Teaching Religion and Healing

by Barnes, Linda L.; Talamantez, Inés M.

• ISBN13: 9780195176438
• ISBN10: 019517643X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-19
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The study of medicine and healing traditions is well developed in the discipline of anthropology. Most religious studies scholars, however, continue to assume that "medicine" and "biomedicine" are one and the same and that when religion and medicine are mentioned together, the reference is necessarily either to faith healing or bioethics. Scholars of religion also have tended to assume that religious healing refers to the practices of only a few groups, such as Christian Scientists and pentecostals. Most are now aware of the work of physicians who attempt to demonstrate positive health outcomes in relation to religious practice, but few seem to realize the myriad ways in which healing pervades virtually all religious systems. This volume is designed to help instructors incorporate discussion of healing into their courses and to encourage the development of courses focused on religion and healing. It brings together essays by leading experts in a range of disciplines and addresses the role of healing in many different religious traditions and cultural communities. An invaluable resource for faculty in anthropology, religious studies, American studies, sociology, and ethnic studies, it also addresses the needs of educators training physicians, health care professionals, and chaplains, particularly in relation to what is referred to as "cultural competence" - the ability to work with multicultural and religiously diverse patient populations.

Table of Contents

Contributors,	xiii
Introduction,	3	(26)
Linda L. Barnes
PART I Theoretical Frames
1. Religion, Healing, and the Body,	29	(18)
Suzanne J. Crawford
2. Teaching Religion and Healing at a Southern University,	47	(14)
Kaja Finkler
PART II Hindu, Tibetan, and Chinese Traditions
3. Shanti: Peace for the Mind, Body, and Soul,	61	(22)
Vasudha Narayanan
4. Keeping It All in Balance: Teaching Asian Religions through Illness and Healing,	83	(12)
Ivette Vargas-O'Bryan
5. Teaching the History of Chinese Healing Traditions,	95	(18)
Linda L. Barnes
PART III Native and Chicano/a American Traditions
6. Teaching Native American Religious Traditions and Healing,	113	(14)
Inés M. Talamantez
7. Ometeotl Moyocoyatzin: Nahuatl Spiritual Foundations for Holistic Healing,	127	(12)
Inés Hernández-Ávila
8. Chicanos/as, Religion, and Healing: Traditions and Transformations,	139	(20)
Lara Medina
PART IV Through the Study of Shamanisms
9. Shamanism as a Point of Departure: Two Courses on Christianity and Healing,	159	(12)
Amanda Porterfield
10. Teaching about Shamanism and Religious Healing: A Cross-Cultural, Biosocial-Spiritual Approach,	171	(22)
Michael Winkelman and Christopher Carr
PART V Experiential Pedagogies
11. The Anthropology of Experience: The Way to Teach Religion and Healing,	193	(14)
Edith Turner
12. Medicine, Healing, and Spirituality: A Cross-Cultural Exploration,	207	(12)
Paula K.R. Arai
13. Religious Healing as Pedagogical Performance,	219	(10)
Stephanie Y. Mitchem
14. Magic, Witchcraft, and Healing,	229	(18)
Arvilla Payne Jackson
PART VI Courses for Caregivers
15. Spirituality of Healing,	247	(14)
Kwok Pui-lan
16. The Worldviews Seminar: An Intensive Survey of American Urban Religious Diversity,	261	(16)
Lucinda A. Mosher and Claude Jacobs
17. Teaching Religion and Healing: Spirituality and Aging in the San Francisco Japanese Community,	277	(16)
Ronald Y. Nakasone
18. Religion and Healing for Physician's Assistants,	293	(14)
Fred Glennon
19. A Medical School Curriculum on Religion and Healing,	307	(22)
Linda L. Barnes
PART VII Additional Syllabi
20. Religion, Ritual, and Healing in North America,	329	(12)
Pamela E. Klassen
21. World Religions and Healing,	341	(12)
Linda L. Barnes
Resource Bibliographies,	353	(26)
Index,	379