UNC Charlotte | J Murrey Atkins Library & Department of Religious Studies| RELS 2101
Syllabus
Religious Studies 2101Introduction to Western Religious ThoughtCelia Brewer Marshall
Location: Macy 213
704-687-3378a
Email: acmssm@aol.com
Office hours: MW 10:00- 11:00Course Description:
Through readings, films, and discussion you will examine the major religions, myths, symbols, and traditions that have informed the ways people in the West have seen themselves in the world. Specific attention will be paid to the three great traditions of the West: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and to the ways these traditions are perceived by those who practice them today.
Text:
The required text is Sacred Paths of the West second edition (N.B. not the first edition!) by Theodore M. Ludwig, Prentice-Hall Publishers.
Primary sources and additional readings will come to you off the Internet and free of charge. This represents a big change from the cumbersome primary source texts of earlier days so be thankful. You can access the hotlinks by going to http://libweb.uncc.edu/ref-arts/religion/rels2101.htm
Course Requirements:
Daily Grades: You can count on a quiz based on the assigned reading from the night before. Sacred Paths assignments will be checked with multiple choice items. Other readings (off the Internet) will be checked in other ways to be announced. Your average of all daily grades (and there will be many) is 50% of your final grade.
Tests: If you do well on these quizzes and show up for class, you should have no difficulty with four major tests. Altogether these count 40% of your final grade. There is no separate final exam or cumulative test.
Final Project: A project is due at the end of the semester. You may choose to prepare a 5-8 page research paper or you may make a 5-8 minute presentation to the class. Guidelines and suggestions for topics will be give to you later in the semester. This project will count 10% of your final grade.
Attendance is counted. I go to the trouble to work up a good little course for you and the least you can do is show up for class. Or that might be the most; as someone put it, 90% of life is showing up. If you have some scheduled surgery/wedding/baby/trip, wait and take this class at another time. You are allowed two absences without penalty. Subsequent absences, for whatever reason (and you need not tell me), will affect your grade to the tune of two points off your final average per absence. The only exception to this rule comes when the university notifies me of your absence on UNC-C letterhead.
Perfect attendance earns you two points onto your final average. That’s right—an 88 final average becomes an A.
Back to RELS2021
©J. Murrey Atkins Library, University of North Carolina Charlotte
maintained by Celia Marshall, instructor Dept. of Religious Studies
email:Acmssm@aol.com
last modified: January 9, 2002