R 204:Western Religions, Fall 1998

COURSE REQUIREMENTS FOR PROFESSOR DALE CANNON

1. A persistent effort to understand the unfamiliar empathetically and the familiar as if one were a stranger.

In other words, all work for the course, with the exception of your journal (in which you are encouraged to develop your personal responses to the content and expectations of the course, including this expectation), should be done so far as possible in accordance with the principles of empathetic objectivity. (See Cannon, "Religious Studies Essay II: Empathetic Objectivity in the Interpretation of Religious Phenomena."  Also, see R204 Glossary.)

2. Completion of assigned readings on schedule (see course schedule) and thoughtful reflection upon them, for the sake of

• mastering the content covered in the readings,
• intelligent participation in class sessions,
• preparing for doing well on the examinations, and
• building an essential background for writing a good term paper.

Study tips:

• Use the Examination Study Questions along with your reading to highlight the information you especially need to know, and take notes to answer each of the questions to serve as as a basis for preparing for the examinations.
• Identify and write down to bring to class (or email to me <cannodw@wou.edu>) anything covered in the assigned reading that seems unclear, confused, or in need of fuller explanation. It could be that, having clearly identified your question, further reading will enable you to answer it yourself.
• Reflect on and respond to the readings through the use of your class journal. Suggested journal questions may be found in the R204 Lectures.

3. Regular participation in class sessions, including:

• regular attendance (see attendance and absence make up policy),
• attentive listening to lectures;
• a persistent effort to learn and acquire mastery of material covered in class,
• readiness to ask questions for clarification and explanation of content covered in class sessions and assigned readings;
• involvement in class discussion and other class activities; and
• a persistent effort to understand the unfamiliar empathetically and the familiar as if one were a stranger.

Study tips:

• Bring the R204 Lectures to class to highlight, take additional notes in, identify matters not sufficiently clarified and explained, etc.
• Don't hesitate to let me know in class when you have not understood something, when you would like further explanation about something, or when you have a question relating to the course content. Generally, I welcome such interruptions, though I may decide to put off a fuller explanation to a later, more opportune time.
• Bring to class any questions you have that have arisen from prior class sessions or from assigned readings. Generally, I ask for any such questions at the beginning of each class.

4. [for the "civility challenged"] Conduct appropriate to collegiate study and learning, including, but not limited to the following considerations:

• Conversations between class members unrelated to what is otherwise going on in class are to be avoided during the class session.
• Studying for other courses and reading books or magazines unrelated to what is otherwise going on in class is not appropriate.
• If you know in advance that you must leave in the midst of a class session, kindly let me know ahead of time, please sit near the door, and make your exit as unobtrusive as possible.
• The wearing of hats and the chewing of gum in class is inappropriate.
• Anything otherwise disruptive of or distracting to the class session is to be avoided.

5. Participation on an R204 study team of at least one other person throughout the course, in preparing for your exams, and in preparation for and writing of your paper.  By the end of the second week of the course (Oct. 9), you and your teammates must identify yourselves as a team to me in writing. (You will be asked to fill out and hand in a confidential evaluation of participation on this team of your teammate(s) and of yourself.)

• PURPOSES: The point of working in teams is (a) to learn through conversational dialogue with other points of view, (b) to be a network of mutual support, and (c) to refine your thinking, understanding, and writing by way of constructive critical feedback from peers.  It is not to relieve you of responsibility for doing the work of the course.
• TIME?: Teamwork does not necessarily require spending a lot of time together.  Much can be done at a distance, by way of exchanging notes and papers, and by way of something like email.
• DUE DATES: It might be most useful for you and your teammates to have your papers due at the same date (see below).  This, however, is not necessary.
• TEAMWORK FOR EXAMINATIONS:  You are asked to do your exam preparation in a mutually supporting way (e.g., by delegating specific tasks to specific persons).  [I have yet to decide whether you will be permitted to take the examinations in a way that will allow conversation among teammates.  I am also considering, alternatively, allowing use of exam preparation notes during the examination but on an individual basis.  These possibilities will be discussed in class.]
• TEAMWORK ON PAPERS: Teammates are expected to give each other constructive critical feedback in choosing a topic, in identifying and sifting source information, in thinking through the composition of the paper, and in carrying through a constructive critical review of a first draft of the paper in accordance with the guidelines for the research project or essay book review.  There is a separate Peer Review Guide for this purpose for each paper option.  Teammates nay choose complementary aspects of the same topic but should not choose the identical research paper topic.  This will be especially helpful when field research is undertaken (together) in support of the paper(s).  [Note: Extra credit is possible in connection with field research.]  Teammates may choose to do a book review of the same book, but should not jointly write the same paper or say the same thing in only slightly different words.  In any case, papers must give acknowledgment of teammate assistance.
• TEAMWORK ON EXTRA-CREDIT PROJECTS:  The quality and richness of extra-credit projects in the course are considerably enhanced if carried out as a team.
• TEAMWORK PROBLEMS:  In preparing for an exam or writing a paper in the course, when you find that you and your teammate(s) do not agree, try to use that disagreement as a spur to develop each of your thinking further -- at least in your journals if not in the actual things you write.
• WHEN A TEAM DOESN'T SEEM TO WORK AT ALL: If the disagreement persists and the team ceases to be mutually supportive or valuable, please see me for reassignment early on.  In any case, if cooperation proves impossible, work done outside of a team will be fully acceptable without prejudice.

6. Two out of three in-class multiple-choice examinations.

• At the conclusion of each of the three sections of the course (relating respectively to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), there is scheduled an in-class, multiple-choice examination of about 50 to 55 questions, drawn from study questions given out ahead of time which will assess your mastery of the main content of lectures and assigned readings. These will take place Fri., Oct. 23, Fri., Nov. 13 (these during the regularly scheduled class hour), and at the scheduled final examination Wed. Dec. 9, at 10 am for the 10 am section and at 12 noon for the 2 pm section.
• You must register in advance (by October 2) which of the three examinations will not be taken for credit. Your term paper (research project or book review) will be due on the date and time of the exam not taken for credit. A maximum of 1/3 of the class may have their papers due on any one of these three dates. Should you choose to do a research project (Option I), the choice of due date will determine the general subject area of your project (see below).
• For more specifics about the examinations, including study tips, click here.

7. A term paper: either a Research Project (Option I) or an Essay Book Review (Option II).

• Your term paper will be due at the time of the scheduled examination which you register with me that you are not taking for credit -- either Oct. 23, Nov.13, or Dec. 9. You will have to choose and register by Oct. 2 which of these three dates it will be due. Should you choose to do a research project (Option I), the choice of due date will determine the general subject area of your project. Thus, a research project due at the time of the first exam must be on some expression of Judaism (broadly conceived). A project due at the time of the second exam must be on some expression of Christianity (broadly conceived). And a project due at the time of the third exam must be on some expression of Islam (broadly conceived).
• The option choice and topic of your paper and, in the case of research projects, an initial bibliography of at least three major sources from which you expect to draw information must be submitted in writing to me (for review, approval, possible redirection, and bibliographic suggestions) not later than two weeks before it is due (Oct. 9 for the first set of papers, Oct. 30 for the second set, and Nov 23 for the third set).  You are encouraged to do this via email.  You will receive feedback on your choice from me at the next class session.
• A paper may be turned in ahead of time, and you are encouraged to come to see me individually if you wish to receive feedback during its development. In any case, re-writes for an improvement of the paper and an improvement of the grade are encouraged (though simply making minor spelling and grammatical corrections will likely not improve your grade significantly. Papers due Dec. 9, to be eligible for a re-write, must be turned in by Mon. Nov.30.
• Depending on the paper option you choose, it must be researched and composed carefully in accorance with the directives and guidelines for each of the options. In other words, you are not free to write on just any topic you like, or do the research for it in any way you like, or write it in any way you like. The purpose of the directives and guidelines is to have you learn through practice the discipline of empathetic objectivity in the interpretation of religious phenomena. Nevertheless, within these guidelines, you have a very wide range of choices.
• Please note that not taking one of the examinations for credit does not relieve you of responsibility for mastering the course content for that section of the course (e.g., completing the assigned reading). Your paper (whichever option you choose) is expected to reflect mastery of that content so far as the content is at all relevant to your paper. In any case mastery of that content will put you in a more secure position to evaluate your sources critically. Your not having to take the exam is for the purpose of freeing you to focus more effectively on your paper.
• The term paper (whichever option you choose) is expected fully to address the assignment as given and be
• coherent,
• the result of your own work (i.e., avoid plagarism at all costs),
• neatly typed with double-spacing,
• free of minor spelling and grammatical errors (i.e., proof-read and corrected before you write your final draft), and
• characterized by full and accurate documentation in MLA format for all sources on which you have directly relied (even when not quoted directly), including interviews. For further specifics on MLA format, click here.

Failure to meet these minimum expectations will result in a substantially lower grade than you otherwise might deserve, and perhaps no credit for your work at all.
 

• OPTION I: RESEARCH PROJECT -- an empathetically objective, carefully researched interpretation of some feature, teaching, person, or practice of one of the religious traditions we are studying, in 5-10 typed, double-spaced pages according to certain specific guidelines, .  Note: This is not to be an ordinary research paper; it is different in many ways from ordinary research papers.
• For more specifics about the Research Project, including research and composition tips and suggested topics, click here.
• In most circumstances, you will be expected to make use of sources relevant to your topic which have been placed on library reserve.  The best sources in Western's library and from my own personal library for most topics are placed on library reserve for your use.
• Extra credit may be earned if field research is conducted in support of the research paper.  Working with your teammate is especially helpful in doing field research.

• OPTION II: ESSAY BOOK REVIEW -- a thoughtful and thorough review of a single book from among those on library reserve under the heading "Sources on Interreligious Dialogue," one of which is available for recommended purchase: Grose and Hubbard, The Abraham Connection, in 5-10 typed, double-spaced pages according to certain specific guidelines, .  Note: This is not to be an ordinary book review; it is different in many ways from ordinary book reviews.  Again, the book chosen to be reviewed must be taken from this list, unless you have special permission from me.

• If the book you choose concerns primarily one or two traditions rather than the three traditions we are covering, it may be used only in connection with a section of the course that correlates with it or them. (I.e., you may not choose a book dealing primarily with Judaism and Christianity to serve in place of the exam on Islam.)
• For more specifics about the Essay Book Review, including composition tips, click here.

8. A Journal of your personal responses to and personal reflections on your growing empathetic acquaintance with the three traditions we are studying.

• You should aim at approximately three entries per week, one for each class session.
• Suggested journal questions may be found at the end of each of the R204 Lectures. They pertain to both the lecture content and the assigned reading selections.
• Your complete Journal and a "Journal Summary" for each of the three sections of the course must be turned in Fri. Dec. 4.
• For more specifics about the Journal and "Journal Summary" assignment, click here.

9. A serious attempt to arrange your schedule to participate in the optional all-day Field Trip, Thursday, October 15.

• Those going on the field trip will visit places most students will not likely have been exposed to before -- a Roman Catholic monastery, a traditional Jewish synagogue, a Greek Orthodox church, and a Muslim mosque -- and will hear speakers from each tradition who will answer questions. It is an opportunity you should try hard not to miss.
• Registration and a reservation fee of $10.00 are required by Friday, Oct. 9, for transportation (lunch extra) [returnable only if remaining funds adequate]. The fee is $1.00 if you are providing your own transportation.
• For more specifics about the Field Trip, click here.

Return to R204 Syllabus

Direct suggestions, comments, and questions about this page to Dale Cannon. Last Modified 9/18/98

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