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Ritual Analysis Assignment Guidelines

The purpose of this assignment is twofold: to give you a first-hand experience of what is involved in observing and recording ritual activity, and to provide you with the opportunity to study Buddhism or Christianity as it is practiced in a specific community. You are free to choose any Buddhist or Christian community to which you have access. Here are some Buddhist and Christian communities in the area. In most cases you will not be a distant observer, but will also be participating in some sort of activity. This means that you probably will not be able to take notes while you are observing. You will have to write down everything you can remember as soon as possible after the ritual. But you will probably be able to visit the location in advance and/or after the ritual and take notes on the setup of the ritual space and any other information about the location that is relevant. You should draw a detailed map of the space in which the ritual takes place to help you and your reader get a concrete sense of the ritual environment.

Your write-up will take three forms. You will submit your detailed field notes, including your map, and a two-page profile of the community and the tradition of which it is a part. You will then use these notes and your community profile as the basis for a formal six-to-eight-page report (double-spaced, one-inch margins) in which you summarize the key features of the ritual and discuss what you have learned from it.

Site Identification (due October 11):

Identify an appropriate community and get the basic information needed to observe a ritual, including what the ritual is and where and when it will be held. You should also make sure that it is OK for you to attend and observe the ritual. Write a brief statement that includes the name of the community, what the ritual is, and when you will observe it.

Community profile (due November 3; note change in due date):

This assignment is intended to give you the opportunity to do some basic research on the community you will be observing and on the religious tradition in which it is located. A successful Community Profile will include two components: a brief survey of the religious tradition in which your community is situated, for example, American Roman Catholic tradition in the case of the UVM Catholic community, and a profile of the specific community that you will be observing. The goal here is to understand both the immediate context in which your ritual is performed and the relationship that your specific community has to a broader tradition of religious practice. Your survey of the broader tradition should focus on information that is relevant to an understanding of your ritual. So, for example, some treatment of the importance of the eucharist in the Catholic tradition, including the impact of the Second Vatican Council, would be relevant if you are observing a Catholic eucharist.

This is intended to be a research paper. Though it is a relatively short assignment (two to three pages in length), you will need to draw upon multiple research materials, including library resources. Click here for some suggestions of specific sources that may be of use. You are expected to consult at least four sources, including at least one print source, and to provide complete bibliographical citations for them at the end of your paper (this is in addition to the two to three pages of your profile). You are free to use one of the commonly accepted conventions for citation, such as MLA or the Chicago Manual of Style. Guidelines for citing a range of sources can be found here.

Field notes (due November 15):

Your field notes should include as much detail as you can record, including:

when and where the observation took place
who was there
detailed information about the participants (gender, ethnicity, age, clothing and appearance)
what was said and done (including objects used in the ritual)
comments on your own experience as a participant/observer

Be as precise as you can about exactly what is said and done and who said/did it. As much as possible, quote people word for word. There may be printed texts used, and these will be helpful, but the actual performance may vary from what is written in the text, and this should be noted. Pay attention to what gestures people use and what seems to be their demeanor as they perform them. Obviously, you cannot get all the details, nor will you be able to use all the details you collect. But your capacity to analyze your observed ritual is directly related to how much information you have been able to assemble. You cannot know in advance everything that might be of use to you, though you should try to develop a strategy in advance for collecting important information. Try to be as conscious as possible of what the limitations are of your particular angle of vision. Does your age/gender/ethnicity make a difference in the way you are able to interact with the ritual participants? How does the fact that you are an outsider to the community affect what people allow you to see, what you are able to observe, and how you interpret what you do see? Your field notes when submitted to me must be written in complete sentences, typed, and effectively organized.

Research report (due December 6; note change in due date):

Your six-eight-page research report is your analysis of the information that you recorded in your field notes and in your community profile. Roughly half of your final research report should be description of the ritual, including comments on your experience as an observer/participant, and half an analysis in which you discuss what this ritual reveals about this community and the tradition of Buddhism or Christianity that it represents. Your analysis should also include some discussion of how your broader understanding of Buddhism or Christianity has been shaped by your study of this ritual.

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