RELG 110 (003): INTRODUCTION TO RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Professor: Katja Vehlow
tel: 777-4100
email:
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Fall 2008
MWF 9:05-9:55
BA 402.
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Course Description:
This course explores the history, theology/doctrine, and rituals of five major religious traditions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, with other traditions entering our discussion at times. We will look at these religions as living entities in their own right, and students will be expected to experience a tradition other than their own practically, for example by attending services or by conducting and recording an interview with a practitioner. In addition, this course is an introduction to the main principles of studying religions.
Core Issues:
• Methodological issues
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Judaism
• Islam
• Christianity
Course Goals:
- To identify and understand the foundational concepts around which the discipline of Religious Studies is organized, in particular
- religious traditions
- beliefs
- rituals, and the critical use of these concepts in explaining religious phenomena.
- To develop the ability to describe religious beliefs and practices non-normatively, i.e., without reference to their ultimate truth or falsity.
- To carry out close readings of and comparisons between religious ideas and texts.
- To practice reading, writing, listening, and talking about religious ideas critically and carefully.
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Required Reading:
• Fisher, Mary Pat Living Religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005.
• Novak, Philip. The World's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994.
Course Requirements
Your grade consists of the following:
20%: Five quizzes
30%: Midterm
20%: Experience report
30%: Final
Class participation is based on the university's attendance policy.
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