1. Anthropology 139: Anthropology of the Paranormal
Summer Session II 2014
Janny Li, Instructor
Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00-3:50pm Place: MSTB 124
Email: jli18@uci.edu Office: 3321 SBSG
Office Hours: Tuesdays from 12:00-1:00pm, or by appointment
Course Web Page: https://eee.uci.edu/14z/60142
Course Description
The paranormal has recently resurfaced as a popular idiom for many in America and across the
world to express and make sense of their identities, relationships, and personal conflicts. This course
surveys and compares wide-ranging beliefs on the supernatural and occult through longstanding
anthropological scholarship on the boundaries of magic, science, and religion. Drawing upon classic
and contemporary ethnographies as well as relevant material from popular culture (e.g., films,
television, radio programs, newspaper articles), this course will examine the historical, socio-cultural,
and psychological features of paranormal encounters and experiences across different cultural
contexts. By way of exploring how paranormal beliefs are made concrete in everyday lives through
social practices, rituals, and communities, this course encourages students to engage with enduring
theoretical debates on the mind and commonly held assumptions on the distinctions between
modern and traditional, science and the supernatural, and rationality and irrationality.
Course Objectives and Outcomes
This course will provide an introduction to key debates in anthropology concerning the nature of
the human mind and processes of knowledge creation and making sense of the world. Additionally,
this course is designed to expose you to culturally diverse perspectives on paranormal beliefs and
encounters abroad and closer to home. A central goal of this course is to help you develop critical
thinking skills and an analytic eye to historically contextualize and destabilize commonly held
notions of “science” as a means to understand the world and our place in the universe and question
the ways in which magic, science, and religion have always been intertwined.
Students who attend class and successfully complete course assignments will learn how to:
historically contextualize, and question cultural categories that define the “paranormal” as something
distinct from “science” and antithetical to notions of “modernity,” “reason” or “rationality;” identify
socio-cultural forces, such as ideological and pragmatic concerns, that shape and impact our
understandings of the paranormal; and design a research project using fundamental ethnographic
methods to plan, organize, conduct, and write up a systematic multi-faceted analysis of a cultural
phenomenon.

2. 2
Course Requirements
Showing up to lecture is extremely important. A good portion of the material I will be covering will
not appear in the readings but is crucial to helping you understand overall historical context,
arguments, and concepts that we will be covering in class. Additionally, I have mixed academic
articles with radio clips, newspaper articles, and pop culture books to make things relevant and
interesting for you. You are responsible for listening to all of the radio clips and doing all of the
readings and assignments by their due date as marked on the Course Schedule. I know it may seem
difficult to wrap your head around some of the terminology—and even the underlying
assumptions—that the authors use to argue their points. That’s why showing up to lecture and
talking to me during office hours is very important to your success in the course; especially because
you will be quizzed on the radio clips and readings at the end of every week. So it’s crucial that you
do all your reading each week—even if it doesn’t make sense at first—and that you take advantage
of the resources available to help you tackle the complex material.
There is no proper textbook for the course. Instead, you will be mostly reading academic
articles with some weeks focusing more on classic ethnographies and other weeks focusing more on
popular culture and contemporary contexts. Because this course is condensed to five weeks during
the summer session, your reading load will average about 50 pages per class meeting. Make sure to
budget your time efficiently—look over the syllabus, and make note of the weeks in which there’s
more reading, and try to start early.
Required Readings Materials:
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1992. Magic, Science, and Religion and other essays. Long Grove:
Waveland Press. [Available at the UCI Bookstore; on reserve at Langson
Library]
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 1976. Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande. Oxford:
Clarendon Press. [Available at the UCI Bookstore; on reserve at Langson
Library]
James, Henry. 2012. Turn of the Screw. New York: Tribeca Books. [Available at the
UCI Bookstore; on reserve at Langson Library]
All other required materials can be found on the course web page: https://eee.uci.edu/14z/60142
Note: Check this syllabus to find out where each reading can be found.

3. 3
Course Evaluation:
Grading Scale
A = 300-270
B = 269-240
C = 239-210
D = 209-180:
F = 180 and below
Total number of possible points in this course: 300
Midterm Exam (75 points)
There will be a midterm exam covering the course materials (readings, audio materials, film,
and lectures) from the first half of the course. I will inform you of the material that will be
covered in the exam closer to the exam data. The exam will take please in class.
Fieldwork Assignment (150 points)
There will be a fieldwork assignment designed to help you sharpen your analytic skills and
think critically about how the paranormal and the paranormal beliefs and assumptions you
encounter in your everyday life. You may select any topic that interests you, but it must
relate in some way to the course themes. We will do this in three stages so that you stand the
best chance of obtaining the most points possible as well as get support throughout the
writing process. Please see syllabus for assignment due dates.
Prospectus (minimum 150 words, 10 points): Describes clearly your intended research
project and the key questions or themes you plan to research.
First Draft (minimum one (1) page, 40 points): This will be an outline of your paper
including your field site, methodologies, research questions, and at least (2) scholarly
references.
Written Assignment (100 points): Turn in a research paper that logically and creatively
analyzes your topic, including scholarly references, standard formatting, and a bibliography.
Final Exam (75 points)
There will be a final that will cover the course materials (readings, audio materials, and
lectures). It will not be cumulative and will only cover materials from the midterm onward. I
will inform you of the material that will be covered in the exam closer to the exam data. The
exam will take please in class.

4. 4
Classroom Policies
The Classroom Environment: My goal is for everyone to feel included in the course. I ask that
you maintain a respectful attitude toward your classmates’ opinions, perspectives, and backgrounds.
Additionally, I am readily accessible via email and off ice hours to address any concerns that do
arise. I am also happy to work with the Disability Services Center (http://www.disability.uci.edu/)
to meet the needs of all students.
Academic Dishonesty: Any suspected academic dishonesty in the form of cheating and/or
plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Students office. I’m serious. If you are unsure of UCI’s
policies regarding academic dishonesty, you can find them at the following address:
http://www.editor.uci.edu/catalogue/appx/appx.2.htm.
Late Assignments and Make‐Ups: Assignments not turned in on the due date will be considered
LATE and penalized one grade per day (A+ to A to A‐, etc.).
Schedule of Topics and Readings
Week One: Introductions and Orientations
Completed by Tuesday
“Big Science Isn’t the Only One with Answers” (L. Nader) on WEB
“Shakespeare in the Bush” (L. Bohannan) on WEB
Workshop: How to Read an Academic Article
Completed by Thursday
“Afterlife” (Radiolab) Link on WEB
“Dr. Frankenstein and the Soul” (R. Holmes) on WEB
“Alfred Russel Wallace, the Origin of Man, and Spiritualism (M. J. Kottler) on WEB
Recommending reading: “Egalitaire” (D. Eagleman) on WEB
View: The Animated Life of AR Wallace
Week Two: Anthropology of Magic, Science, and Religion
Completed by Tuesday
“Magic, Science, and Religion” pp. 9-53 (B. Malinowski)
“Witchcraft, Oracles, Magic among the Azande” pp. vii-33 and 120-146 (E.E. Evans-
Pritchard)
Receive Fieldwork Assignment Instructions

5. 5
View: Strange Beliefs: Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard
Completed by Thursday
“Magic, Science, and Religion in Western Thought: Anthropology’s Intellectual Legacy” (S.
Tambiah) on WEB
“The Science of the Concrete” (C. Levi-Strauss) on WEB
Final Assignment Prospectus Due
Workshop: Ethnographic Methods
Receive Midterm Exam Review Sheet
View: Off the Veranda (time permitting)
Week Three: The Paranormal Abroad
Completed by Tuesday
Midterm
Completed by Thursday
“The Anthropologist’s Encounter with the Supernatural” (I.M. Lewis on WEB
“The Supernatural in Hong Kong young people’s ghost stories” (J. Bosco) on WEB
“It’s All to do with Words: An Analysis of Spirit Possession in the Venezuelan Cult of
Maria Lionza” (B. Placido) on WEB
Guest Speaker
Week Four: The Paranormal in America
Completed by Tuesday
“The Night Side” (D. Blum) on WEB
“Hard to Swallow” (M. Roach) on WEB
“What Psychical Research has accomplished” (W. James) on WEB
Writing Workshop: How to Construct and Support an Argument
First Draft of Fieldwork Assignment Due
Completed by Thursday
Turn of the Screw (H. James)
“The Exorcists Next Door” on WEB
“Grandpa” (Radiolab) Link on WEB
View: The Orphanage
Week Five: Contemporary Encounters with the Paranormal
Completed by Tuesday
“The Three Cultures: New Age, Parapsychology, and Skepticism” and “The Historical
Context” (D. Hess) on WEB
“Chasing Ghosts: The Weird Science of Tracking the Dead” (L. Anderson) Link on WEB
“The Everything Ghost Hunting Book” selections (M.M. Ellis) on WEB

6. 6
Peer-Edit/Review Final Drafts of Fieldwork Assignment
View: Paranormal State
Completed by Thursday
“Interpretive Anthropology, Metaphysics, and the Paranormal” (J. Lett) on WEB
“Belief is the Least Part of Faith” (T. Luhrmann) on WEB
Tanya Luhrmann Interview (Fresh Air) Link on WEB
Receive Final Exam Review Sheet
Final Assignment Due in Class
Guest Speaker
Week Six: Final Exam
Completed by final class
Final Exam