Everything is Full of Gods II: Time and the Divine

To our very day, “time” is one of the most essential parameters of human life, not only as an economic factor, but even more so as a cultural phenomenon.

Therefore, after the success of “Everything is Full of Gods. Humans, Nature and the Divine in Antiquity”, the 2009/2010 Honors Class takes up this issue and concentrates on the relationship between religion and perceptions of time. Religious rituals structure time (e.g., by introducing a calendar) and particular moments in time require appropriate rituals (e.g., in the time of harvest), not only to follow the circle of the year, but also in the course of a human person’s life from the cradle to the grave. But “time” is also a well known literary device to influence the present by creating images of the past and projections of the future, often deeply influences by religious suppositions. Apart from guest lectures, the class will hold regular seminar meetings to discuss core texts, objects and academic articles and have students present assignments. 

Programme:	Second semester 2009-2010. 4 quest lectures, 4 tutorial’s and a final symposium
Application deadline:	1 December 2009
Language of instruction:	English
Contact:	Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zangenberg (LUIRS) -  j.k.zangenberg@religion.leidenuniv.nl