"One word of truth outweighs the whole world."- Russian proverb

Sessions:  Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 - 10:45, Harris Hall 445
Office Hours :  MW  10 - 11, 12 - 2,  T/Thr  11 - 12:30, F 10 - 11
Office Email:   Student email will be responded to within 24 hours

Texts:  Haper Collins Study Bible
         Understanding the Bible (5th edition), Harris
           World-wide web sites for both assigned and free reading

Class type/size: undergrad/discussion; 30 students/2000

• improved reading comprehension, written and oral expression
• gained a basic understanding of the nature, role and meaning of the Old Testament texts and how and why they were written, to whom, how the texts reflect the cultural, historical, religious, political and literary contexts at the time of their writing, editing or final compilation
• evaluated the influence of the Old Testament upon religious traditions & cultural values and ideas
• engaged in active, collaborative, computer enhanced learning
• gained a deeper insight into one's own worldview and perspectives
• become a more imaginative, contemplative and critical thinker
• learned that genuine learning is enjoyable as a lifelong process

Religious Studies is an academic discipline in which the phenomenon of religion in human experience is studied in a
nonsectarian, unbiased manner using various kinds of historical-critical, analytical, comparative, phenomenological,
interdisciplinary methodologies.  Discussion should be conducted with honesty, enthusiasm, kindness, critical thought
and respect for the worldviews and beliefs of others. This course is not only for learning, but is itself to be a model for how
to learn, why to learn, and to learn to love to learn.

Course_Description
 Course_Objectives
 Computing in this Course
 Attendance Policy
 Drop Policy
 Course Evaluation
 Semester Schedule

Selections from the textbook and from the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament will be read from different
historical periods and from a variety of literary forms.  The literature will be critically examined for how it
interprets the meaning of God, the cosmos, humanity, history, morality, justice, suffering, revelation, the
sacred and what the texts disclose about the intentions of the authors and the nature of the cultures and
communities in which they were written.  In addition, the writings will be studied for their characteristics
and features as literature, as religious stories with characters, plot, conflict, symbols, metaphor and
various literary devices.

This course is a reading, discussion and writing oriented course.  On-line writing resources are available.  All
writings are to be completely the work of the individual or the group doing the writing, thus avoiding all plagiarism.
Through the media of telecomputing we will be able to have a semester-long contemplative focus upon the writings,
interpretation and evaluation of those writings, and upon our own thinking and thinking about our thinking.  The goal
is not simply the accumulation of information, but the growing into wisdom with the help of the writers, cultures
and religious traditions we will encounter and engage.
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Course Objectives
The goals of this course include the following:

• improve reading comprehension, written and oral expression
• gain a basic understanding of the nature, role and meaning of the Old Testament texts and

how and why they were written, to whom, how the texts reflect the cultural, historical, religious,
political and literary contexts at the time of their writing, editing or final compilation
• evaluate the influence of the Old Testament upon religious tradtions & cultural values and ideas
• engage in actice, collaborative, computer-enhanced learning
• gain a deeper insight into one's own worldview and perspectives
• become a more imaginative, contemplative and critical thinker
• learn that genuine learning is enjoyable as a lifelong process

The educational use of telecomputing will facilitate ongoing asynchronous discussion, submission and revision of student
writings, peer review of student writings, collaborative group writings and projects, individual communication with the
professor, or among students, and publication of an electronic course journal with student contributions.

Telecomputing tutorials are available as is guidance on how to engage in respectful communication on the Internet
(netiquette).  In using web sources, please refer to documenting sources from the World Wide Web.

The purposes of the using of computer technology in this study are as follows:

• Participation in the archived, asynchronous class discussion list (mailserv)
• Anytime communication of questions, comments, problems, etc. with the professor/mentor via individual email
• Engage in a semester-long discussion with other learners in the course via the class discussion list
• Submit individual & collaborative writings electronically to the class list or professor
• Investigate relevant World-Wide Web sites
• Collaborate with other students in the course on projects/writings via email
• Expand opportunities for reflective participation in the study, beyond classroom time & place
• Encourage learners/students to become more central to the learning process and more responsible for their                     own, and others', learning
• Develop computer skills
• Allow learning to become more enjoyable, valuable, enduring, self-directed, active and expansive beyond just a                transfer of information                                                                                                       Return to Top

Attendance Policy
Attendance at every class is expected and necessary to best benefit the act and art of learning through the discussion
and writing orientation of this course on a very complex subject.  Anyone not willing to be responsible for attending all
classes and for fully participating in all discussions is advised not to take this course.
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Drop Policy
The official withdrawal policy is observed where the withdrawal ("W") period for an individual course begins
August 28th and ends October 27th.
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Course Evaluation
               Discussion List & Selected Writings     -      40%
               Group Project                                     -      20%
               Final Essay                                        -      40%
* Voluntary participation in the writing, editing & publishing of issue of the course journal is available
All writings need to be received on time (allowing for computer system outages) for full evaluation.
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                                            "Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established,
                                              that, unless we love the truth, we canot know it."  - Pascal

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