Lecture, three hours. Religions are cultural systems helping people to cope with misfortune, deal with death, and find fulfillment in life. Case studies reveal commonalities across cultures as cosmologies define moral being in world, divination determines causes of difficulty, spirit mediumship embodies divine intervention, and sacred arts render deities tangible. Nonjudgmental comparative investigation stressing conversation. Concurrently scheduled with course C251. P/NP or letter grading.