(for information, double-click on assignment)
More than most courses, this one depends on student involvement. People learn by doing and learn even better by telling others what they've done. Were I to lecture at you all semester, I would learn quite a bit about the sociology of religion. You, however, would just have your notes about what I'd learned. Sometimes they'd be good notes, and sometimes they'd be lousy ones; in no case, though, would you learn as much as you will by becoming a resource for the group as we all learn together.
I'm not above a bit of coercion to insure success. Reading, class attendance, and class participation are therefore required of all students. Consistent failure to perform will cause me to drop you from the course with a grade of 0.0.
Essays A-H accompany each of the 8 textbook chapters, and are designed to help you focus your reading for the class discussions. Each should be about 500 words long (two full typewritten pages). Each is due on the Tuesday of the week we read that chapter. Essay I gives you a chance to integrate your learning by wrestling with a current conceptual issues in the sociology of religion.
I shall organize 6 field trips to churches and other religious groups. You must attend ANY 4 of these and write a 2 page report of your observations. Reports are due the Thursday after the trip; I shall provide special instructions for each trip, so you will know what to look for and what to write.
I shall not accompany you on the field trips to local churches. You are responsible for your own transportation to them; all are within walking or biking distance of campus. Depending on course enrollment, I may arrange for some field trips to Los Angeles churches, on which I may or may not be able to accompany you. I also may or may not be able to provide transportation (University Bus).
You may take those field trips on the official field trip day or on a nearby day of your choosing. In either case, your paper is due by the Thursday after the official day. The tentative list of trips includes:
If you have sincere and serious reasons for being unable to attend the required number of field trips, I shall work out an alternate assignment.
I shall be hosting a film and discussion series on Tuesday evenings from 7-10 pm. You must attend 6 of these screenings and submit a 2-page written analysis of the film on the Thursday following the showing. I shall provide guides for each film at the screening, and we will discuss the issues raised at that time. Tentative dates and topics are as follows:
Each student will read a case study (book) about a religious community, chosen from the collection in the Armacost or the Spickard Memorial Library. I shall provide a study guide to help focus your reading. You will report on your book orally for about 5-10 minutes, depending on enrollment. You will then submit a 4-5 page written analysis of the sociological themes that the book raises.
Each student will complete two interviews with religious specialists (priests, rabbis, ministers, adepts, etc.) from a religious group not their own. The interviewees should generally be different, but should be of the same religious persuasion. The first interview will focus on institutional religion: you are to discover the organizational structure of this specialist's group with as much generality and detail as possible. The second interview will focus on religious meaning: you should get a sense of the religious world that the specialist inhabits, how and why it is meaningful for her or him, and the religious and secular motivations that grow out of it. I shall provide interview guides for each interview at the appropriate point during the semester.
The class will end with a comprehensive essay-oriented final examination, focused on the course's conceptual content. The exact structure of the exam will be negotiated toward the end of the semester.