Saunders to discuss culture and religion in two-part Faculty GUR Group mini-course

Kathleen Saunders, a senior instructor in the Department of Anthropology, will speak on culture and religion during the fall quarter Faculty GUR Group meetings on the Western Washington University campus.

Both “culture” and “religion” can be difficult concepts to define. How can culture be taught to a large-lecture introductory GUR as a core concept? How can religion be taught from a social science perspective while delving into its relationship to myth, ritual, sacred text and daily life? In her two-part talk, Saunders will discuss these issues from her experience teaching these concepts to undergraduate students.

In the first Faculty GUR Group mini-course, to be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, Saunders will speak on the concept of culture as she teaches it her her classes. In the second mini-course, to be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, she'll take up the role of religion in cultural construction, reproduction and change. Both meetings take place in Viking Union Room 567.

All Western faculty and staff are invited to attend.

The idea behind the Faculty GUR Group is that in addition to students, faculty, too, need to sustain their general education. The group was formed with this in mind, bringing together people from different departments across the university to allow each participant to enhance their general education by acquiring useful knowledge their colleagues consider basic.