SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS WORLD RELIGIONS Fall 2012 Discipline: Religious Studies RELG 1559-501: New Course in Religion: World Religions (Section 1) RELG 1559-502: New Course in Religion: World Religions (Section 2) Division: Lower Faculty Name: Barry Penn Hollar Pre-requisites: None COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is a comparative study of the origins, beliefs, and practices of the world's major religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and indigenous religious traditions (with a focus on Africa). In order to complement the voyage itinerary, a particular focus will be the historic and contemporary interaction of religious traditions in the regions surrounding the Atlantic Ocean. Topics will include study of 1) Christian, Jewish, and Muslim relations in the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule (710-1031 CE); 2) the interaction between African traditional religions, Islam, and Christianity in Ghana; 3) the place of religion in struggles against apartheid in South Africa and the abuse of human rights in Argentina, 4) the historic syncretic or creole religious traditions, combining African and Christian elements especially in Brazil. COURSE OBJECTIVES - Students will be able identify and explain in writing various methods of studying religion with particular emphasis on the phenomenological method. - Students will be able to identify and define key terms related to the origins, beliefs, and practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, African Traditional Religions, and Candomble. - Students will be able to describe in writing the basic features of the relationship between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity in the Iberian Peninsula between the 8 th and 11 th Centuries.. -Students will be able to identify and describe in writing key features of the encounter between Christianity and African Traditional Religion as displayed in Chinua Achebe s Things Fall Apart. - Students will be able to identify and describe in writing the role of religion in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and to preserve human rights in Argentina. 1
- Students will be able to identify and describe in writing key features of Brazilian Candomble. -Students will be able to reflectively relate field experiences in various port cities to fundamental aspects of the various religious traditions they study. REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AUTHOR: Michael Molloy TITLE: Experiencing the World s Religions PUBLISHER: Mc Graw Hill ISBN #: 978-0-07-340750-0 DATE/EDITION: 2009, Fifth Edition COST: $83.21 AUTHOR: Chinua Achebe TITLE: Things Fall Apart PUBLISHER: Anchor ISBN #: 978-0385474542 DATE/EDITION: 1994 COST: $5.78 REQUIREMENTS: 1) Attendance: Regular attendance is expected. One absence is allowed. After one absence, other unexcused absences will be penalized, reducing the final grade 2.5 points per absence. Tardiness to three classes counts as an absence. 2) Readings:- Readings are to be completed before the class session to which they are related. These assignments will be the basis for classroom discussions and tests. There will be occasional reading quizzes to encourage attention to readings and to promote discussions. 3) Fieldwork Journals: Each student will keep a journal for reflective relating of experiences in Faculty-Led Trips and S@S trips to course material. On the basis of those journals, students will write an essay (750-1000 words in length) that address specific themes and questions related to course material. These papers will be evaluated based on their demonstration of key concepts from course material relevant to the field experience. 4) Field Lab experience: Students will participate in a seminar experience in Ghana or South Africa related to the interaction of religious traditions in those contexts. After the seminar, students will be required to write an essay of 3-5 pages describing the ways in which the experienced deepened and made more concrete their understanding of the world s religious traditions and their interactions. 5) Tests and Exam: There will be two tests and a final exam. 2
GRADE STRUCTURE Reading Quizes 20% Field Work Essays 20% Midterm 20% Final Exam 40% The grade scale is: A 100-90; B 89-80; C 79-70; D 69-60; F 59 or lower. The course requirements and course schedule above are subject to adjustment as deemed necessary by the professor. Students will be notified well in advance of changes. TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE Topic Assignments/Reading Day 1 General Intro/Methods Molloy, Ch. 1 Religion, its key characteristics, sacred/profane, religious symbolism, patterns, approaches to the study of religion, including a phenomenological approach. Day 2 Judaism Molloy, Ch 8 Abraham and Abrahamic religions, the meaning and importance of covenants, key moments in the history of ancient Israel, the canon of Scripture, the development of Rabbinical Judaism Day 3 Judaism/Christianity Molloy Ch 9, 342-379 Jewish beliefs and practices in the modern world, the Holocaust and modern Judaism. The early Christian Community, the life and teaching of Jesus, interpreting Jesus life and death. Dublin Day 4 Christianity Molloy Ch 9, 379-421 Branches of Christianity: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal. Day 5 Islam Molloy, Ch. 10, 422-465 Life of Muhammad, The unique status of the Qur an as sacred text, Five Pillars of Islam, The struggle for leadership after Muhammad, Branches of Islam: Sunni, Shia, and Sufi. 3
Day 6 Islam Molloy, Ch. 10, 465-484 Day 7 Islam and Christianity in Africa Islam and Christendom, in Esposito Islam in Africa to 1800, in Esposito Day 8 African Traditional Religion Malloy, Ch 2 and Ch. 11, 497-501 Specific to Africa, TBD Human relationships with the natural world, sacred time and space, gods and ancestors, sacred practices (life-cycle ceremonies, taboo, shamanism). The primary features of African Traditional Religion, including the centrality of community, belief in a High God and lesser divinities, the role of divinization and ritual (including music and dancing), and ecstatic experience. Day 9 Christianity in Africa, THINGS FALL APART Achebe, Chs. 1-13 Day 10 Christianity in Africa, THINGS FALL APART Achebe, Chs. 14-25 Day 11 Religion in the Struggle Against Apartheid We Drink to Fill Our Stomachs, Tutu The Divine Imperative, Tutu Your Policies Are Unbiblical, Unchristian, Immoral, and Evil, Tutu Day 12 Religion in the Struggle Against Apartheid The Kairos Document Day 13 Midterm Day 14 Hinduism Molloy Ch. 3, 74-95 Origins, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Caste System, the stages and goals of life Day 15 Hinduism 2/Buddhism Molloy Ch. 3, 95-123 Molloy, Ch. 4, 124-148 Hindu devotion, Hinduism and the Arts, Modern Challenges for Hinduism. The beginnings of Buddhism and its basic teachings (the four noble truths and the eightfold path), Theravada Buddhism. Day 16 Buddhism Molloy, Ch. 4, 148-187 Kramer, Ch. 4 (selections TBD) Mahayana Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, Buddhism in the modern world. 4
Day 17 Liberation Theology and the Struggle for Human Rights in Argentina TBD The emergence of Latin American Liberation theology including the role of Christian faith in supporting revolutionary struggle and human rights. Day 18 Candomble TBD The basic beliefs and practices of Candomble as an example of religions syncretism. Interpretations of the significance of Candomble as a dimension of the struggle against oppression and cultural annihilation. Day 19 Jainism and Sikhism Molloy, Ch, 5 The origins, worldview, ethics and branches of Jainism. The origins, worldview, and teachings of Sikhism. Day 20 Daoism and Confucianism Molloy, Ch. 6 The origins, teachings and development of Daoism. The life of Confucius and Confucian values and literature. Day 21 Religion in the Amazon TBD Specific features of religion among the indigenous peoples of the Amazon including their appropriation of Catholicism and Pentecostalism. Day 22 The Modern Search Molloy, Ch. 12 Modern challenges for religion: multiculturalism and interfaith dialogue, women s rights movements, reassessment of human sexuality, science and technology and the ethical dilemmas that result, secularism, and threats to the environment. Day 23 Day-24 Catch-up and Review Final Exam 5