Graduate Career - like_a

As the title suggests, this section of the site is dedicated to presenting papers written during my stay at the University of Colorado at Boulder as a Master's student in Religious Studies. My chosen area of focus was Neo-Paganism and New Age religious traditions with an emphasis on those drawing from Scandinavian sources. Sadly, unlike my undergraduate career, my goal never came to fruition, due to a variety of circumstances, and I withdrew from the University in the fall of 2007, roughly three years into the program.

I originally decided to go into the field of Religious Studies because I believed that it would foster an environment that allow for beneficial communication between peoples of various faiths and the scholars who wish to study them. Furthermore, I assumed that the field itself would make use of tools, such as critical thinking and ethnography, with which I was already familiar from my undergrad career in Philosophy and Anthropology. However, I found that the Religious Studies field, or at least, how it was presented by the RLST Department at CU, coincided little with my initial hopes and this realization was one of the greatest disappointments I have experienced in recent years.

Many of my papers give voice to the struggle between my, as some have called it, 'idealized' concept of what Religious Studies, and how I actually found it to exist. Here are some reoccurring themes:

Difference between Academic and Theological Pursuits - Simply put, I felt, and still feel, that there is a fine line between being a Religious Studies scholar and a Theologian. One is an academic who tries to remain as objective as possible when exploring and/or describing a religious worldview. The other explores/describes a religious worldview and judges/critiques it according to his own perspective.
Authority, Practitioner or Scholar. - It was often emphasized that the scholar has more authority to speak about a specific religion or religious practice because she isn't limited by the perspective of a religious practitioner (insider). However, I argue repeatedly that it is exactly the opposite. Scholars only have access to what practitioners tell them and this distance means that what the scholar may find important/meaningful may be quite different from what the practitioner or her community finds meaningful. Substituting one for the other may result in a very skewed description of a belief system.
Ethnography and Informants - Sadly, my program allowed little, if any, room for dealing with religious practitioners themselves. The main focus was on sacred texts or scholarly works describing religious practices. Given my viewpoint regarding the importance of the religious practitioner, and coupled with the traditions which fall into my areas of focus mentioned above, this bias became insurmountable. I argue over and over about the need to reflect upon this bias and for ethnography to be equally valued.
Religious Studies Scholarship and Activism - This may be the single most important point I argue within my papers. Simply put, for a Religious Studies scholar to adopt a methodology based on an agenda that requires a judgment call regarding the morality, validity, etc. of a belief system will ultimately result in a theological endeavor. While it may be within bounds for other types of scholars to use their research to push an agenda, for the Religious Studies scholar to do so, i.e. for her to tell a religious practitioner what he ought or ought not do/believe, ultimately moves outside the bounds of Religious Studies and into a realm more akin to Theology.

Toward the latter part of my stay at CU I had the pleasure of working with the department of Germanic & Slavic Language & Literature's Scandinavian faculty. They were very support, willing to go the extra mile and were very much the place of solace I needed while my time in the RLST was coming to a close. Furthermore, I learned quite a good deal about what it takes to be both a benevolent teacher and worthwhile student at a graduate level. Hopefully, someday I will return to higher education and put this knowledge to good use.

The papers offered here are, minus some minor formatting changes presented as I turned them in. They have not been edited to reflect any comments made by professors. The files themselves are .pdf format. They can be opened using Adobe Reader

The papers presented here MAY NOT be used without the express permission of Matthew Holtmeier. If you wish to quote something I've said or would like more information on a source, feel free to email me at like_a_god@yahoo.com.

Furthermore, all works contain a works cited sheet so that readers can review the material from which I have drawn my information. I would suggest to those who wish to explore the topics dealt with in the papers consult these for further reference.

Icelandic Reconstructions: Asatru, Anglo-Saxon Paganism and Scholarship

Written 12/20/2006, 12 pages

This was the last paper written during my stay at CU. The subject matter is Neo-Paganism that draws upon Icelandic, mostly Christian, sources. More than anything else, this paper lays out the groundwork for what was to be my Master's Thesis. Also, being I was still coming to terms with hitting a brick wall with the department and the field of Religious Studies, as such, it's a little whineier then I like...

Asherah and Yahweh: An Inconclusive Engagement

Written: 12/7/2005, 10 pages

In this work I explore the connection between Asherah and Yahweh within early Judiasm. I found that while a case could be made that Asherah both had a place within Yahweh's shrine and was a major goddess worshiped by the early Jewish people. However, I was not convinced that the two formed a pair.

Concerning Magic

Written: 4/24/2005, 12 pages

This work looks at the connection within western thought between magic, religion, and science. I argue that scholarship should be reflective in its use of these categories and to be careful not to judge the validity or logic of a practitioner's beleif system by the norms taught by the academy and greater western culture.

Disir

Written: 4/30/2006, 8 pages

This explores the Disir of Icelandic belief. Through this exploration I ask whether the ambiguity which surrounds them stems from the lack of information which our sources provide us with or whether the ambiguity instead lies within the belief system itself.

Is Feminism Appropriate in Religious Studies?

12.8.2006,12 pages

As the title suggests, in this work I explore the feminist approach and question whether or not it fits into the realm of Religious Studies. I focus in upon a specific type of feminist scholarship that is driven by an activist agenda. I argue that such scholarship more closely fits the theological approach and, as such, isn't appropriate in Religious Studies.

Questioning Perspectives on Appropriation: When Scholarly Enquiry Becomes Theological Projection

Written: 5/12/2006, 24 pages

This work started out as an exploration of the dialog between Native American and New Age practitioners. However, as I went deeper in my research I realized that many scholars are entering into the debate of whether or not it is appropriate for New Agers to adopt Native American beliefs or customs. This caused me to rethink the initial task and to explore more deeply the ramifications which result from scholars who choose to enter into the debate. My conclusion is that doing so ultimately requires the scholar to tell at least one group of practitioners what they ought to and ought not to believe. As such, the Religious Studies scholar should not enter into the discussion of appropriateness but rather explore the interaction and present both sides of the ongoing discussion. (The current state of the field seems to be that most scholars who enter into the debate side with the Native Americans and the quantity of literature regarding the Native American side of the debate relative to the scant material regarding New Agers reflects that.)

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