Anthropology and Religion Studies: A Personal and Academic Symbiosis

Abstract

This article is a reflexive account of the author's entry into the field of religion studies through the discipline of anthropology. It is a frank account of how the personal and the academic can intertwine, outlining how fieldwork, using an anthropological and experiential lens, can influence not only the life of the researcher, but the content, theory and methodology in publications. While earlier tertiary studies in religion centred around schools of divinity and/or theology, religion has moved beyond the strict boundaries of interpretations of texts and discussions of religion from within a particular set of beliefs. The combination of the two major disciplines, (cultural) anthropology and religion, in a tertiary level curriculum are particularly pertinent to understanding the important links between culture and religious practices. The significant influences of other scholars across and beyond both disciplines are highlighted, along with the author's major publications.