RS 023E INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS Term 2 Class Time: M, W, F, 9-10am N166 Professor: Ian Scott Office: N060 (Wemple Building, lower level) Office Hours: M 10-11am, T 2-3pm, F 10-11am Phone: 433-3491 x.4435 e-mail: iscott2@uwo.ca web-site: http://www.ian-w-scott.com COURSE DESCRIPTION The second term of the course will follow a very similar pattern as this first term, but with the focus placed on the major Western religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In this second term we will also look briefly at Sikhism as an example of a tradition which resists the East/West classification, and we will examine some of the ways in which Asian and Western religious traditions have influenced one another. Finally we will take a second run at asking whether all the world s religions lead to the same goal or whether they are at their centre incompatible. LEARNING GOALS By the end of the course, each students should be able to: discuss the nature of religion and different definitions of religion; discuss the relationship between tribal religions, prehistoric religion, and the world religions ; describe the basic beliefs and practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; discuss the similarity between some secular ways of living and religions; discuss whether or not all religions lead to the same end; pursue independent research into various religions; work with others in a group to accomplish a common task; communicate what they have learned effectively in speech and writing. COURSE OUTLINE: Spring Term (subject to change if necessary) Jan 5 th Jan 7 th Jan 9 th Introduction: The Monotheistic Religions The Jewish Story: God, Creation, and Restoration Genesis 1-11; Isaiah ; Proverbs Elwood, 262-269, 276-278 The Jewish Story: Abraham, Moses, and Israel's Special Role Genesis 12-22; Exodus 1-19 SYLLABUS World Religions Term 2 1 of 7
Jan 12 th Jan 14 th Jan 16 th Jan 19 th Jan 21 st Jan 23 rd Jan 26 th Jan 28 th Jan 30 th Feb 2 nd Feb 4 th Feb 6 th Feb 9 th Feb 11 th The Jewish Story: Israel's Struggle and the Experience of Exile Deuteronomy 27-28; Judges 1-7, 19-21; 1 Kings 11-12; 2 Kings 17-25 The Jewish Story: From Exile to Dispersion Tobit, 1 Maccabees Elwood, 269-271 The Rabbis: Building a God-patterned Community Exodus 21-23 Mishnah 'Avot (on reserve in the King's library) Maimonides, excerpts from Guide for the Perplexed (on reserve) Elwood, 271-275 Jewish Practices: Purity, Kosher, Shabbat, and Bar/Bat-Mitzvah Leviticus 11-15; 17:10-18:30; 23:3 Excerpts from Mishnah Kelim, Tohoroth, Hullin, Shabbath (on reserve) Elwood, 282-283 Jewish Festivals: High Holy Days, Agricultural Festivals, Purim, and Hanukkah Leviticus 23; Esther Elwood, 278-283 Divisions within Modern Judaism Elwood, 275 Worship in the Jewish Synagogue Excerpts from the Siddur or Jewish Prayer Book (on reserve) Jewish Mysticism: Hekhalot and Kaballah Judaism and the Experience of Holocaust Job 1-10; 20-21; 38-42 Excerpts from Harold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People (on reserve) The Birth of Christianity: Jesus of Nazareth The Gospel of Mark Elwood, 296-299 SYLLABUS World Religions Term 2 2 of 7
Feb 13 th Feb 16 th Feb 18 th Feb 20 th Feb 23 rd Feb 25 th Feb 27 th March 1 st March 3 rd March 5 th March 8 th March 10 th March 12 th March 15 th March 17 th The Birth of Christianity: The first two centuries The Acts of the Apostles St. Paul's letter to the Galatians The Martyrdom of Polycarp (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/martyrdompolycarp.html) Elwood, 299-306 Church and Empire: The Constantinian Shift Elwood, 306-308, 326-329 Councils and Heresies: Crystalizing Basic Christian Beliefs Excerpts from the council declarations (on reserve) Elwood, 308-312 Eastern Orthodoxy Elwood, 329-332 Conference Week Conference Week Conference Week Roman Catholocism St. Thomas Aquinas, excerpts from Summa Theologica (on reserve) Excerpts from the documents of the Second Vatican Council (on reserve) Elwood, 312-316, 325-326, 332-336 Protestantism Excerpts from the writings of Martin Luther and John Calvin (on reserve) Elwood, 316-325, 336-344 Christianity as a World Religion: Imperialism or Mission? Elwood, 344-351 The Birth of Islam: Muhammad and the Qur'an Elwood, 377-386 The Foundation of Islam: The Five Pillars Elwood, 386-390 Muslim Devotion: Daily Prayer and the Mosque Elwood, 390-393 ** Annotated Bibliographies Due Islamic Civilization Elwood, 393-401 Shari'a: The Law of God Elwood, 412-420 SYLLABUS World Religions Term 2 3 of 7
March 19 th March 22 nd March 24 th March 26 th March 29 th The Great Division: Sunni and Shi'a Elwood, 401-407 ** Essay Outlines Due The Sufis: Islamic Mysticism Elwood, 407-411 Islam and Jihad: Does Religion Produce Violence? Group presentation: Women in the Monotheistic Religions ** Field Reports Due Group presentation: Sikhism between East and West March 31 st Group presentation:??? April 2 nd April 5 th April 7 th Secular "Religions": Is Religion Avoidable? Willard Oxtoby, "The Nature of Religion" (on reserve) **Essays Due Do all religions lead to the same end? Willard Oxtoby, "Traditions in Contact" (on reserve) Excerpts from Gavin D'Costa, Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered (on reserve) Review ** Passover ** ASSIGNMENTS FOR TERM 2 (revised) All students will complete the following assignments: Weekly test questions: Each Monday students will hand in 1 possible test question based on the previous week s topics. These questions may follow a short answer, definition, or multiple-choice format. Again, these will be marked on a simple pass/fail basis. Essay: At the end of the year each student will write an essay of 2500 words or more on the topic of their group s presentation (either from term 1 or in term 2). The essays must be written individually, but students may draw from any of the ideas discussed in their group and will benefit from the research done by all of the group members over the term. A detailed marking scheme will be provided later in the term. In addition to the essay itself, Question: Early in the term students will be asked to submit in writing (or by email) the question which they will try to answer in their papers. This question should be expressed in one sentence. Question & annotated bibliography: This assignment should begin by stating the specify question (in one sentence) which the student intends to answer in the final paper. Following this should be a bibliography of material which the student has already read on the topic. Beneath each entry on the bibliography should be a short paragraph describing how the source will help the student to answer his or her question. For guidelines on the kind of sources to consult in this research, SYLLABUS World Religions Term 2 4 of 7
students should consult the guidelines for essay-writing on the class web-page. This assignment will be evaluated on a) breadth and depth of research; b) evidence that the readings have been understood; c) a clear awareness of how each reading will relate to the student's question; and d) use of proper grammar and style (including proper bibliographic format). Thesis & outline: This assignment should begin by stating the thesis which the student intends to argue in the final paper. This thesis should be stated in one sentence and should be an answer to the question which the student set out to ask. Following the thesis statement, students should provide an outline listing the main points which will be brought forward to support the thesis. For each of these main points students should also provide a series of sub-points, specifying the evidence which will be used to support the main point. This assignment will be evaluated on a) the persuasiveness of the argument presented; b) success in responding to possible counter-arguments; and c) use of proper grammar and style. Final exam in term 2: This will again be made up entirely from questions provided by students and will cover only material from term 2. In addition, students may choose one of the following three options: a) Group presentation: Groups may choose to give a 35 to 40-minute presentation in the latter part of the term. Presentations may focus on answering one of the following questions: < What roles have women played in the monotheistic religions? < What is Sikhism and how is it related to both "Eastern" and "Western" religions? < What is Zoroastrianism and how is it related to the monotheistic religions? < What is the relationship between the monotheistic religions and ecology? < What approaches have the monotheistic religions taken to sexuality? < How are the monotheistic religions portrayed in contemporary movies? Other presentation topics may be proposed by groups. In addition to the professor's grade, you will also receive a participation mark, awarded (anonymously) by the other members of your group. b) Field Reports on Religious Groups in London: Students may choose to visit 2 different worship services in the London area and then write a brief (2-3 page) report on each visit. Field trips will be organized by the professor to a local Jewish Synagogue, an Eastern Orthodox Church, a Catholic Church, at least one Protestant Church, a Muslim Mosque, and if possible Hindu and/or Buddhist temples. If possible we will also have an organized question-and-answer period with a leader from the group visited. For the purposes of this assignment, students may not include visits to their own religious group, and the three groups visited must represent completely different religious traditions (i.e., one cannot count both a visit to an Eastern Orthodox Church and a visit to a Protestant Church). The field reports stemming from these visits should include: a description of what happened in the service (i.e., what happened?); an interpretation of the significance of the elements of the service within the context of the religion (i.e., what did it mean and why do they do this?) A more detailed marking scheme will be supplied on the class web-page closer to the time, and a schedule of these field trips will be announced as soon as possible. GRADE BREAK-DOWN (revised) SYLLABUS World Religions Term 2 5 of 7
For group-presentation option: Group Participation (peer mark) 5% 16 Weekly group reports (pass/fail) (8 each term) 2 Group presentations (2 * 10%) 20 Weekly test questions (pass/fail) (10 each term) 2 Tests (2 * 10%) 5% 20% 5% 20% Final exam 20% Essay on group topic 25% 100% For the field-report option: Group presentation from term 1 15% Participation mark (peer) 2.5% 8 Weekly group reports 2.5% Final presentation 10% 3 Field Reports (3 * 5%) 20 Weekly test questions (pass/fail) (10 each term) 2 Tests (2 * 10%) 15% 5% 20% Final exam 20% Essay 25% 100% REQUIRED TEXTS Ellwood, Robert S. and Barbara A. McGraw. Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in the World Religions. 7 th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. SYLLABUS World Religions Term 2 6 of 7
The Bible (Old and New Testaments with the "Apocrypha" or "Deuterocanonical Books"). Dawood, N. J., Trans. The Koran. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin, 2003. ACADEMIC HONESTY Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea, or passage from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by quotation marks and in footnotes. Plagiarism is a major academic offence. The University of Western Ontario uses software for plagiarism checking. If plagiarism is suspected, you may be required to submit your essay in electronic form for plagiarism checking. For further information on plagiarism see the Scholastic Offence Policy in Western's Academic Calendar. SYLLABUS World Religions Term 2 7 of 7