritual meal
• Mauss and Hubert: the Ritual Logic of Sacrifice

W2 – Christianity and the Politics of Sacrifice

• Sacrifice and Idolatry in the Hebrew Bible
• Sacrificial Interpretation of Jesus’ Death
• Do Religions Without Sacrifice Exist?

W3 – American Cultures: Otherness, Ritual Violence, Cannibals

• The Tupinambá and Ritual Cannibalism (Montaigne)
• The Aztec Case: Imagery, Texts, Legal Controversies
• European Debates, Colonial Narratives and the European other

W4 – The East: Women, Martyrs, Missionaries

• The Practice of Sati: Immolation and Colonial Controversy
• Martyrdom and Missionaries in Asia
• Rethinking the category of martyrdom and its relation to sacrifice

W5 – On Violence

• Anthropological and Historical Theories: Violent Origins
• Sacrifice and Politics: Terrorism, Martyrdom, Nationhood
• Gender and the Body: Sacrifice, Purity, and Power

A detailed Syllabus is uploaded in Virtuale.

 

Readings/Bibliography

A. Attending-students will select:

5 articles from:

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

2 articles from:

• H. Hubert & M. Mauss, Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function (any edition).
• F. Saxl, ‘Pagan Sacrifice in the Italian Renaissance’, Journal of the Warburg Institute , Apr., 1939, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Apr., 1939), pp. 346-367 [class reading]
• Sarah Mortimer, Sacrifice and the limits of sovereignty 1589–1613, History of European Ideas, 49:8 (2023), 1302-1315, DOI: 10.1080/01916599.2023.2233337 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01916599.2023.2233337
• Montaigne, On Cannibals (any edition)

1 book from the list:

• Guy G. Stroumsa,The End of Sacrifice: Religious Transformations in Late Antiquity (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009)
• Susan Juster, Sacred Violence in Early America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016)
• 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)
• C. Levy Strauss, We Are All Cannibals: And Other Essays (New York 2016)
• Timothy Larsen, The Slain God: Anthropologists and the Christian Faith (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014)
• The Strange World of Human Sacrifice, edited by Jan Bremmer (Leuven-Paris: Peeters, 2007)
• Bruce Lincoln, Holy Terrors: Thinking about Religion after September 11 (University of Chicago Press, 2003)

B. Non-attending students will select:

• C. Facchini, G. Imbruglia, V. Lavenia, S. Pavone, Sacrifice and Sacred Violence: History, Comparisons, and the Early Modern World (Turnhout: Brepols, 2025)
• H. Hubert & M. Mauss, Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function (any edition).

1 book from the list:

• Guy G. Stroumsa,The End of Sacrifice: Religious Transformations in Late Antiquity (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009)
• Susan Juster, Sacred Violence in Early America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016)
• 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)
• C. Levy Strauss, We Are All Cannibals: And Other Essays (New York 2016)
• Timothy Larsen, The Slain God: Anthropologists and the Christian Faith (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014)
• The Strange World of Human Sacrifice, edited by Jan Bremmer (Leuven-Paris: Peeters, 2007)
• Bruce Lincoln, Holy Terrors: Thinking about Religion after September 11 (University of Chicago Press, 2003)

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 – 25% (attendance is acquired with 75% of class hours)
• Short Reading Responses – 25%
• see above – 50%

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