UNC Charlotte | J Murrey Atkins
Library & Department of Religious
Studies| RELS
2101
 |
Assignments RELS 1101
Introduction to Religious Studies Spring 2002 |
| This page contains hotlinks to assignments using the
web. All assignments are given the class day before they are due. EWR= Experiencing the World’s Religions, 2nd edition, Michael Molloy. SQ= The Sacred Quest, 3rd edition, Cunningham and Kelsay |
W 1/9 First class; course description. Bring The Sacred Quest with you to class Friday.
F 1/11
Religion: What is it?; Gabrielle Rico’s writing method;
Credos.
.
Journal guidelines; fill out student info
cards.
Assignment for 1/14:
nada.
M 1/14 Small Groups: Icebreakers.
Assignment for 1/16: EWR
pp. 1-23.
W 1/16 Why is there Religion? The theories of Tylor, Freud, Otto, Jung.
Assignment for 1/18.
EWR chapter on Judaism especially pp. 265-285 and 299-316.
F 1/18 Introduction to Judaism.
M 1/21 MLK Jr. Holiday. No class.
Assignment for 1/23: Prepare spiritual autobiographies.
W 1/23 Small Groups: Spiritual Autobiographies.
Assignment for 1/25: Read through all items in “The Judaism Primer” http://www.torah.org/qanda/basics/texts/indexprimer.php3 . Prepare a two page report on what you learned; make two copies (one to keep, one to turn in).
F 1/25 Jewish Theology and Anthropology.
Assignment for 1/28: Prepare Genograms.
M 1/28 Small Groups: Genograms.
Assignment for 1/30:
EWR chapter on Christianity esp pp. 321-346 and 378-400.
W 1/30 Introduction to Christianity. .
Assignment for 2/1: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/org/faith_denominations_homepages.html This site gives links to official websites for Christian denominations in the US. Go to at least two websites and explore them, taking notes about what you perceive to be the distinctive features of each denomination. Make two copies of your findings-- one to keep and one to turn in.
F 2/1 Christianity: Creed, Cult, Code.
Assignment for 2/4: Prepare exercise on heroes and heroines. Bring journals to class with three entries of > two pages each.
M 2/4 Small Groups: Heroes and Heroines.
Assignment for 2/6:
EWR chapter on Islam esp pp. 405-426.
Assignment for 2/8: Go to this site “About Islam and Muslims”: http://www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/index.htm . Look it over and take notes. Go to their topical index on the Qur’an and copy/take notes on some topics of interest to you. Or use this site for the Qur’an, indexed by topics in English: http://islam.org/mosque/TOPICI.HTM Write up a two page report on your findings and make two copies (one to keep, etc.).
F 2/8 Muslim Theology and Anthropology: Deed over Creed.
Assignment for 2/11: Prepare for in-class essay. On getting prepared for the task of writing, see http://www.dartmouth.edu/~compose/student/ac_paper/write.html .
M 2/11 FIRST WRITING.
W 2/13. No class. Happy Valentine's Day from me to you.
Assignment for 2/15: EWR chapter on Hinduism esp. pp. 59-90.
F 2/15: Introduction to Hinduism.
Assignment for 2/18: Explore the Bhagavad Gita. Go to this site and take notes on what you have learned about the Gita, including some verses [shlokas] or passages that interest you: http://www.geocities.com/somsram/indexhome.html Make two copies of your notes and quotes.
M 2/18: The Gita and the Yogas.
Assignment for 2/20: Read NINE WAYS NOT TO TALK ABOUT GOD by Raimon Panikkar; http://www.crosscurrents.org/panikkar.htm . Bring in two copies of your summary and reaction to Panikkar's piece.
W 2/20 Small Groups: Images of the God.
Assignment for 2/22: EWR chapter on Buddhism esp. pp. 105-132
F 2/22: Introduction to Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, Zen.Assignment for
2/25: Go to the Journal of Buddhist Ethics
—full text articles
online. http://jbe.gold.ac.uk/ Read and copy an article of your choosing; bring
it to class having highlighted and marked up your piece.
M 2/25: Buddhist Ethics.
Assignment for 2/27: nada.
W 2/27.
Small groups: "Power of the Small" from The Other Side by Walter
Wink. Read and discuss article in groups.
Assignment for 3/1: Read
EWR on Taoism and Confucianism, esp pp. 191-219.
F 3/1: Introduction to Chinese Religions
Week of 3/4-3/8: Spring Break. Have a nice one.
Assignment for 3/11: Read excerpts from Benjamin Hoff’s Tao of Pooh at http://www.spiritsite.com/writing/benhof/index.htm , http://www.just-pooh.com/tao.html , http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5894/tao-pooh.htm . Write a two page review/reaction and make two copies.
M 3/11:
Taoism.
Assignment for 3/13: Read on filial respect and how to treat
one's parents at http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Filial/filial.html.
This site contains primary sources from a variety of religious
traditions. Write up a two page review and make two copies.
W 3/13 Film: Healing and the Power of the Mind on Chinese Medicine.
Assignment for 3/15: Read Sacred Quest chapter 9, "The Quest for Salvation." Highlight passages that got your attention and make marginal notes.
F 3/15: Salvation: What is It?
Assignment for 3/18: Bring journals to class. You should have no fewer than eight two page entries by now.
M 3/18: Small Groups:
Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism.
Assignment for 3/20:
Read Karen Armstrong's piece on Fractured Fundamentalisms at http://www.beliefnet.com/story/88/story_8849_1.html and
explore The Journal of Southern Religion on Fundamentalism
in the South with an article by Sam Hill (and two responses) at http://jsr.as.wvu.edu/jsrlink.htm Write two
pages of your summary and reactions to these pieces. Bring in two copies of
your paper.
W 3/20 Fundamentalism: What is It?
Assignment for 3/22: Read Sacred Quest chapter 8, "Religion and Morality." Highlight passages that got your attention and make marginal notes.
F 3/22 Patterns in the Relationship Between Religion and Morality.
Assignment for 3/25:Go
to Charles Trueheart's article, "Welcome to the Next Church," on consumerist
Christianity at http://wwww.thatlantic.com/issues/96aug/nxtchrch/nxtchrch.htm.
M 3/25 Religion in the 21st Century.
Assignment for
3/27: Read "Singing with all the Saints," http://www.theotherside.org/archive/mar-apr99/gallegos.html.
See
also the homepage for this African Orthodox Church at http://www.saintjohncoltrane.org/
By adopting John Coltrane as its patron saint, a unique San Francisco
congregation has raised questions about worship, cultural expression, and the
future of faith. Be prepared to write in class about these questions and your
response. ALSO prepare Small Group exercise on
artifacts.
W 3/27: Alternative
Religious Traditions. Small Groups: Artifacts.
F 3/29: No class.
Assignment for 4/1: Prepare for in-class essay. For help with the writing process refer to http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/religion/essays.htm, especially the first half.
M
4/1: SECOND WRITING.
Assignment for 4/3: Bring "Wit" to
class.
W
4/3: In class reading of "Wit."
Assignment for 4/5: Bring journals
to class on Friday.
F
4/5 Small Groups: Sources of Authority.
Assignment for 4/8:
nada.
M
4/8: In class reading of "Wit."
Assignment for 4/10: Read Walter
Brueggeman's "Hope in the Face of Loss" and make two copes of your summary and
reaction. http://www.theotherside.org/archive/mar-apr99/brueggemann.html.
Also bring to class The Sacred Quest.
W
4/10: The Problem of Evil. Using chapter 7 of The Sacred
Quest to outline responses to evil.
Assignment for 4/12: Prepare
answers for questionnaire on family systems.
F
4/12: Small Groups. Family systems: Rituals and Taboos, Religion and
Values.
Assignment for 4/15: Solle, Dorothee. "How We Speak
of God." A personal reflection on omnipotence as a category for understanding
the divine.
Find at http://www.theotherside.org/archive/jan-feb01/solle.html.
Take notes and make two copies, one to turn in. Include quotes form the
writing and your responses.
M
4/15: Video: "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" with Harold
Kushner.
Assignment for 4/17: Take the Myers Briggs Online test,
scored with results-- http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm
AND
http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html. Try both
instruments and see if they correlate.
See also "Spiritual Quests and the
Myers Briggs" at http://cbae.nmsu.edu/~dboje/teaching/490_psl/MB_spiritual.htm
Write up your findings and bring to class.
W
4/17. Small Groups: Myers- Briggs, Jung, and your
group.
Assignment for 4/19: Prepare a report of two pages (minimum)
using internet and/or print sources. [Don't forget EbscoHost: Academic Search
Elite or InfoTrac: Expanded Academic Index ASAP (Full-Text databases)which
you can access from any UNC-C terminal (or use NC Live Password from
your own computer).] Your report will explore the ways in which a religious
tradition (your choice) envisions and commemorates a passage in life such as
birth, puberty, marriage, death (again, your choice).
F
4/19 Celebrating life: Religious practices and their meanings. In class
presentations of research findings.
Assignment for 4/22:
nada.
M 4/22: Film.
Assignment for 4/24: Prepare small group
exercise.
W
4/24 Small Groups: The Fly on the Wall.
Assignment for 4/26: Go to a theological dictionary and find out what it says about TWO of the following terms: Theology, Anthropology, Soteriology, Hamartiology, Eschatology, Cosmology. Write up a report of one page minimum per term and make two copies of your report, one to turn in. Also bring The Sacred Quest to class.
F
4/26: Working definitions for key terms in Religious Studies.
Assignment for 4/29: Prepare for last small group. Bring
journals.
M
4/29 Last Small Group: Closing Up the Shop.
Assignment for 5/1:
Prepare for last writing.
W 5/1: LAST WRITING in class.
See http://www.tc.cc.va.us/writcent/handouts/writing/pospaper.htm
on writing position papers.