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Fred Glennon, Ph.D. (Courses) |
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Section
200-08, 09 Reilly Hall 338 TTH 1:00-2:15;
2:30-3:45
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Date |
Course Topics and Assignemnts |
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8/27 Introductions |
Questions:
Why am I in this class? What do I hope to learn from taking this
class? Who else is in this class and why? Who is this
professor? What qualifies him to teach this class? Can he help me
meet my learning objectives? Will taking this class turn me into
an atheist? ·
Susan Henking, “This
Just In: College Will Make You an Atheist,” Religion
Dispatches |
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8/29 The Learning Covenant |
Questions:
What is a "learning covenant"? What contribution, if any, can
it make to my learning in this class and beyond?
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I. |
Human
Experience and Religion |
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9/3 Religious Identity: Spiritual but not Religious |
Questions: Why
is it that, according to the PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life, the
numbers of “nones”—thos who
indicate in surveys that they have no religion or do not belong to any
particular religion—are on the rise? Why are people, especially
those under the age of 30, rejecting religious identity and affiliation
(like Eboo Patel did early
on)? What do they mean when they say they are spiritual but not
religious? What is your view on this?
Assessment #1,
Learning Self-Assessment Due (see
Blackboard, Assessment Activities for guidelines on this activity, and to
post your self-assessment) |
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9/5 Religion, Order, and Meaning |
Questions: What does it
mean to say religion brings order and meaning to the lives of individuals and
communities? What is the nature of the order and meaning that religion
provides? Does religion play any role in providing order and meaning in
my life? ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 1-25 |
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9/10 Culture and Religion |
Questions: What is culture? How does culture influence
people? What is the relationship between culture and
religion? · Introduction to the Study of Religion, 67-75 ·
Geertz, “Religion as a Cultural System,” (Excerpts on Blackboard);
Review the PowerPoint presentation on Religion as a Cultural System and take
the quiz before class (this is an example of a flipped classroom) |
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9/12 Studying and Defining Religion |
Questions: How do scholars study and define
religion? What are the differences between essentialist and functional
definitions of religion? How do these definitions shape one's approach
to religious phenomena?
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9/17 Definitions and Dimensions of Religion |
Questions:
Are there similarities between religious traditions? If so, what are
they? How extensive are they? How do I define religion?
What are the dimensions of religion that scholars have identified?
Assessment
#2, Constructing an initial understanding of religion, due (see Blackboard,
Assessment Activities for guidelines on this activity, and to post your
understanding) |
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II. |
Religious
Action |
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9/19 Ritual Action: Types of
Religious Ritual |
Questions: What is ritual? Why do people practice rituals? Do I have rituals that I regularly practice? How do religious rituals differ from secular rituals? What is the difference between a calendar, life cycle, and life crises ritual?
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9/24 Sacred Space |
Questions: What makes
some space sacred and other space ordinary? Is there any space I would
consider sacred? What moods, feelings, aesthetic sensibilities does sacred space seek to instill in
people? What is the difference between a shrine and a traditional
ritual space? Why do those roadside memorials I see develop?
Assessment
#3, Learning Covenants Due (see Blackboard, Assessment Activities, to post
your learning covenant) |
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9/26 Ethical Action: Moral Conduct |
Questions: What is ethical action? How does it differ from
morality? Are religious ethics different from secular ethics? If
so, in what ways? Can a person engage in ethical or moral action
without being religious? Do religions require certain moral conduct on
the part of their practitioners? What ethical actions have I done that
have been influenced by my religious tradition? What are norms for moral
conduct? What norms for moral conduct do different traditions
require? How are laws and ends different? Are there any norms
that all religious traditions agree upon? Are there any that I would
agree upon?
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10/1 Ethical Action: Moral Character and Moral Exemplars |
Questions: How do norms for moral
conduct differ from norms for moral character? What is moral
character? Would I consider myself a moral character? How does
religion shape moral character? What is the difference between a moral
conscience and moral consciousness? What
is a moral exemplar? Who do know that I would call a moral
exemplar? Who are the moral exemplars in the religious traditions we
are studying them? What characteristics make them examples that others
should follow? Are there commonalities among them?
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10/3 Relationship between Ritual
and Ethics |
Questions: What do the terms
moral pedagogy, moral redemption, and moral transformation mean? Have I engaged in any rituals that have
sought to help me to become a better person?
Do all religious rituals encourage a certain moral way of life? Or do broader ethical issues sometimes call
certain rituals into question? ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 156-168 ·
Ritual and Moral
Objections: Case study, Circumcision o
Christine Gudorf, “A Question of Compromise” (on Blackboard) |
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III. |
Religious Language |
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10/8 Talking |
Questions: How do people talk
about the sacred? What metaphors,
symbols, or names do they use? Why is metaphorical
language so important in this regard>
What metaphors do I sue for the sacred> Are there some names that I have difficulty
with? Why is this
the case?
·
Introduction to
the Study of Religion, 169-184, 200-203 |
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10/10 Myths of Origin |
Questions: What is the
peculiar way that religious traditions use the term myth? What are the myths or stories of religious traditions
attempting to say about the origins of the universe and the place of humanity
in it? Are there any myths that I find
meaningful for
understanding the universe? ·
Introduction to
the Study of Religion, 184-197 ·
Genesis 1-3
(from the Bible) |
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10/15 Fall Break |
No Class |
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10/17 Stories of Challenge and
Suffering: Job |
Questions: What is a
theodicy? Why do religious traditions provide
stories to help people deal with suffering in the world? How do I understand the nature of innocent
suffering in the world? ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 232-233 ·
Supplementary
Readings o
Howard Kushner,
“The Story of a Man Named Job,” in When
Bad Things Happen to Good People, ch. 2
(summary on Blackboard) o
Fred Glennon’s reflections on suffering and theodicy, “The
Absence of God” (on Blackboard) Assessment #4 due (Mid-term evaluation of the course
found on Blackboard under Assessment Activities) |
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10/22 Scriptures and Canons |
Questions: Why do religious
traditions identify some writings and texts as sacred? Do all people in those traditions interpret
the texts in the same way? If not, why
not? Are there any texts that I would
consider sacred? What are they and
why? ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 209-224 ·
Case Study: Gospel of Mark o
Gospel of Mark
(from the Bible) o
Questions for
Gospel of Mark (on Blackboard) o
Gospel of John
1.17-21 (from the Bible) |
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10/24 Doctrines and Creeds |
Questions: What is a doctrine or creed? Are there any doctrines or creeds that I
have? How do the traditions view
death, redemption, and the afterlife?
What are the similarities? What
are the differences? How do I view
them? ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 235-239 ·
Begin reading Augustine’s Confessions (see questions below
for specific books ·
Introduction to
Augustine’s Life ·
Questions for
Augustine’s Confessions (on
Blackboard) |
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10/29 Personal Religious Change as
Development and Conversion |
Questions: Has your religious
experience changed over time? In what
ways? Has the change been slow and
gradual or sudden? What does
conversion mean? What does it mean to
be “born again”? (see questions for
Augustine’s Confessions) What do you think of Augustine’s
experience? How does it relate to your
own? ·
Finish reading
Augustine’s Confessions and be
prepared with answers to questions ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 245-263 |
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10/31 Social Change as Catalyst for
Religious Change |
Questions: In what ways do
changes in society generate changes in religious ideas, practices, and
traditions? What effect has the
development of modern western society, with its emphasis on personal,
political, and economic freedom had on religion? How has this freedom affected your own religious
practice? ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 275-296 ·
Case Study: Religious Fundamentalism o
Daniel Schultz, “Destruction, Or, Why Do
Fundamentalists Seem To Enjoy Blowing Things Up?” Religion Dispatches |
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11/5 Religious Change as Catalyst
for Social Change |
Questions: see questions for
King’s letter below ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 296-307 ·
Martin Luther
King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (on Blackboard) ·
Questions for
King’s Letter (on Blackboard) |
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IV. |
Religion as Alienating and Reconciling |
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11/7 Religion as Alienating |
Questions: What does it mean
to say that religion can be alienating?
In what ways can and has religion been alienating to people? Have you experienced religion in alienating
ways? ·
Konstantin Petrenko, “The
Two Faces of Atheism,” Religion
Dispatches ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 311-343 (write
reading summary on this reading) |
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11/12 Religion and Violence |
Questions: Why do religious people
resort to violence? Is it endemic to
religion as some claim? How does such
violence raise questions about the role of religion in today’s world? ·
Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil, 26-40 (on
Blackboard) ·
Hitchens, god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, 16-36
(on Blackboard) |
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11/14 Alienation: Philosophical Responses |
Questions: In what ways does
Feuerbach say religion alienates humanity?
How does Marx push his ideas further?
What do these philosophers suggest will ultimately happen to
religion? Do you agree? ·
Feuerbach,
Essence of Christianity; Karl
Marx on Religion (read first 6 paragraphs) ·
Sigmund Freud, The Future
of an Illusion |
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11/19 Alienation: Personal Responses |
Questions: see questions for
Wiesel, Night below and on Blackboard ·
Case Study: The Holocaust ·
Elie Wiesel, Night ·
Questions for Night (also on Blackboard) (can be turned in
on Thursday, 11/21) First Draft of Ritual Activity due (see
Blackboard, Graded Activities to post
your draft) |
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11/21 Reconciling Religion |
Questions: How does religion
act as a reconciling force for the individual and for society In what ways has it been reconciling
for you or for people you know? ·
Introduction to the Study of Religion, 349-379 |
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11/26 Religious Activism |
Questions: see questions for
Patel, Acts of Faith on Blackboard ·
Eboo Patel, Acts of
Faith, chapters 4-6 |
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11/28 Thanksgiving |
No Class |
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12/3 Religious Pluralism |
Questions: What is religious
pluralism? What is the impact on the
perception of the U.S. as a “Christian” nation? In what ways have you experienced religious
pluralism? ·
Eboo Patel, Acts of
Faith, chapters 7-8, conclusion Ritual Papers due (see Blackboard, Graded
Activities to post your final paper) |
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12/5 Summary and Review (last day
of class) |
Questions: How has your
understanding of religion changed? What
have you learned this semester about the nature of religion? What do you think you still want to learn? Assessment #5, Revised understandings of
religion, due (see Blackboard, Assessment Activities for guidelines for this
activity) |
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12/11 Final Exam |
200-09 Group Final Exam (12:00-2:30pm) (Completed finals are due by
5pm, 12/13) Assessment #6, Reflections on Learning in
REL 200, due (see Blackboard, Assessment Activities for guidelines for this
activity) |
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12/13 Final Exam |
200-08 Group Final Exam (9:00-11:30am) (Completed finals are due by
5pm, 12/15) Assessment #6, Reflections on Learning in
REL 200, due (see Blackboard, Assessment Activities for guidelines for this
activity) |