TRS 280 – The Religious Quest
The Catholic University of America
Washington, DC
3 Credits – Spring 2009 (No Pre-requisites)
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TRS 280 – The Religious Quest Spring 2009
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TRS 280 – The Religious Quest Spring 2009
Instructor: Christopher Born, M.A.
Email:
Phone: 513.508.4816 (Cell/Office)
Office: Caldwell
Office Hours: Before and after class or by appointment
Class Location and Times:
MW McMahon 201 12:10 – 1:00 PM
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TRS 280 – The Religious Quest Spring 2009
Teaching Assistants and Discussion Sections:
Mr. Patrick Birge () Ms. Beverly Goines ()
FRI Hannon 103 11:10 – noon FRI Caldwell 154 11:10 – noon
FRI Caldwell 154 12:10 – 1:00 PM FRI Caldwell 117 12:10 – 1:00 PM
Course Description:
This course is an introduction to the study of religion. As with any introductory course this course will, by its nature, be incomplete. While we will not be able to exhaustively cover the academic study of religion and its history, we will investigate the major topics within the study of religion and search for meaning as a human phenomenon.
The course will treat “religion” as an academic subject and does not propose to evaluate the veracity or falsity of the truth claims of the various major religions. Instead, we will examine the religious phenomenon primarily from the human perspective. First, any discussion of religion needs to define the term. Once we come to a “working definition” and classification of what is and is not religion, we can address the following essential questions:
Is religion a universal human phenomenon? Why and how should religion be studied? How does the field of religious studies relate to theology and other academic disciplines? How does religion relate to other aspects of life – such as ethics, salvation, ritual practice, and hermeneutics? What are the most distinctive features and common dimensions of religion? How can we best understand religious diversity? How do religion and (contemporary) society interact with one another?
Our approach to these topics will be historical, analytical, and descriptive. We will approach the religious phenomenon through a variety of mediums, including literature, film, and music. It is essential that the student come to class with an appreciation of a critical analysis of religion in general and specific religious beliefs and practices.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Methods and Requirements:
Objectives:
1. To introduce the student to the challenges of defining “religion” as a concept.
2. To expand students’ understanding of the breadth and depth of “the religious quest,” including the forms religion has taken throughout human history.
3. To initiate students into the field of religious studies by acquainting them with its major figures and significant methods and approaches of investigation.
4. To demonstrate the central role religion (in all its manifestations) plays in all aspects of human society.
5. To encourage students in the further study of religion, whether through addition courses within the School of Theology and Religious Studies or through informal, personal exploration.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Through lectures, discussion, and writing, at the completion of the course the student will be able to:
· Demonstrate comprehension of the essential differences between theology and religious studies including the challenges in defining “religion” as a concept.
· Outline the universal forms of religious experience and expression as found in the world’s major religious traditions.
· Recall the universal components of a religious worldview and show how the components are manifested differently within the religious traditions.
· Read and assess the different theories presented in the sociology of religion.
· Explain the central importance religion plays in the lives of human beings and the resulting impact religion has on social institutions.
· Reflect on the history of the “secularization debate” and new theories involving the sustained levels of religiosity of the United States.
· Analyze the basics of rational choice theory and explain the foundational principles of the economics of religion.
Methods and Requirements:
· This course will utilize a variety of instructional methods. Interactive lectures, PowerPoint presentations, videos, discussion groups, and at least one filed trip will all be employed throughout the semester. The lectures will draw on questions turned in by the students at the beginning of class.
· The student is required to attend all Friday discussion sections as outlined in the course calendar.
Required Texts
Livingston, James C. Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion, Sixth Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009. (ISBN-13: 978-0-13-600380-9)
Pals, Daniel L. Introducing Religion: Readings from the Classic Theorists. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. (ISBN-13: 978-0-19-518149-4)
In addition to the two books above – which can be purchased in the CUA Bookstore – the student will be responsible for a number of articles and excerpts according to the schedule below. These additional readings are available through the Blackboard system. The Blackboard electronic readings can be found online at http://bb.cua.edu/ under the username __quest _____ and the password __spring2009______.
Assignments:
(1) Attendance and Participation: You are expected to attend every class session. If you cannot make it to a session, please let the instructor or teaching assistants know ahead of time.
a. Students are expected to come to every class having read the assigned texts in advance and will have prepared a TYPED question addressing some salient aspect of the readings (for lectures) or posted a comment on the class Blackboard site responding to a question listed on the syllabus (for Friday discussion sections).
b. Questions will be collected by the teaching assistants upon arrival to each class and will serve as a record of attendance on that day.
c. The purpose of student questions is to identify and identify for discussion aspects of the texts that are relevant to the aims of our class as an inquiry into the character and significance of the study of religion.
d. The Attendance/Participation score (20% of the final grade) will be based upon the quality and timeliness of these submissions. Four or five well-crafted comments/questions per class period will be selected by the Teaching Assistants and presented for discussion at the end of the lecture period. Extra points will be assigned to those comment/questions that are extremely insightful or thoughtful.
e. Students are allotted three missed classes without penalty. Thereafter, each unexcused absence will reduce the attendance and participation mark by one third of a letter grade. Absences may be excused only according to University guidelines and with full documentation.
(2) Mid-term exam: A midterm exam will be given on Monday, February 23. A study guide will be distributed before the exam which will cover the content and the format of the exam.
(3) Two short papers (6-8) pages: These papers will give the student the opportunity to show that they can incorporate the ideas presented in the readings and lectures into a well-crafted paper. The first paper will be due on Friday, February 27 and will compare two thinkers addressed in the course. The second paper will be due on Friday, April 24 and utilize themes discussed in class and see how they apply in contemporary American society. More specifics will be distributed well before the due-dates.
(4) Final exam: The final exam will be on Friday, May 8, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. as determined by the university’s registrar’s office. The final will not be comprehensive. A study guide will be distributed during the semester.
Grading:
Grading will be done on a floating curve that will be determined at the end of the semester. In the past, the following parameters have yielded the following grades:
100-88: A, 87-77: B, 76-66: C, 66-60: D, 60 and below: F.
· Attendance and Participation 20%
· Midterm Exam 20%
· Two papers (6-8 pages) 30%
· Final Exam 30%
Late Work:
Late work may be accepted but deductions are up to the discretion of the instructor. If there are pressing needs for an extension, please inform the instructor some time before the due date.
Academic Honesty:
Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Please see the university’s policy on academic honesty at the following website: http://studentlife.cua.edu/students/stuhbook/pol/academichonesty.htm
Special Requests:
Students with special needs, please let me know as soon as the semester begins so we can accommodate alternative due dates and possibly testing methods.
------Class Schedule ------
Date / Topic / Assigned reading for the dayMON 1/12 / * Class introduction and
* Syllabus overview / None
WED 1/14 / * Why study religion in the first place?
* Are we a “Christian nation”? / * U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Summary of Key Findings, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life [Blackboard]
FRI 1/16 / Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* In your own words, how would you define “religion”?
* Is there a particular definition in Chapter 1 that you most identify with?
* Can Macintosh devotion seriously be considered a religion? / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 1: What is religion?”
* Pui-Yan Lam, “May the Force of the Operating System be With You: Macintosh Devotion as Implicit Religion,” Sociology of Religion 62, no. 2 (2001): 243-262. [BlackBoard]
MON 1/19 / HOLIDAY – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
WED 1/21 / * Ways to study religion
* Benefits and drawbacks of approaching religion through other disciplines / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 2: Ways of Studying Religion”
FRI 1/23 / Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* What is your opinion: does one need to be religious to study religion(s)?
* What are the advantages/disadvantages to standing “outside” your subject of inquiry? / * Rodney Stark, “Atheism, Faith, and the Social Scientific Study of Religion,” Journal of Contemporary Religion 14, no. 1 (1999): 41-63. [BlackBoard]
MON 1/26 / * Entering the study of religion – a historical perspective / * Introducing Religion, “Introduction”
* Begin reading Introducing Religion, “Chapter 1 – E.B. Tylor”
WED 1/28 / * Animism and Magic in early theorists (Tylor and Frazer) / * Finish reading Introducing Religion, “Chapter 1 – E.B. Tylor”
FRI 1/30 / * The religious impulse
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* TBD / * Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” [BlackBoard]
MON 2/2 / * Psychological approach to the study of religion, Part I (Freud) / * Introducing Religion, “Chapter 3 – Sigmund Freud: Religion as Neurosis”
WED 2/4 / * Psychological approach, Part II (James) / * Introducing Religion, “Chapter 6 – William James: The Testimony of Religious Experience,” p. 171 – 191.
FRI 2/6 / * Economic/materialist approach (Marx)
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* In your opinion, is religion used to hold down the masses and have them accept their fate or used by the masses to pacify the true trail-blazers of civilization?
* Are Marx and/or Nietzsche correct in their assertions about religion? / * Karl Marx, On Religion [Blackboard]
* Friedrich Nietzsche, TBD [Blackboard]
MON 2/9 / * Sociological approach, Part I (Durkheim) / * Introducing Religion, “Chapter 4 – Emile Durkheim: The Social as Sacred,” p. TBD
WED 2/11 / * Sociological approach, Part II (Berger)
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* How important is it to make events in our lives “meaningful”?
* How would Berger respond to the phrase “things happen for a reason”? / * Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy, “Chapter 1: Religion and World Construction” [Blackboard]
FRI 2/13 / * Sociological approach, Part III (Weber) / * Introducing Religion, “Chapter 8 – Max Weber: Religion and Culture Interwoven,” p. 237 – 255.
MON 2/16 / * Phenomenological approach (Otto/Eliade) / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 3: The Sacred and the Holy”
WED 2/18 / * Anthropological approach (Geertz) / * Introducing Religion, “Chapter 11 – Clifford Geertz: Religion as World-view,” p. 237 – 255.
FRI 2/20 / Midterm Exam Review
MON 2/23 / MIDTERM EXAM
WED 2/25 / * Universal forms of religious expression and experience (Sacred/Holy and Symbol, Myth and Doctrine) [Patrick Birge] / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 4: Sacred Symbol, Myth, and Doctrine”
FRI 2/27 / PAPER 1 DUE / * In class viewing: Portions of Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers (1988)
MON 3/2 / Spring Break
WED 3/4 / Spring Break
FRI 3/6 / Spring Break
MON 3/9 / * Universal forms of religious expression and experience (Sacred Ritual) / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 5: Sacred Ritual”
WED 3/11 / * Universal forms of religious expression and experience (Sacred Scripture)
* Introduction to hermeneutics / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 6: Sacred Scripture”
* Selections from Genesis I and Genesis II [Blackboard]
FRI 3/13 / Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* How does liberation theology employ hermeneutics?
* Are there other possible “theologies”? / * Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation (1988), “Introduction to the Revised Edition: Expanding the View” [Blackboard]
MON 3/16 / * Universal forms of religious expression and experience (Society and the Sacred) / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 7: Society and the Sacred”
WED 3/18 / * Major League Baseball and the transmission of American civil religion / * Robert Bellah, “Civil Religion in America” [Blackboard]
FRI 3/20 / Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* Do you agree or disagree with Michael Novak that “sports is, somehow, a religion”?
* In your mind, is it blasphemous to link sports and religion?
* Can sports exist without religion? / * Michael Novak, The Joy of Sports, “Chapter 2: The Natural Religion” [Blackboard]
* Richard Pengelley, “Sport and Spirituality; An Ancient Connection for our Modern Times,” Dialogue Australasia (2009) [Blackboard]
* Ruphine S. Obare, “Can Sports Exist without Religion?” [Blackboard]
MON 3/23 / * Universal components of a religious worldview I (Deity) / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 8: Deity”
WED 3/25 / * Universal components II (Cosmogony) / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 9: Cosmogony”
FRI 3/27 / Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* Does the letter have a valid claim?
* Does this have any impact on your views of religious cosmogonies? / * From the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, “An Open Letter to the Kansas School Board” [Blackboard]
* Excerpts from The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster [Blackboard]
MON 3/30 / * Universal components III (Human Problem) / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 10: Views of the Human Problem”
WED 4/1 / * Universal components VI (Soteriology) / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 13: Soteriology”
FRI 4/3 / Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* How should one approach religious claims that do not fit with ones own?
* Which theological model (outlined by Jones) best fits your own understanding of the many religions in the world? / * Charles B. Jones, The View From Mars Hill, “Chapter 5: Current Theological Models” [Blackboard]
MON 4/6 / * Universal components IV (Theodicy) / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 11: Theodicy”
WED 4/8 / * Universal components V (Ethics) / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 12: Ethics”
FRI 4/10 / Easter Break
MON 4/13 / Easter Break
WED 4/15 / * Secularization and Fundamentalism / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 14: Seculariz.”
FRI 4/17 / Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* What should be the relationship between the religion and the state?
* Do you perceive a “culture war” in the United States? How so? / * Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 15: Contemporary Challenges to Traditional Religion”
MON 4/20 / * Christianity as new religious movement – Part I / * Rodney Stark, The Rise of Early Christianity, “Chapter 1: Conversion and Christian Growth” [Blackboard]
WED 4/22 / * Christianity as new religious movement – Part II / * Rodney Stark, The Rise of Early Christianity, “Chapter 2: Class Basis of Early Christianity” [Blackboard]
FRI 4/24 / PAPER 2 DUE / * Movie/Video TBD
MON 4/27 / * Rational Choice Theory and the Economic Study of Religion – Part I / * Rodney Stark, “Economics of Religion,” Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion [Blackboard]
WED 4/29 / * Rational Choice Theory and the Economic Study of Religion – Part II / * Laurence R. Iannaccone, “Why Strict Churches are Strong,” American Journal of
Sociology [Blackboard]
FRI 5/1 / Final Exam Review
FRI 5/8 / Final Exam: 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m
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