What is shamanism? What is trance? What was the nature of the earliest human religion, and what will religion look like in the future? This new 2-unit course will introduce students to shamanism (and, to a lesser extent, witchcraft). We will look at how shamanism compares across societies, examine its psychological foundations and cultural evolution, probe its deep history, and seek to understand how elements of shamanism resonate in contemporary, industrialized societies. Along the way, students will develop a better understanding of comparative, evolutionary, and cognitive approaches to culture.

Who were Neandertals? When and where did they live? What were their lives like? Did they exchange genes and culture with the ancestors of present-day humans? This course deals with the most up to date answers to these and related questions, as well as how scientists go about trying to answer them.