TRS 280: The Religious Quest Section 2, Spring semester 2009 Instructor: Charles B. Jones Office: Caldwell Hall 107-D Phone: x6882 E-mail: jonesc@cua.edu Class meetings:tuth 3:35-4:50 p.m., McCort-Ward 209 Course description and objectives: This course will examine religion from the viewpoint of human aspiration: what do people seek from their religions? We will begin by asking what religion is, and then proceed to examine the rise of the academic discipline called religious studies, see how it differs from theology, explore several areas of human life, thought, and activity in which religion plays a role. The approach taken will be historical, analytical, and descriptive. By the end of the semester, the student should know how the field of religious studies developed and what approaches it utilizes, have a greatly expanded vision of the forms that the religious quest has taken, how it has interacted with other areas of life and society, and of the breadth of religious beliefs that have appeared throughout human history. Class procedures: The course will be conducted through lecture, discussion, and audiovisual presentations. Students are expected to have read the assigned readings for each class day and to be prepared to discuss them intelligently. Course requirements and grading: 1. Attendance 20% 2. mid-term examination 20% 3. Final examination 30% 4. Paper 30% 1. Attendance will be recorded at all lecture and discussion sections beginning the second week of class, and the final grade will be a straight percentage of sessions attended over sessions recorded. Absences will be permitted for one of the following reasons with documentation: death in family, other family emergency, illness, university-sponsored trip. Other absences may be excused at instructor s discretion. 2, 3. The mid-term and final examinations will require the student to review and synthesize material presented in the course of the semester. A study guide with potential exam questions will be distributed beforehand. 4. Paper: see end of syllabus for complete description of requirements and standards. The paper is due on april 30 th.
University grades: The University grading system is available at http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad//gradesfull.cfm#ii for undergraduates. Reports of grades in courses are available at the end of each term on http://cardinalstation.cua.edu. Academic Honesty Academic honesty is expected of all CUA students. Faculty are required to initiate the imposition of sanctions when they find violations of academic honesty, such as plagiarism, improper use of a student s own work, cheating, and fabrication. The following sanctions are presented in the University procedures related to Student Academic Dishonesty (from http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad/integrityprocedures.cfm): The presumed sanction for undergraduate students for academic dishonesty will be failure for the course. There may be circumstances, however, where, perhaps because of an undergraduate student s past record, a more serious sanction, such as suspension or expulsion, would be appropriate. In the context of graduate studies, the expectations for academic honesty are greater, and therefore the presumed sanction for dishonesty is likely to be more severe, e.g., expulsion....in the more unusual case, mitigating circumstances may exist that would warrant a lesser sanction than the presumed sanction. Please review the complete texts of the University policy and procedures regarding Student Academic Dishonesty, including requirements for appeals, at http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad/integrity.cfm and http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad/integrity.cfm. Communications: CUA policy requires that all school-related e-mail communications be done through CUA accounts (i.e., <You@cua.edu>). It is the student s responsibility to check their CUA e- mailboxes regularly, and queries submitted to the instructor via other services (e.g., Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, etc.) will be answered using the student s university account. Required texts: James C. Livingston, Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion, 6th ed. Daniel Pals, EightTtheories of Religion. These texts is available at the campus bookstore. Supplemental readings Charles B. Jones, Theological Models, from The View From Mars Hill: Christianity in the Landscape of World Religions. Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 2005. Richard K. Nelson, The Watchful World, from Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest. University of Chicago Press, 1983. p. 14-32. TRS 280: Religious Quest, p. 2
E.O. Oyelade, Evil in Yoruba Religion and Culture, in Evil and the Response of World Religion, ed. William Cenkner. St. Paul: Paragon House, 1997. 157-169. W.C. Smith, Scripture as Form and Concept: Their Emergence in the Western World, in Rethinking Scripture: Essays from a Comparative Perspective. ed. Miriam Levering. State University of New York Press, 1989. p. 29-57. Rodney Stark and Roger Finke, Atheism, Faith, and the Social Scientific Study of Religion, in Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. University of California Press, 2000, p. 1-23. Regina W. Wolfe, Charles B. Jones, and Frances Adeney, A Bundle of Joy, from Ethics and World Religions: Cross-Cultural Case Studies, ed. Wolfe and Gudorf. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1999, p. 172-198. I. PRELIMINARIES Tues., Jan. 13: Introduction to course no reading ************************************** COURSE OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE Thurs., Jan. 15: Film: Walking with Prehistoric Creatures (Students will have a worksheet to make notes on while watching film) Tues., Jan. 20: Inauguration Day holiday (no classes) Thurs., Jan. 22: Defining religion Livingston, chapter one. II. THE RISE OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES Tues. Jan. 27: Early history: the split between theology and religious studies Livingston, chapter two TRS 280: Religious Quest, p. 3
Thurs., Jan. 29: Anthropology (I) Pals, chapter one (Tylor and Frazer) Tues., Feb. 3: Anthropology (II) Pals, chapter eight (Geertz) Thurs., Feb. 5: Sociology (I) Pals, chapter three (Durkheim) Tues., Feb. 10: Sociology (II) Pals, chapter four (Marx) Thurs., Feb. 12: Sociology (III) Pals, chapter five (Weber) Tues., Feb. 17: Psychology Pals, chapter two (Freud) Thurs., Feb. 19: Phenomenology Livingston, chapter 3; Pals, chapter six (Eliade) Tues., Feb. 24: Balancing scholarship and faith Rodney Stark and Roger Finke, Atheism, Faith, and the Social Scientific Study of Religion Thurs., Feb. 26: Mid-term examination March 2-8: Spring Break TRS 280: Religious Quest, p. 4
III. TOPICS IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES Tues., Mar. 10: Myths, symbols, and doctrines Livingston, chapter 4; Richard K. Nelson, The Watchful World Thurs., Mar. 12: Ritual Livingston, chapter 5 Tues., Mar. 17: Scriptures (I) Livingston, chapter six. Thurs., Mar. 19: Scriptures (II) W.C. Smith, Scripture as Form and Concept: Their Emergence in the Western World Tues., Mar. 24: Religion and society: religion as social structure Livingston, chapter seven (to page 133); chapter fifteen (p. 373-393) Thurs., Mar. 26: Religion and society: protest and prophecy, and counterculture Livingston, chapter seven (p. 133 to end) Tues., Mar. 31 Religion and society: women and religion Livingston, chapter fifteen, p. 361-373. Thurs., Apr. 2 God[s] and myth Livingston, chapter eight. Tues., apr. 7: : The world Livingston, chapter nine. April 9-13: Easter holiday TRS 280: Religious Quest, p. 5
Tues., Apr. 14: The human condition Livingston, chapter ten. Thurs., Apr. 16: Liberation and salvation Livingston, chapter thirteen Tues., Apr. 21: : Ethics (I) Livingston, chapter twelve; Wolfe, Jones, and Adeney, A Bundle of Joy Thurs., Apr. 23: Theodicy and evil Livingston, chapter eleven; E.O. Oyelade, Evil in Yoruba Religion and Culture. Tues., Apr. 28: Religious Diversity, theological aspects Charles B. Jones, Theological models Thurs., Apr. 30: Discussion session No new reading Final examination: Tuesday, May 5, 4:00 6:00 p.m. ********************************* Guidelines for paper assignment: Each student is to submit an 8-10 page paper on a classic text in religious studies, chosen from the following list: Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy Émile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life Rita M. Gross, Feminism and Religion Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience TRS 280: Religious Quest, p. 6
C.G. Jung, Psychology and Religion David Hume, The Natural History of Religion Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy Rodney Stark and Roger Finke, Acts of Faith Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism The above books are all permitted; the student may propose another book with the instructor s consent. This book will form the basis for the paper. The student will read it, and will do research to locate other authors who, in articles, books, or book reviews, have commented on it. The student should then make some brief remarks on the author s life and historical circumstances, summarize the main argument of the book in question, the responses of other scholars, and then put forward his/her own critical assessment. This assessment must be grounded entirely in scholarly arguments. It is not permissible to mount a theological critique or to bring in theological categories. With few exceptions, these authors are not Christians, and such a critique would be irrelevant. Instead, the student should focus on first understanding the author s argument, and only then move on to critiquing the structure and soundness of their argument, their use of evidence, possible omissions and oversights, and various other strengths and weaknesses. Grading will be based on the following criteria: 1. Depth of research undertaken and results reported 2. Organization and clarity of expression 3. Adherence to proper style in notes and documentation (MLA, Turabian, Chicago Manual of Style) 4. Mechanics (spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.) The student should use Times New Roman 12-point type and set margins at one inch on all sides. (Be careful: some word processors default to larger margines, and you might have to reset them.) The due date is the last day of class (April 30, 2009). The paper should be submitted electronically. TRS 280: Religious Quest, p. 7