Professor Erin Moore, epm@usc.edu - Approximately May 17 - June 12
Meeting times: 3 days a week at USC, 9-12 am; followed by two weeks in Brazil.
Cost: Approximately $2,000 for the field portion, plus tuition. Summer Undergraduate Research Funds (SURF) are available to assist with the cost of the field portion of the course.
All healing uses the power of the mind to help the body heal. People everywhere get sick and all societies have developed practices, technologies and medicines to treat illness. However, not all peoples understand sickness and healing in the same way. In this course we will examine healers, theatrical manipulation of powerful cultural symbols and what gives these rituals their power. In this month long course we spend the first two weeks in the classroom studying the anthropological literature on cross-cultural healing, placebo, meditation, and ritual. During this time we will have our first fieldwork experience with Spiritist healers in Hollywood. The second two weeks we travel to Brasilia, Brazil to participate and observe a world-renowned Spiritualist healer, John of God. John of God is said to channel, while in trance, 47 different healing spirits. Integrating the classroom study with the field experiences, students will participate in the healing rituals of John of God’s retreat center as well as interview patients, mediums, business owners, etc. to research one central problem of their choice. Who is this farmer/entrepreneur/healer who has an international clientele? Is he a charlatan or a gifted medium? Who are his patients and what do they believe? What is their concept of the body/the spirit/the afterlife? What are the political and economic ramifications of this healing? How does one judge effective treatment?
This course has no prerequisites but it is limited to 8 students. Students must have D clearance from Dr. Moore to enroll.
