office hours are
online through
email (I try to respond within 24 hours but I attempt to be available
for more immediate contact from 9 to 10:30 on Monday mornings)
phone: 818-364-7710
Recommended text:
Denise
L. Carmody and T.L. Brink, Ways to
the Center (6th edition)
Most
students find it helpful to
use a textbook, and this is one of the better ones that I know
of. However, there are other ways to get at the material,
including other textbooks that you may find in a library or
elsewhere. I do ask you to make use of my web lectures as
indicated on the syllabus, and there is a study guide for the material
that includes links to sources, including YouTube videos,
recommended by past students.
For those
with broadband access (DSL, cable, etc.), I strongly recommend
listening to the lectures podcast by Dr. Cynthia Eller as "Revealing
World Religions" (the link is on the syllabus; you may download these
to an iPod as well as to your computer).
There
is
a companion
site for the Carmody and Brink text that includes additional aids. Also, in
each chapter there are various online exercises, including practice
quizzes, that you may find helpful. In addition, T.L. Brink,
co-author of the text, has graciously allowed us to make use of
materials for his own course on comparative religion at Crafton Hills
College: Religion
101. Here you may find some of his own games and drills.
Student Learning
Outcomes (what you
should
be able to do by the end of the course):
There are seven major
traditions
discussed: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Judaism,
Christianity,
and Islam. Other traditions may be discussed as examples of
general
points being made about how traditions appear or change.
1.
Demonstrate
knowledge of
the history and beliefs of the seven
major religious traditions. -- This includes both the actual
history and the legends passed
down as
part of the tradition. For instance, in the study of Islam we
have the historical facts about Muhammad and we have traditional
beliefs that involve supernatural events, such as Muhammad's ascent
into heaven at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
2.
Apply
the historical/critical method to analysis of the seven
major religious traditions.
-- What we attempt to do is look at religious
traditions as
cultural products so that the expectations of a particular time and
place play an important role in understanding both the beliefs and the
practices of each tradition. This also involves being
able to study each tradition as a
significant factor in the events of the cultures in which these
traditions appear or where they have been adopted. For instance,
the history of Western Europe from the fourth century on was first
shaped by the acceptance of Christianity as the official religion of
the Roman Empire and then reshaped with the Protestant
Reformation. What we want to look at to some extent is the manner
in which religions both change these cultures and are changed by
them.
3. Compare
and
contrast with the philosophies arising within each
religion.
--
Differing
beliefs about the supernatural raise a number of questions about
reality and values. For instance, the Indian concept of
reincarnation brings up the issue of what we mean by personal identity
(what makes
individuals who they are, and what should be their place in a society).
This outcome
will be assessed during the semester through a brief essay question
that may be part of an exam or required separately.
In addition, other things that
I would expect you to do by the end of the course are:
explain the
key
differences between Asian and Western religious outlooks
compare and
contrast
traditions in which one originates as an intended reform of the other
discuss
whether
all religions can be defined in terms of common elements
explain the
role
of monasticism in those traditions in which it appears
Internet
requirements:
We will be using Moodle
as the CMS (content management system) for the course, and all
activities with the exception of the midterm and final exams will be
through this portal. However, I recommend that you bookmark this
Internetlogic site as a back-up in case you have any problems in
accessing the lecture material on the Moodle site.
Since email contact is
an
important feature in the course, I recommend that you set up a distinct
account with Yahoo or Hotmail or some other provider (these are all
free)
if you otherwise use a spam filter that might keep messages from
reaching
you. Also, please be sure to check your junk mail in case your
email provider does treat messages delivered through Moodle as spam
(unfortunately, this does happen).
Grading:
You are expected to
read
the
material posted for each week for the course and to participate in the
activities indicated. For each week apart from the last I will
ask you to tell me something about what you have been doing through a
weekly log as indicated on the Moodle site,
and at different times in
the course I will also ask you to take part in a discussion forum
through the Moodle site.
These are basic activities with the logs worth 2 points each and the
forums worth up to 5 points each with a combined total of 50 points
possible. In addition I ask you to
take part in a collaborative project. You will have a set
of options and a limited time in
which to choose the group of fellow students you will work with.
Full participation in a project is worth 30 points toward your total
and includes several distinct acitvities. What I mean by this will be
explained on the
Moodle site.
Your midterm and
your
final will each be worth 15 points toward your total. Both these
exams, which will
involve objective (true/false or multiple choice) questions as well as
one or more short essays, will be done online through the Moodle
portal.
The maximum number of
points available through the course is 110. A=90-110, B=80-89,
C=70-79, D=60-69.
Additional FAQ's for his course: (OK, these may
not be questions students do ask but the ones that they should ask)
1. What kind of computer access
should I have?
Ideally you would have a home computer
with fast, reliable Internet access. While it is possible to make
use of the computers at a public library or the computer stations
available at Mission College, both have limitations or restictions that
could make it more difficult to complete the work required for this
course. A computer at your place of work may be available, but
you need to make sure that your employer will allow personal use in
this way. For those with laptops WiFi is increasingly available,
often at no cost at places such as Borders or Starbucks, but the
setting may not always be conducive to quiet study.
2. How much time should I expect to
spend on the class each week?
In designing a course the standard rule
has been that for each hour of lecture there should be three hours of
outside work (reading the textbook, preparing assignments, etc).
Since this is a three-unit class in which the lecture material is
online, we might say that ideally you should be spending from nine to
twelve hours a week with your reading and other actiivities. I know
that most likely this is no longer a realistic expectation, but at the
same time just allowing two or three hours is definitely inadequate.
You will need to read, and the lecture material includes links
to additional online sources that I expect you to look at. You
should be taking notes as you read (there are review questions to guide
you on what to look for), and for best results the time for the course
should be spread out during the week so as to allow the material to be
better absorbed.
3. Let's say I am taking five
classes and I also have a job. I am taking an online class
because it should demand less time and I will be better able to fit the
work into my busy schedule. Am I wrong in my expectations?
Quite possibly. The only
difference really is that you are not commuting to a classroom and
sitting in it for a few hours a week. Because you do not have to
be in a fixed place at a fixed time, the danger is that you will put
off what you need to do for your online class(es), which may in fact be
as demanding as anything in a face-to-face classroom. As
often as not, an online course may actually be more difficult because
as a student you have to take the initiative in determining how best to
manage the process of mastering the material.
4. What should be my level of
proficiency in reading and writing in order to do well in this class?
While there are no prerequisites
for this course, It would definitely be best to have completed English
101 with at least a "C" because of the amount of reading and
writing. Also the collaborative project requires knowledge of
what is expected in any college paper (especially how to indicate
sources) , and this should be something covered in your English 101.
5. I am not especially
religious. Will that be a problem in this class?
Not at all. This is a course that
presents the beliefs and practices of a number of major traditions, but
you are not expected to make any judgments about which may be "right"or
"wrong," much less change any outlook you now have. What is
important is that in the class there is a respect for those who are
believers as well as those who are not.
6. I do think of myself as being
very sincere in my own religious beliefs, yet in this class I realize I
am going to be exposed to views that I find definitely incompatible
with my own. Will that be a problem? See my answer to the last question.
OK, that may be too flip a reply, since it is the individual holding
definite beliefs who may be most disturbed by what we do in the
class. For example, someone accepting Jesus as a personal savior
might well be offended by a presentation in which Christian teachings
are not given some kind of precedence. After all, should it not
be my duty as a philosophy instructor to present the truth, not just
different points of view?
I am not going to try to answer that
here. Instead, I am going to use it as the basis for the first of
the required forum discussions during the semester.
YOUR SCHEDULE FOR WHAT TO READ
(other required assigments are on the Moodle site)
for those with broadband access I
recommend subscribing
to the following podcasts through iTunes (they're free, and they may be
helpfu): Revealing
World Religions
Reasonable Accommodation:
If you are a student with a disability and require accommodations,
please send me a private email. The sooner I am aware of your
eligibility
for accommodations, the quicker I will be able to assist the DSP&S
Office in providing them. For students requiring accommodations,
the
DSP&S Office at Mission College provides special assistance in
areas like: registering for courses, specialized tutoring, note-taking,
mobility assistance, special instruction, testing assistance, special
equipment, special materials, instructor liaisons, community referrals
and job placement. If you have not done so already, you may also
wish
to contact the DSP&S Office in Instructional Building 1018 (phone
818/364-7732 TTD 818/364-7861) and emailing or
scanning me a letter
stating the accommodations that are needed.
Academic
honesty: Work submitted for the course, whether on an assignment
(except for a group project)
or for an exam, . Obviously this means
you may not collaborate with someone else on an exam and you may not
essentially copy someone else's answer on an assignment, but it also
limits how you may make use of the Internet. You may not, for
instance, just "copy and paste" material from the Internet into an
assignment or into the answer for an online exam. Doing so is a
violation of normal standards of academic honesty (specifically, it is
seen as plagiarism) and may result in a range of penalties with the
least being a loss of points for an assignment or for an exam answer.
