DOI
10.32436/2475-6423.1086
Abstract
More than six decades after its publication, Horace Miner’s 1956 article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” remains a reliable pedagogical tool, remarkably successful in helping students see their own ethnocentric biases. Catholics & Cultures has potential to do similar work. The site lacks some of what makes Miner’s text so effective, in particular its capacity to bring about a sudden shift in perception. The site also shares some of the article’s limitations, particularly in focusing on ritual to the relative exclusion of other aspects of religion. That said, the site can help students gain the religious literacy and develop the dispositions needed for interfaith engagement. In addition, especially in the context of Catholic education, the site addresses a theological need in the Church by fostering what Stan Chu Ilo has called “a hermeneutics of multiplicity and inclusion."
Recommended Citation
Houck, Anita
(2021)
"Ritual among the Scilohtac: Global Catholicism, the Nacirema, and Interfaith Studies,"
Journal of Global Catholicism:
Vol. 5:
Iss.
1, Article 4. p.40-63.
DOI: 10.32436/2475-6423.1086
Available at:
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/jgc/vol5/iss1/4
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