Religion is important because it contributes significantly to shaping social institutions and our ideas about the world.
Most people know little about religious groups outside their own faith heritage. One result of this limited knowledge of other faith traditions is a tendency to view the beliefs of other groups as strange and their behavior as curious, even bizarre. One result of this narrow scope is a proclivity to assess any comparative knowledge about religion through the lens of our own experience. Another result is a tendency toward intolerance.
Exposure to the beliefs and practices of others can provide insights about our own faith tradition that might otherwise remain obscure precisely because our beliefs and practices are generally taken-for-granted.
Also, hopefully, exposure to other religious traditions will enhance understanding and appreciation of the pluralistic character of our culture, and thereby strengthen tolerance and respect for the faith traditions of others.
This course seeks to achieve four important learning goals:
MID-TERM HOUR EXAM
This is an objective examination and will be comprehensive of everything covered in class
and readings to that date (Oct 3) There will be no make-up exam. Persons with an excused
absence (illness or family emergency) may be given (a) an oral examination, (b) an
additional paper assignment to demonstrate comprehension of the material, (c) additional
questions on the final examination, or (d) all of the above. Which option(s) will be
determined by the instructor. Unexcused absences count zero for 20% of the course grade.
In most instances, a person with an unexcused absence will be counseled to withdraw from
the course. CHECK YOUR CALENDAR. If you have a conflict or discretionary plans for the
date of the mid-term, you should not be in this course!
FINAL EXAMINATION
The final exam is scheduled for Dec 14 (1400-1700). This will be a comprehensive objective
examination combined with an essay question designed to span the full spectrum of issues
addressed in this course. University regulations entitle you to relief if you have
examinations in three consecutive examination periods. If you are entitled to relief and
wish to take a final make-up for this course, you must advise the instructor in writing
not later than Nov 5. This notification should include a copy of your petition to the
undergraduate dean's office. If there is need for a make-up exam, it will be given at the
conclusion of the examination period. While a final examination will be given, you may
elect to weight other components of your work so that you will have to take the
examination. See "Final Grade Determination" below for details.
CONTENT OF REPORT.The Interim Report should contain five parts:
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION.The criteria for evaluation are fairly straight forward:
In the event of serious deficiencies in the work, I reserve the right to ask the student to resubmit work at a specified date.
SUBMISSION FORM. These reports have the potential for producing lots of lose paper that could easily be misplaced. Please plan to submit the work in a folder so that materials do not get lost. Clearly identify your materials. IMPORTANT: Parts 1-3 should be submitted in duplicate. One copy will be retained for the instructor.
University policy specifies that class attendance is a vital part of the education process. Attendance will be taken each day (except when the instructor forgets) and it is your responsibility to sign in. Attendance will count 10% of your total grade. Perfect attendance will be rewarded with a 100; 1-2 absences will result in a loss of 3% of your attendance grade per absence; 3-4 absences will result in 4% reduction in your grade and, each absence beyond four will result in a 5% loss for each absence in the course. We do not normally consider "excused" absences, but if you have extended health related absences or family emergencies, it is appropriate to call them to the instructor's attention. The best way to assure that this information does not get lost is to send an e-mail message. If you miss multiple classes because of an illness or family emergency, you should notify the instructor in writing on the first day you return to class. Absences for participation in athletic or other university events are not excused absences.
Students may weight each component of course work within the parameters
of the weightings listed below. You will complete a declaration form on the final day of
class indicating how much each component should count. Note that the field observation
report is not due until the last day of class. This means you'll have to use your own
judgment as to the quality of this work in determining how much you want it to count.
* Any assignment not received on time is subject to a late penalty. The instructor
reserves the right not to accept work that is over one week late.
EXAMINATIONS |
| Mid-term Hour Exam: 20% (min)--25% (max) |
| Final Exam: 0% (min)--25% (max) |
FIELD OBSERVATIONS |
| First filed observation notes (Sept. 19): 5%(min)-5%(max) |
| Interim field observation report (oct. 17): 10%(min)-10%(max) |
| Observation Note Portfolio (Dec. 5): 10%(min)-20%(max) |
| Observation Paper (Dec. 5): 15%(min)-25%(max) |
SHORT PAPER |
| Short Paper on Carter (Nov. 5): 5%(min)-10%(max) |
ATTENDANCE |
| Attendance: --%(min)-10%(max) |
An important objective of this course is to enrich awareness and the capacity to
objectively compare faith traditions. To achieve this objective, it is essential that
students observe religious "events" in a variety of settings and faith
traditions. Field notes should be taken for each observation and a paper written at the
conclusion of the term which allows the student to demonstrate what he or she has learned.
To assure that everybody gets started on this project in a timely manner, field notes from
the first observation (or two) should be handed in at class time on September 19. A more
detailed progress will be due at the mid-point of the semester (Oct 17). Specific details
regarding the content of this interim report will be available on the class home page. The
field note portfolio and paper will be due the last day of class (Dec 5). See the class
home page for guidelines in the preparation of this assignment.
Students should plan to do observations on the average of every other week during the
term. Those who are striving for excellence in the course will what to do more. Equally
important to the number of observations is the care taken in selecting observations. A few
weeks into the semester, you'll have a better idea of the diversity of faith traditions
than most of you do now. Care should be taken to select observations that give you a broad
exposure to different faith traditions.
The class home page has a directory of religious organizations in the Charlottesville area
which includes address, phone numbers, meeting times. This information is subject to
change, so you may want to verify meeting times ahead of your planned observation. The
Charlottesville Daily Progress also has a religion paper each Saturday. In addition to
information on meeting times, you'll find information on special programs, speakers, etc.
The class home page provides several different resources to assist you in thinking about
how to approach the field research. These should be consulted at an early date. There are
several things here that you'll want to download including "basic rules of conduct
for doing field observations," "taking field notes," and the field
observations protocol.
Students who have commitments to their own faith tradition which are of such a nature that
they can not fulfill this assignment are invited to discuss this with the instructor and
submit an alternative term research proposal. This consultation should occur not later
than the second week of class and submission of a written proposal for alternative is due
September 19. Students who are not interested in the field observation assignment are
advised to find another course that is more suitable to their interests.
Mr. Hadden is Professor of Sociology. He has taught at the University of Virginia since 1972. Mr. Hadden earned his PhD at the University of Wisconsin (1963) where was trained as a demographer and human ecologist.
During a post-doctorial year at Wisconsin Mr. Hadden was invited to participate in a study of campus clergy funded by the Danforth Foundation. This study provided the opportunity to investigate the involvement of clergy in the Civil Rights Movement. For three years he interviewed clergy on the front lines of the movement, and from this research came his first book on religion entitled The Gathering Storm in the Churches (1969). This book dealt principally with the conflict that was generated within Mainline Protestant churches as a result of clergy participation in social action projects.
What was intended as a brief career diversion soon became Mr. Hadden's primary research interest. He has published eleven volumes and numerous articles and essays on religion. Mr. Hadden approaches the study of religion from the perspective of social movements theory and characterizes his primary interest as the comparative study of religion and politics. He is probably best know for his studies of religious broadcasters and the emergence of the Christian Right in America during the 1980s. More recently he has focused his interest on new religious movements. With David Bromley (Professor of Sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University) he has edited a two volume work entitled Handbook of Cults and Sects in America. He is currently working on a histroy of two professional organzations (The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research AssociationBefore moving to the University of Virginia in 1972 Mr. Hadden taught at Purdue University, Case Western Reserve University and Tulane.