REL130EAIntroductiontoReligionsDePauwUniversity,Spring2012

TR2:20P.M.–3:50P.M.AH222

AimeeHamilton,Ph.D.candidateaimeehamilton@depauw.edu

ReligiousStudiesDepartmentEmison205

Officehours:10:15a.m.–11:45p.m.

CourseDescription:

Thiscourseisanintroductiontoworldreligions,withanemphasisonacomparativestudyoftraditionscommonlyassociatedwiththe“East”:Hinduism,Buddhism,Islam,andSikhism.Inthissurvey,studentswillgainanunderstandingoftheimportanceofthemajortextsandpractices,historicaltrajectories,andkeytermsandconceptsofthesetraditions.Wewillpaycloseattentiontohowthesereligionspresenttheirfoundationalconcepts,majorfigures,thehumancondition,andultimatereality.Sourcematerialsforthiscourseincludeprimaryandsecondarytexts,films,websites,podcasts,andlectures.Bymeansofthestudyofthesetraditions,studentswillconsiderthemeaningofthetermreligionasitmayapplytothevariousworldviewsencountered,aswellasfurtherthedevelopmentofwriting,analytical,interpretation,andcriticalthinkingskills.CourseObjectives:Itisexpectedthatbytheendofthecoursestudentswillhaveachievedthefollowing:

1.increasedreligiousliteracysoastohavegreaterknowledgeof,awarenessabout,andrespectforthesereligioustraditions;2.abilitytoexaminethecontextofthesetraditionsandlearnthevarioushumanfactorsthatinfluencedtheircreation/change;3.abilitytoread,analyze,anddiscusssourcematerialstoidentifyandevaluatemainpoints,supportingevidence,andperspectives.4.increasedfacilitytosuccessfullycommunicatecourseknowledgeinoralandwrittenform.

RequiredTexts:

• ReligionsofAsiaToday.JohnL.Esposito,DarrellJ.Fasching,ToddLewis.2ndedition,OxfordUniversityPress,2012.ISBN978‐0‐19‐975949‐1

o Listedonthesyllabusas“ROA.”

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• BhagavadGita:Krishna’sCounselinTimeofWar.BarabaraStollerMiller.BantamBooks[1986].ISBN0‐553‐21365‐2

• GuruNanak.AmarChitraKathacomicbook.IndiaBookHousePVTLTD,1973.ISBN81‐7508‐153‐8

• OtherrequiredcoursereadingsareavailableonMoodleandarelistedinitalicsintheschedule.

Coursegradeisbasedonthefollowing:

Participation:35%oftotalgrade(Twoareas)1.Classengagement:yourconsistentandalertpresenceintheclassroom;preparationofthecoursereadingsanddiscussiontopics;activeandthoughtfulverbalandwrittenreflections;andthoroughpreparationofanyassignments.Youwillbringtherequiredreadingstoeachclasssession,andyouwillbepreparedwithquestionsandcommentsinordertoengageininformeddiscussion.Youareexpectedtocometoclassontime,attendclass,andtoattendtheentireclass.(Fulfillscourseobjectives1,2,3,4).

• UnlessIprovideyouwithdirectedquestions,yourobjectiveinreadingistoanalyze:o whoisthespeaker/author?o whatisthepurposeofthereading(i.e.whydidtheauthorwritetheselection)?o whatarethemainpointsofthereading?o howarethosemainpointsproveninthetext?o howdoesthereadingenhancewhatyouknowaboutthesubject?o whatquestionsdoesthereadingpromptforyou?

2.One‐minutepapers:Attheendofsomeclasssessions,youwillbepresentedwithaquestionrelevanttoclasstopics.Ifyouhavepreparedtheassignedreadingsandpaidcloseattentioninclassyouwillhavenoproblemansweringthequestion.Yourpaperswillbegradedonaplus/minus/zeroscale.(Fulfillscourseobjectives1,2,3,4).Exams1,2and3(15%each)=45%oftotalgradeThein‐classexamswillcoverallthecoursematerialstothatdate.Examquestionsmaybemultiplechoice,T/F,matching,fillintheblank,shortanswerand/orbriefessay.Astudyguidewillbedistributedoneweekpriortotheexams.(Fulfillscourseobjectives3,4).FinalExam:20%Thefinalexaminationisacumulativeexamthatpertainstoallmaterialaddressedinthecourseduringthesemester.Thequestionsmaybemultiplechoice,T/F,shortanswer,fillintheblankand/orbriefessay.Astudyguidewillbedistributedpriortotheexam.(Fulfillscourseobjectives3,4).

ImportantCourseNotes:

E‐mailandcommunication:E‐mailisthebestwaytocommunicatewithmeoutsideofclass.Igenerallychecke‐mailandrespondtomessagesbetween8a.m.and8p.m.onmostdayshowever,pleaseallowupto24hoursforaresponse.MoodleisusedforthiscourseandIwillpostitemsofinteresttotheclass.YouareexpectedtocheckyourDePauwe‐mailregularly.Contactmewithquestionspertinenttoclasscontentandtopics,andtoseekclarificationoncoursecontent.

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Officehours:Makeuseofmyofficehours;thispracticewillbenefittheyourcourseparticipationgrade.Ihaveanopen‐doorpolicyforofficehours,sofeelfreetovisit.Absencesandlateness:Courseattendanceisamust.Youareresponsibleforobtainingclassnotesfromclassmatesifyoumissclass.Therearenomake‐upsformissedworkduetoillnessortardiness.

• Ifyouhaveanextendedillnessorifyouhaveaseriousemergencythatmayimpactyourperformanceinthecourse,contacttheDeanofStudentSupportandtheinstructorassoonaspossible.

• Apenaltyfortardinessiscountedagainstyourparticipationgrade,thereforehabituallateness

willadverselyyourgrade.Classroomconduct:Laptopsande‐readersarewelcomeinclassontheconditionthatthedeviceisusedtotakenotesandaccesscoursereadings.Allotherelectronicdevicesaretobeturnedoffandstowedforthedurationofclass.Thisisforthepurposeofprovidingmeandyourfellowstudentswithyourundividedattentionduringclass.If,atanytime,youarefoundtobetexting,e‐mailing,blogging,vlogging,Facebooking,Tweeting,e*Trading,orotherwiseengagedinactivitiesnotimmediatelyrelatedtocourseparticipation,youwillearnazeroparticipationgradeforthatday.Overthecourseofthesemesterwewilladdressavarietyoftopicsonreligionandsubjectsthatintersectwithreligion.Itisofutmostimportancethatstudentslistenandspeaktoeachotherwithrespectandspeakfromanopinionthatisfoundedoncoursepreparation.Disagreementoncoursetopicsisacceptableandwelcomeaslongasthatopinionisinformed,prepared,andrespectful.Gradescale:Myphilosophyregardinggradingisthatyouearnyourgrade;IdonotgivegradesandIdonotgradeonacurve.A:93‐100A‐:90‐92B+:87‐89B:83‐86

B‐:80‐82C+:77‐79C:73‐76C‐:70‐72

D+:67‐69D:63‐66D‐:60‐62F:59andbelow

AcademicHonestyYouareresponsibleforsubmittingworkofyourowncreationandthatusesapropercitationformat.YouareresponsibleforinformingyourselfabouttheDePauwstudentcoderegardingacademicintegrityandplagiarism,pertheDePauwUniversityStudentHandbook:http://www.depauw.edu/handbooks/student/Anyworksubmittedforthiscoursethatisfoundtocontainplagiarizedcontent(copied,notcited,orclaimingtheworkofanotherasayourown)orisfoundtobetheresultofcheatingwillearnagradeofzero,andyourstandinginthiscourseandintheUniversitywillbeinjeopardy.ClaimingignoranceoftheDePauwcodeisnotavalidexcuse.Ifyourequireadditionalhelpinrecognizingplagiarism,thelibraryprovidesadditionalhelp.

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DisabilityAccommodationIfyourequirecoursemodificationand/oraccommodation,youmustprovidemewithappropriatedocumentationwithinthefirsttwoweeksofthecourse.ContactStudentDisabilityServicesforfurtherinformationandinstruction.http://www.depauw.edu/academics/academic-resources/student-guidance/students-with-disabilities/

CourseScheduleReadings,assignmentsandexamsarelistedontheirduedate.

Theinstructorreservestherighttomakechangestothesyllabusatanytime.

Week Date Unit Topic Reading AssignmentT31Jan

CourseIntroduction

WhatIsReligion? 1

Th2Feb

PerformanceandExperience

ROA38‐61;Blackfoot,JapaneseandSiberianmyths

T7Feb

Ritual:SacredSpaceandTime

ROA13‐18; StartreadingtheBhagavadGita

2

R9Feb

Hinduism Foundationalconcepts:Karma,Dharma,Samsara

ROA75‐77,82‐87,90‐96

T14Feb

Sacredtext ROA96‐101;121‐124,145‐146;BhagavadGita;

3

R16Feb

Practice:DarshanandBhaktiFilm:Pūjā

ROA125‐144,148;PersonalWorship;

T21Feb

BodyandIdentity:Yoga

ROA87‐90,155‐156,157‐164

4

R23Feb

Film:yoga

T28Feb

Exam#15

R1Mar

Buddhism Foundationalconcepts:LifeoftheBuddha

FirstSermon;ROA169‐198

T6Mar

Foundationalconcepts:Mahayana

Bodhisattva’sVows;ROA199,201‐211;232

6

R8Mar

Practice:Monksandlaycommunity

BurningHouseParable;ROA211‐219;245‐246

T13Mar

Practice:TibetanBuddhism

ROA210‐211;240‐245 7

R15Mar

Film:UnmistakenChild

8 T20 Exam#2

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Mar

R22Mar

Islam IntroductiontoIslam;film

ROA349‐355

T27Mar

SPRINGBREAK9

R29Mar

SPRINGBREAK

T3Apr

Noclass10

R5Apr

Noclass

T10Apr

Foundationalconcepts:LifeofMuhammad

ROA355‐357 11

R12Apr

Practice:5Pillars ROA363‐366

T17Apr

Sacredtext Qur’anandHadith;ROA358,360‐361,366‐367

12

R19Apr

Bodyandidentity TBA;ROA374‐380

T24Apr

Exam#313

R26Apr

Sikhism Foundationalconcepts:BeginningsofSikhism

GuruNanak;Nanak’sDeath;ROA91

T1May

Sacredtextandpractice

GuruGranthSahib;ROA105‐110,136

14

R3May

Bodyandidentity ROA113‐115,116‐117,156‐157

T8May

Film:LocksofLove 15

R10May

Coursewrap‐up

Closingthoughts

FinalsWeek

T15May

ScheduledFinalExam1‐4pm

Haveagreatsemester!