Revised 4-11-16
Religion 242~World Religions (Section 01)
Professor: E. Derek Taylor
Spring 2016
Office: Grainger 306
Office Hours: MWF 3:00-4:00; W 12:00-1:00 (and by appointment)
Phone: 395-2748
e-mail: taylored@longwood.edu
website: www.ederektaylor.weebly.com
Course Description: RELI 242. World Religions. RELI 242. An investigation of the nature and development of religious practices and traditions in other cultures, their teachings, rituals, institutions and ethics. The course includes prehistoric religion, the major traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and some other traditions which have contributed to their development. This course is recommended for students in the sophomore level and above. 3 credits. *Fulfills General Education Goal 9.
This course fulfills General Education Goal 9: An understanding of the diversity of other cultures and societies (three credits).
NOTE: Students who complete an approved international experience are exempted from this goal.
Outcomes: Students in this course will:
The course meets the following criteria. It will
1. teach a disciplinary mode of inquiry (e.g., literary analysis, statistical analysis, historical interpretation, philosophical reasoning, aesthetic judgment, the scientific method) and provide students with practice in applying their disciplinary mode of inquiry, critical thinking, or problem solving strategies.
2. provide examples of how disciplinary knowledge changes through creative applications of the chosen mode of inquiry.
3. consider questions of ethical values.
4. explore past, current, and future implications (e.g., social, political, economic, psychological or philosophical) of disciplinary knowledge.
5. encourage consideration of course content from diverse perspectives.
6. provide opportunities for students to increase information literacy through contemporary techniques of gathering, manipulating, and analyzing information and data.
7. require at least one substantive written paper, oral report, or course journal and also require students to articulate information or ideas in their own words on tests and exams.
8. foster awareness of the common elements among disciplines and the interconnectedness of disciplines.
9. provide a rationale as to why knowledge of this discipline is important to the development of an educated citizen.
Texts:
-- The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Vols. 1 and 2. Ed. Jack Miles. New York: Norton, 2014.
Grading (ten-point scale):
--Daily Quizzes: 30 %
--Five short essays (10% each, but I drop one, so 40%)
--Comprehensive Final Examination (5-2): 30 %
--Participation: + or -
Attendance, Tardiness, Late Papers:
Students are expected to attend classes regularly and to arrive in a timely manner. Consistently tardy students will be remembered as such when class participation grades are calculated. Furthermore, quizzes will be given at the beginning of class and may not be made up for any reason. ONLY illness, official college business, and emergencies permit the make-up of any other work missed, and all such absences must be documented. Unexcused absences totaling 10% or more of class meetings will result in a one-letter-grade penalty; absences totaling 25% or more, excused or otherwise, will result in an F for the course.
Essays are due at the beginning of the class period; a late essay will serve adequately as its own punishment. Quizzes may not be made up for any reason.
Classroom Decorum:
All students are expected to behave civilly both to each other and to the instructor and to conduct themselves in a manner that encourages learning in the classroom. Email and voice mail will be considered as part of the participation grade, so students should think carefully about the tone and content of such messages.
Honor Code:
All work is governed by the Longwood College Honor Code. Written work must contain the pledge in writing and be signed. Students should read closely the section on plagiarism in the Longwood Style Manual.
Class Schedule:
NB—I reserve the right to change the following schedule by giving oral notification in class. Unless otherwise notified, all reading and writing assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day indicated by this schedule. Absence from one class is never an excuse for being unprepared for any subsequent class.
Week 1
W. 1-20. Introduction to course
F. 1-22. Snow cancelation
Week 2
M. 1-25. Snow cancelation
W. 1-27. The Zen Diagram of Hinduism (55-68); Hindu Gods and Us (707-719); Hinduism in Sanskrit and Ancient Texts (77-82); Humans, Animals, and Gods in the Rig Veda (83-102); Sacrifice in the Brahmanas (p. 103); Prajapati Creates Fire (104-105); How Men Changed Skins with Animals (110)
F. 1-29. Renunciation in the Upanishads (115-131); The Discipline of the Mind and Body in the Yoga Sutra (132-136); Liberation, and Devotion in the Bhagavad Gita (176-195)
Week 3
M. 2-1. The Synthesis of Hinduism: The Gods—and a Goddess—In the Puranas (231-35), The Puranic World (235-44), Shiva (244-52), Vishnu (252-57), Krishna (257-62), Devi (262-67)
W. 2-3. Tukaram of Maharashtra Says No! (459-479)
F. 2-5. Rommohun Roy, The Practice of Burning Widows Alive (548-555); The Hindu Authors of Modernity 190 and After (563-565; 569-570); Dalit Hinduism (606-624); Mohanda Karamchand Gandhi, The Gospel of Selfless Action (640-647)
Week 4
M. 2-8. Essay 1 (Hinduism) Due. Introduction to Buddhism (727-740)
W. 2-10. Buddhism The Noble Search (801-12); Setting the Wheel of the Dharma in Motion (859-63); The Three Knowledges (863-74)
F. 2-12. Early Aphorisms (884-893); Beginnings of Buddhist Philosophy (894-909)
Week 5
M. 2-15. Class Canceled (snow)
W. 2-17. Great Discourse on the Final Nirvana (840-859); Nuns achieve Nirvana (914-18); Lotus Sutra (960-985)
F. 2-19. Class Canceled (AACU Conference).
Week 6
M. 2-22. Buddhist Tantra (1146-71)
W. 2-24. Modern Buddhism (1417-20); The World’s Debt to Buddha (1421-38); Smokey the Bear Sutra (1459-62); The Nobel Evening Address (1463-69)
F. 2-26. Class Canceled (CMS Conference).
Week 7
M. 2-29. Essay 2 (Buddhism) Due; all students responsible for a two minute presentation of their findings. Introduction to Judaism: Israel Among the Nations (53-64)
W. 3-2. First Temple Literature (69-73); Before the Bible (78-81); The Bible: Torah (82-98)
F. 3-4. Psalms and Prophets (109-129); Job (139-44)
Week 8
Classes Canceled for Spring Break
Week 9
M. 3-14. The World of the Rabbis (203-08); The Oral Torah (209-23); Law and Legend (224-35)
W. 3-16. The Jewish Middle Ages (295-299); Moses Maimonides (332-46); Law (352-55); Excerpts from Gaon, David, Maimonides, and Rabad, Maharam, and Karo (355-70); Bible Commentary (371-373) and Rashi (374-375)
F. 3-18. Tradition in Twentieth-Century Jewish Thought (574); Cohen (574-577), Buber (578-85), Kaplan (586-589); Feminist Thinkers Confront the Tradition (615-634)
Week 10
M. 3-21. Shoah (641); Theologians (641-665); Zionism and the State of Israel (673-90)
W. 3-23. Essay 3 Due; all students responsible for a two minute presentation of their findings.
F. 3-25. The Old Testament (775); Isaiah (793-98); The New Testament (802-27)
Week 11
M. 3-28. The New Testament (828-52)
W. 3-30. The Patristic Era (855-56); Early Christian Worship (859-63); The Roman Persecutions (878-91); Other Christian Gospels (892-98)
F. 4-1. Articulations of Christian Belief (899-909); Biographical and Autobiographical Texts (915-927)
Week 12
M. 4-4. Reformations and Wars of Religion (1081-1107)
W. 4-6. Scandal and Paradox, Fear and Death (1217-36)
F. 4-8. The Twentieth Century (1255-60); excerpts from Russell, Barthes, Niebuhr, Bonnhoeffer, Auden (1268-87); Guitiérrez (1324-29)
Week 13
M. 4-11. Essay 4 Due; all students responsible for a two minute presentation of their findings.
W. 4-13. The Foundational Epoch (1409-15); from The Qur’an (1418-31)
F. 4-15. Sira: The Life Story of the Prophet (1463-1480)
Week 14
M. 4-18. The Classical Synthesis (1481-1512)
W. 4-20. Intellectual Elaboration (1552); Abu Hanifa (1552-58); Al-Ash Ari (1559-63); Ibn Babawayh (1564-68); Shah Wali Allah (1576-81)
F. 4-22. Class Canceled (Funeral)
Week 15
M. 4-25. Shari‘a and Fiqh: Divine Will and Human Interpretation (1527); Al-Safi’i (1527-35); Philosophy (1588); Ibn Sina (1597-1608); Ibn Rushd (1609-16)
W. 4-27. The Emergence of Women’s Voices (1929; 1950-58); Negotiating Religious Pluralism (1962-77)
F. 4-29. Essay 5 Due; all students responsible for a two minute presentation of their findings. Q&A on the Final Exam.
Week 16
TH. 5-5. Final Examination (3:00-5:30).
Religion 242~World Religions (Section 01)
Professor: E. Derek Taylor
Spring 2016
Office: Grainger 306
Office Hours: MWF 3:00-4:00; W 12:00-1:00 (and by appointment)
Phone: 395-2748
e-mail: taylored@longwood.edu
website: www.ederektaylor.weebly.com
Course Description: RELI 242. World Religions. RELI 242. An investigation of the nature and development of religious practices and traditions in other cultures, their teachings, rituals, institutions and ethics. The course includes prehistoric religion, the major traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and some other traditions which have contributed to their development. This course is recommended for students in the sophomore level and above. 3 credits. *Fulfills General Education Goal 9.
This course fulfills General Education Goal 9: An understanding of the diversity of other cultures and societies (three credits).
NOTE: Students who complete an approved international experience are exempted from this goal.
Outcomes: Students in this course will:
- Understand the culture, society, and history of groups outside of the Western European tradition
- Employ an appropriate vocabulary and rational argument to discuss complex issues involving race, nationality, gender, ethnicity, class, or sexual orientation
- Understand the concept of ethnocentrism
- Differentiate between personal discomfort and intellectual disagreement in situations where cultures may conflict
- Distinguish between facts and cultural assumptions relating to issues of diversity
The course meets the following criteria. It will
1. teach a disciplinary mode of inquiry (e.g., literary analysis, statistical analysis, historical interpretation, philosophical reasoning, aesthetic judgment, the scientific method) and provide students with practice in applying their disciplinary mode of inquiry, critical thinking, or problem solving strategies.
2. provide examples of how disciplinary knowledge changes through creative applications of the chosen mode of inquiry.
3. consider questions of ethical values.
4. explore past, current, and future implications (e.g., social, political, economic, psychological or philosophical) of disciplinary knowledge.
5. encourage consideration of course content from diverse perspectives.
6. provide opportunities for students to increase information literacy through contemporary techniques of gathering, manipulating, and analyzing information and data.
7. require at least one substantive written paper, oral report, or course journal and also require students to articulate information or ideas in their own words on tests and exams.
8. foster awareness of the common elements among disciplines and the interconnectedness of disciplines.
9. provide a rationale as to why knowledge of this discipline is important to the development of an educated citizen.
Texts:
-- The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Vols. 1 and 2. Ed. Jack Miles. New York: Norton, 2014.
Grading (ten-point scale):
--Daily Quizzes: 30 %
--Five short essays (10% each, but I drop one, so 40%)
--Comprehensive Final Examination (5-2): 30 %
--Participation: + or -
Attendance, Tardiness, Late Papers:
Students are expected to attend classes regularly and to arrive in a timely manner. Consistently tardy students will be remembered as such when class participation grades are calculated. Furthermore, quizzes will be given at the beginning of class and may not be made up for any reason. ONLY illness, official college business, and emergencies permit the make-up of any other work missed, and all such absences must be documented. Unexcused absences totaling 10% or more of class meetings will result in a one-letter-grade penalty; absences totaling 25% or more, excused or otherwise, will result in an F for the course.
Essays are due at the beginning of the class period; a late essay will serve adequately as its own punishment. Quizzes may not be made up for any reason.
Classroom Decorum:
All students are expected to behave civilly both to each other and to the instructor and to conduct themselves in a manner that encourages learning in the classroom. Email and voice mail will be considered as part of the participation grade, so students should think carefully about the tone and content of such messages.
Honor Code:
All work is governed by the Longwood College Honor Code. Written work must contain the pledge in writing and be signed. Students should read closely the section on plagiarism in the Longwood Style Manual.
Class Schedule:
NB—I reserve the right to change the following schedule by giving oral notification in class. Unless otherwise notified, all reading and writing assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day indicated by this schedule. Absence from one class is never an excuse for being unprepared for any subsequent class.
Week 1
W. 1-20. Introduction to course
F. 1-22. Snow cancelation
Week 2
M. 1-25. Snow cancelation
W. 1-27. The Zen Diagram of Hinduism (55-68); Hindu Gods and Us (707-719); Hinduism in Sanskrit and Ancient Texts (77-82); Humans, Animals, and Gods in the Rig Veda (83-102); Sacrifice in the Brahmanas (p. 103); Prajapati Creates Fire (104-105); How Men Changed Skins with Animals (110)
F. 1-29. Renunciation in the Upanishads (115-131); The Discipline of the Mind and Body in the Yoga Sutra (132-136); Liberation, and Devotion in the Bhagavad Gita (176-195)
Week 3
M. 2-1. The Synthesis of Hinduism: The Gods—and a Goddess—In the Puranas (231-35), The Puranic World (235-44), Shiva (244-52), Vishnu (252-57), Krishna (257-62), Devi (262-67)
W. 2-3. Tukaram of Maharashtra Says No! (459-479)
F. 2-5. Rommohun Roy, The Practice of Burning Widows Alive (548-555); The Hindu Authors of Modernity 190 and After (563-565; 569-570); Dalit Hinduism (606-624); Mohanda Karamchand Gandhi, The Gospel of Selfless Action (640-647)
Week 4
M. 2-8. Essay 1 (Hinduism) Due. Introduction to Buddhism (727-740)
W. 2-10. Buddhism The Noble Search (801-12); Setting the Wheel of the Dharma in Motion (859-63); The Three Knowledges (863-74)
F. 2-12. Early Aphorisms (884-893); Beginnings of Buddhist Philosophy (894-909)
Week 5
M. 2-15. Class Canceled (snow)
W. 2-17. Great Discourse on the Final Nirvana (840-859); Nuns achieve Nirvana (914-18); Lotus Sutra (960-985)
F. 2-19. Class Canceled (AACU Conference).
Week 6
M. 2-22. Buddhist Tantra (1146-71)
W. 2-24. Modern Buddhism (1417-20); The World’s Debt to Buddha (1421-38); Smokey the Bear Sutra (1459-62); The Nobel Evening Address (1463-69)
F. 2-26. Class Canceled (CMS Conference).
Week 7
M. 2-29. Essay 2 (Buddhism) Due; all students responsible for a two minute presentation of their findings. Introduction to Judaism: Israel Among the Nations (53-64)
W. 3-2. First Temple Literature (69-73); Before the Bible (78-81); The Bible: Torah (82-98)
F. 3-4. Psalms and Prophets (109-129); Job (139-44)
Week 8
Classes Canceled for Spring Break
Week 9
M. 3-14. The World of the Rabbis (203-08); The Oral Torah (209-23); Law and Legend (224-35)
W. 3-16. The Jewish Middle Ages (295-299); Moses Maimonides (332-46); Law (352-55); Excerpts from Gaon, David, Maimonides, and Rabad, Maharam, and Karo (355-70); Bible Commentary (371-373) and Rashi (374-375)
F. 3-18. Tradition in Twentieth-Century Jewish Thought (574); Cohen (574-577), Buber (578-85), Kaplan (586-589); Feminist Thinkers Confront the Tradition (615-634)
Week 10
M. 3-21. Shoah (641); Theologians (641-665); Zionism and the State of Israel (673-90)
W. 3-23. Essay 3 Due; all students responsible for a two minute presentation of their findings.
F. 3-25. The Old Testament (775); Isaiah (793-98); The New Testament (802-27)
Week 11
M. 3-28. The New Testament (828-52)
W. 3-30. The Patristic Era (855-56); Early Christian Worship (859-63); The Roman Persecutions (878-91); Other Christian Gospels (892-98)
F. 4-1. Articulations of Christian Belief (899-909); Biographical and Autobiographical Texts (915-927)
Week 12
M. 4-4. Reformations and Wars of Religion (1081-1107)
W. 4-6. Scandal and Paradox, Fear and Death (1217-36)
F. 4-8. The Twentieth Century (1255-60); excerpts from Russell, Barthes, Niebuhr, Bonnhoeffer, Auden (1268-87); Guitiérrez (1324-29)
Week 13
M. 4-11. Essay 4 Due; all students responsible for a two minute presentation of their findings.
W. 4-13. The Foundational Epoch (1409-15); from The Qur’an (1418-31)
F. 4-15. Sira: The Life Story of the Prophet (1463-1480)
Week 14
M. 4-18. The Classical Synthesis (1481-1512)
W. 4-20. Intellectual Elaboration (1552); Abu Hanifa (1552-58); Al-Ash Ari (1559-63); Ibn Babawayh (1564-68); Shah Wali Allah (1576-81)
F. 4-22. Class Canceled (Funeral)
Week 15
M. 4-25. Shari‘a and Fiqh: Divine Will and Human Interpretation (1527); Al-Safi’i (1527-35); Philosophy (1588); Ibn Sina (1597-1608); Ibn Rushd (1609-16)
W. 4-27. The Emergence of Women’s Voices (1929; 1950-58); Negotiating Religious Pluralism (1962-77)
F. 4-29. Essay 5 Due; all students responsible for a two minute presentation of their findings. Q&A on the Final Exam.
Week 16
TH. 5-5. Final Examination (3:00-5:30).