 INTRODUCTION
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Sacred Places
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An exploration of how and why places become invested with SACREDNESS and how the SACRED is embodied or made manifest through ART and ARCHITECTURE
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SYLLABUS
Course Description
The course offers an exploration of the nature of sacred places with special attention given to the origins of their sacredness as it might identified in one or more sacred objects, features, or forms (caves, stones, mountains, trees, water, forms in the landscape). With these features, forms, and objects in mind, the course surveys a number of the world's better known sacred places with the intention of examining how a site is marked, and its sacredness made manifest, through art and architecture.
Of special interest to me is how and why people perceive and invest certain objects, or features, or forms with the sacred, and the ways in which they respond to it. In some cases, the sacred place is left virtually untouched (e.g. Kata Tjuta in Australia), but more often it is marked and richly embellished by architecture and art (e.g. Chartres Cathedral in France). Interestingly, in the case of Chartres, it is clear that the cathedral is only the most recent embellishment of a site that evidently had very ancient sanctity.
An argument generally pursued in the course is that the nature of the original sanctity of a place (cave, stone, tree, etc) served as the basis for, or in some way influenced or determined, the forms and shapes adopted in architecture and art.
The course is conducted through lectures, discussions of readings and images, film screenings, a workshop with a guest lecturer, and field trips. Emphasis will be placed on identifying interpretive methods for understanding the nature and form of sacred places.
Enrolled
- Laurie Evans
- Allie Gerber
- Leslie Hardy
- Jan McDougal
- Jenn Perkins
- Elizabeth Snider
- Tiffiney Whitmire
Schedule
FIRST WEEK:
SECOND WEEK:
Monday Jan. 12:
Mountains and the Sacred
Tuesday Jan. 13:
Field trip to the Satchidananda Ashram, Yogaville
(depart SBC 1:15 p.m. - return to SBC by 5:30)
[see 1. The Satchidananda Ashram Homepage, 2. Swami Satchidananda, 3. interview with Swami Satchidananda]
Wednesday Jan. 14:
Trees and the Sacred
Thursday Jan. 15:
Movie: "Koyaanisqatsi (Life out of Balance)" (1983, 87 minutes; presented by Francis Ford Coppola; produced and directed by Godfrey Reggio; cinematography by Ron Fricke; music by Philip Glass) Tyson Auditorium
 Koyaanisqatsi ("ko.yaa.nis.katsi"), a term from the Hopi language meaning, n. 1. crazy life. 2. life in turmoil. 3. life disintegrating. 4. life out of balance. 5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.
[ see 1 review, 2. review, 3. review, 4. review, 5. review]
html session, Benedict Computer Lab.
THIRD WEEK:
Monday Jan. 19:
Water and the Sacred
Tuesday Jan. 20:
Forms in the Landscape and the Sacred
Sacred Places, Knowledge, Wisdom, and Divination
Thursday Jan. 22:
PAUL DEVEREUX: "Mythic Eye & Meaningful Ground":
- Morning (Tyson)
10:00 - "Sacred Space as an Information Superhighway: A Story with a
Glory" [Slide-illustrated presentation; 30 mins]
---15-minute break---
11:00 - "The Cognition of Place, Sacred and Secular"
[Presentation with slide illustrations; up to 75 mins.]
- Afternoon (Tyson)
1:30 - "Channels of Perception: The Sense and Sensibility of Place"
[Workshop: brief presentations/ slides/ practical; 60-90 mins]
- Evening (Tyson)
7:00 - "SPIRIT, MIND & SACRED LAND" (public lecture)
Friday Jan. 23:
PAUL DEVEREUX: part two of workshop:
FOURTH WEEK:
Policies and Procedures
Regular attendance is required at all class meetings, scheduled events, and field trips listed in the syllabus. Attendance will be taken and used to determine the final grade. If you cannot attend a class meeting, scheduled event, and field trip, you must inform me in writing in advance. Each unexplained absence from a class meeting, scheduled event, or field trip will result in a lowering of your grade.
Required Information Sources
- Sacred Places, a website being developed by Professor Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe
- Colin Wilson, Atlas of Holy Places & Sacred Sites, New York: DK Publishing, 1996.
Required Project for Evaluation
In-class, on-line written and oral presentation on a selected sacred place or sacred theme focusing on the art and/or architecture. The written portion of the project will involve producing a webpage with text, images, and links. The oral portion will involve presenting the results of your project (and webpage) in class.
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Lascaux, France
Giza, Egypt
Stonehenge, England
Newgrange, Ireland
Abu Simbel, Egypt
Delphi, Greece
Athenian Acropolis, Greece
Holy Sepulchre, Israel
Dome of the Rock, Israel
Chartres, France
Lourdes, France
Shrine at Ise, Japan
Bodh Gaya, India
Teotihuacán, Mexico
St. Peter's Basilica, Italy
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Mosque of Córdoba, Spain
Kata Tjuta, Australia
Sacred Symbols
and Shapes
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