| Note | Week: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
I will be available in Patterson Hall 336 every day from 9:30 until 10:30, and at other times by arrangement.
The schedule of assignments, quizzes, etc. remains negotiable until Friday of week 9. Changes must be made before this date.
Week 1 - Introduction: the Academic Study of Religion
Wed. 8/29 Introduction to the course: the class
description, the webpage, and textbooks.
A brief
introduction to the academic study of religion.
Fri. 8/31 The Problem of Definition: terms and categories of the study as themselves providing models of religion. An introduction to the idea of "Dimensional" Models of religion.
How does this apply to contemporary America? See Diana Eck's A New Religious America and The Pluralism Project
Mon. 9/3 The "phenomenology" of religion.
Chris Arthur, "Phenomenology and the Art of Story-telling" (Handout on the My.Westminster page).
Wed. 9/5 Smith's "point of departure," pp. 8 - 15 and
the Foreword, Preface, and List of Contents from Novak's collection of texts.
(Note that required readings from the two textbooks are shown in blue. Other readings, usually provided
as handouts on the My.Westminster page, are shown in red).
Fri. 9/7 Religious narratives as models of Human Experience.
Clifford Geertz on Religions as "models of" and "models for" human life (Handout on the My.Westminster page).
Week 3 - Religious Traditions: The Oral Traditions
See BigMyth.com for many of the world's traditional oral myths.
Novak Chapter Eight, Smith Chapter IX.
Mon. 9/10 First short quiz
Creation Myths: Water symbolism and creation.
See Novak's collection for examples of the creation myths of oral peoples.
Week 4 - Hinduism. Make sure you know the basic geography of India. See Maps of India
In fact, make sure you know the location of all of the countries
involved.
See these maps (1)
& (2).
There will be a trip to the Sri Venkateswara temple
in Penn Hills, Pittsburgh sometime in this section of the course.
Usually we will leave from the Patterson Hall car park about 4:15 and
return about 9:00 PM. Students are asked to dress respectfully.
See also
the Saivenkateswara Homepage.
Varnasramadharma - the blessed rage for order.
Novak chapter One.
Smith 16-25, 40-46.
Mon. 9/17 The Vedas and Varnashramadharma.
Wed. 9/19 The valid aims and stages of life.
Fri. 9/21 An Introduction to the BhagavadGita. See Novak 25-40.
The BhagavadGita in the Mahabharata.
Smith 47 - 57.
Week 5 - Hinduism, Continued.
Mon. 9/24 The Yogas.
Smith 26 - 39.
Wed. 9/26 A discussion of Rajayoga: How can "heterophenomenology" be applied to Hinduism? Especially to Rajayoga?
Fri. 9/28
The Buddhadharma - challenging tradition.
Novak chapter Two (especially pages 49-65)
Smith 59-97.
The Life of the Buddha (Powerpoint Handout on the My.Westminster page).
Week 6 - Buddhism continued.
Mon. 10/1 Video: Footprints of the Buddha.
Wed. 10/3 Discussion: Is Theravada Buddhism a "religion?"
Fri. 10/5 Second Short Quiz (Oral Traditions, Hinduism and Buddhism)
Chinese Religion
See these maps (1)
& (2).
San Chiao - Unity and Diversity.
Novak chapters Three and Four
Smith 99 - 143.
See also this note on transliteration and this
map of China during the Han period.
The San Chiao; China's three traditions (Powerpoint Handout on the My.Westminster page) and See this website for
Classical Chinese Scriptures: Daoism.
Week 7 - Chinese Religion continued
Mon. 10/8 Confucianism.
Wed. 10/10 Chinese Buddhism.
Fri. 10/12 Second Essay Answers (Hinduism, Buddhism and Chinese Religion).
Week 8 - Judaism.
Novak chapter Five
Smith 179 - 203.
Mon. 10/15 The People of the Book
Bear these questions in mind as you study.
The Texts, and the History.
Wed. 10/17 The Texts, and the History continued.
Fri. 10/19 Relating texts and history--expression and experience.
Week 9 - Judaism continued
Mon. 10/22 Video: Mightier than the Sword. "A detailed examination of the remains of some of the greatest cities of the time ... shows the nature of the Eastern Hellenistic civilization of which Jerusalem was a part and into which Jesus was born."
Wed. 10/24 Guest Speaker: Rabbi Martin Shorr of the local Jewish community will speak to the class today.
Fri. 10/26 Third Short Quiz (Chinese religion and Judaism)
Contemporary Judaism: Religion and the State of Israel.
Mid-Term Break October 27th - 29th (Saturday to Monday)
Week 10 - Religion and the Arts.
TUESDAY. 10/30 (Monday Classes meet today)
Religion and the Arts: Perceiving the Sacred in the Profane.
Wed. 10/31 The Art of Christianity.
Fri. 11/2 Art in Other Religions.
Week 11 - The History of Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World.
See these documents on The Greco-Roman Context (Link on the My.Westminster page), Greek and Roman Mysteries, and Mithraism and Gnosticism.
Mon. 11/5 The Mystery Religions, Mithraism, and Gnosticism..
Wed. 11/7 Zoroastrianism: the religion of the Persian Empire.
Fri. 11/9 Fourth Short Quiz. Introduction to the Insider/Outsider problem in the study of religion, by Gary Kessler (Handout on the My.Westminster page). See also the article by Kim Knott (Handout on the My.Westminster page).
You are required to turn in a working bibliography for your paper at the end of next week. This must contain at least five properly documented sources, written up in the style required by the notes on the essay.
Week 12 - Introduction to the Study of Christianity.
Mon. 11/12 The Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. Smith 205 - 216.
See also the PBS Frontline website From Jesus to Christ.
Wed. 11/14 Consider The Liturgy of Christianity (Handout on the My.Westminster page) and try to answer the question, "How do the Christian narratives of Easter and Christmas relate to the seasons of the solar year? What, in your opinion, is the significance of this?"
Fri. 11/16 Christianity in History: the successful spread of the early Church. Smith 217 - 229.
Students should see Rel 111: "Early Christian Growth.doc" (Handout on the My.Westminster page)
Whether you are an “insider” or an “outsider,” you came into this course with some assumptions about Christianity and/or Christians. Have your assumptions been confirmed, called into question, or unaffected by the treatments of topics such as “the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith,” the spread of Christianity, Christian “denominations” or “branches,” and Christian sacraments? Responses to such questions should always cite the specific data on which they are based.
Your working bibliography is also due today (Friday 16th) and should be sent by e-mail. This must contain at least five properly documented sources, written up in the style required by the notes on the essay.
Week 13 - Christianty concluded.
Mon. 11/19 Third Essay Answers: (Judaism, Graeco-Roman Religion, and Christianity).
Week 14 - Islam
Novak chapter Seven
Smith 145 - 159.
Mon. 11/26 The History of Islam: The Prophet and the Book.
Wed. 11/28 The Caliphate and the origins of the Sunni/Shia division.
Fri. 11/30 The Five Pillars of Islam and Principles of Islamic Theology.
See this searchable database
Today is your last chance to have a rough draft of your paper checked.
Week 15- Islam Continued
Smith 160 - 177.
Mon. 12/3 Sufism--Islamic Mysticism.
Tomorrow evening at 5:30 in the Mueller Theater there will be a screening of Education under Fire in Iran, a video about the persecution of the
Baha'i faith in contemporary Iran. Students are strongly encouraged to attend and to think about the comparison with the persecution of the Hebrew and
Christian traditions in the past and the condition of contemporary Islam.
Wed. 12/5 Dr. Ahmad Abul-Ela, a member of the local Muslim community will visit the class today.
Fri. 12/7 The last class. Heterophenomenology and Islam.
Your paper
is due in today (as an e-mail attachment, by 4:30).
Explanation of the Final Examination.
Student Assessments of the course.
I will hand out the take-home final in this class.
The Completed take-home final examination may be handed in as an e-mail attachments anytime before the deadline, but you must await a positive response from me that I have received your paper before you assume that I have got it, because I will not accept any excuses whatsoever for final exams that have been somehow lost.
