`R 204: Western Religions`

FALL1997 SYLLABUS (CRN 2878) MWF 10 AM -- HSS 334 FOR PROFESSOR DALE CANNON

R204 is designed to acquaint students with the three major monotheistic religious traditions that have their origins in the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The objectives of the course are for students

to become acquainted with these three traditions in an unprejudiced, empathetic, and objective manner;
to cultivate (i.e., learn and practice) the discipline of empathetic objectivity; and
to gain a fuller, more objective understanding of the nature of religious life in general terms, unprejudicial toward any religious tradition.

EMPATHETIC OBJECTIVITY: the discipline of making real to yourself the inward life, the subjective reality, of the lives lived within traditions other than your own as they truly are (thereby discovering what is like yourself in the stranger) and coming to recognize and understand your own tradition objectively as one among others (thereby discovering what is strange about yourself).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

COURSE SCHEDULE

COURSE TEXTS

ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCE MAKE UP POLICY

WESTERN RELIGIONS VIDEO LIST FOR ABSENCE MAKE UP

EXAMINATIONS

(TWO EXAMINATIONS ARE TO BE TAKEN FOR CREDIT FOR WHICH YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE. YOUR PAPER [RESEARCH PROJECT OR BOOK REVIEW] WILL BE DUE ON THE DATE OF THE EXAM NOT TAKEN FOR CREDIT. A MAXIMUM OF 1/3 OF THE CLASS MAY HAVE THEIR PAPERS DUE AT ANY ONE OF THE THREE POSSIBLE DATES.)

EXAM STUDY QUESTIONS:

R204 GLOSSARY

TERM PAPER (TWO OPTIONS)

RESEARCH PROJECT (OPTION I)

PEER REVIEW GUIDE FOR RESEARCH PROJECT

ESSAY BOOK REVIEW (OPTION II)

PEER REVIEW GUIDE FOR BOOK REVIEW

MLA FORMAT

TERM PAPER REWRITE POLICY

JOURNALS

FIELD TRIP

GRADING