INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS
nikkibf@iastate.edu Office
Hours: M 2-4, W
and by appointment
Course Objectives
This course is an
introduction to the academic study
of world religions, including myths or sacred stories, beliefs, ritual
practices, and values. Neither the students’ nor the instructor’s personal
religious beliefs are at issue or are matters for evaluation. Students will be introduced to some of the
major theoretical and methodological problems at issue in the comparative study
of religions and to selected religious traditions.
Texts
Daniel Pals, Seven Theories of Religion
(1996) (abbreviated as 7 T)
M.P. Fisher, Living Religions (Fourth
Edition) (abbreviated as LR)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
Stone (abbreviated as HP)
Additional materials collected in a
course packet (abbreviated as CP)
Grades will be based
on two short essays, three exams, occasional quizzes, and in-class or homework
assignments. This syllabus (like most) is a flexible outline of planned
readings and activities. Students are
expected to have completed the required readings prior to class and to keep current with any changes in readings or
assignments announced during classes.
Class lectures are intended to supplement and extend the readings rather than to merely summarize them. This
means two things in particular. You are
responsible for information from your readings that may not have been covered
in class, and things may be covered in lectures (or in class films) that are
not in your readings. Therefore, attendance is required in order to
master the information needed to successfully pass the course.
Two Essays (10 pts. each) 20
points (20%)
First Exam 20 points (20%)
Second Exam 20 points (20%)
Third Exam (no final) 30
points (30%)
Quizzes/Assignments 10
points (10%)
Total: 100
points (100%)
Essays will be graded
on the basis of content, how well they answer the questions, clarity of argument,
and quality of writing. They must be 4-5
pages in length, typed (double-spaced, 12 pt. font), and spell-checked. One point per business day will be deducted
for late essays unless you have a written
medical excuse. Essay topics are given
later in the syllabus.
Grading Scale
The overall course
grade is based on the 100 point system.
The scale is as follows:
100-94 A 76-74 C
93-90 A- 73-70 C-
89-87 B+ 69-67 D+
86-84 B 66-64 D
83-80 B- 63-60 D-
79-77 C+ 59-0 F
Plagiarism and
cheating will be penalized according to the full extent of University policy.
Any student who is suspected of academic misconduct will be referred to the
Dean of Students in Judicial Affairs. Students with disabilities should request
that Disability Resources staff send a
Examinations may include
a mixture of matching, multiple choice, fill in the blank,
and very short answer. Study guides are
provided as a courtesy and should be considered only as “rules of thumb” for
help in preparing for each exam. Exams
may also include terms and concepts that come up in readings, class lecture, or
discussion, but are not on the study guides. Make-up exams will be considered
only upon presentation of a written medical excuse.
Students may earn up
to 3 points of “extra credit.”
Activities eligible for extra credit are noted on the syllabus or will
be announced ahead of time in class and are worth 1 point each for a 1-2 page
summary of the major points of the activity as
it relates to the themes and ideas discussed in class. For example, if you watch a recommended movie
for extra credit, I will expect you to discuss the parts of the movie that
relate specifically to ideas about that religion, not give me a rehash of the
movie jacket cover. I will refuse extra
credit for those summaries that I determine do not adequately address the
subject.
When there is more
than one extra credit opportunity, only one of them will count in any given
week. Therefore, you are strongly urged
to participate early in some of these activities or lose the opportunity, which
you will no doubt regret toward the end of the semester.
Extra credit summaries must be typed and turned in no later
than Wednesday of the week following the extra credit opportunity—NO
EXCEPTIONS.
Why is it so hard to talk about
religion?
Class Schedule (Modified as
Needed)
The Academic
Study of Religions: Attitude &
Approach
Syllabus, Requirements,
Expectations. In-class exercise: What is religion?
Developing
a Framework for the Comparative Study of Religions: Joachim Wach
The
Hermeneutics of the Sacred: Mircea
Eliade
CP, Guide to
Eliade’s Terms
Week 2: 8/30-9/3 Indigenous
Sacred Ways: Orientation &
Relationships
Indigenous
or Primal Sacred Traditions: Navigating
the Web of Life
Week 3: 9/6-10
Into the Flow: Applying Tools to
Experience
9/6
Getting
into the Flow: Understanding Others’
Religious Experiences
Week 4: 9/13-17 Can
Religion Be Explained Away?
Religion as Political Ideology: Karl Marx
Religion as
Psychological Weakness: Sigmund Freud
Religion as
Social Construct: Emile Durkheim
The
• First Essay Due: Wednesday, September 22, at the
beginning of class.
Week 6: 9/27-10/1 Jainism: Winning Over Passions
Extra Credit Activity: Watch the film Gandhi and discuss how Gandhi’s
religious background influenced his methods of social protest
Week 7: 10/4-8 Buddhism(s):
Walking the Middle Path
10/4 First
Exam (will cover everything through Week 6)
The
Life of the Buddha, Basic Principles of Buddhism
Extra Credit Activity: Watch the film The Little Buddha and relate the end of
the movie to relevant themes
The
Way of the Tao and the Way of the Ancestors
The
Roots of the Abrahamic Traditions
Extra Credit Activity: Visit the Hillel or
a synagogue and, using your tools, describe or comment upon practices, sacred
space or architecture, gender roles, and so forth, that you observe.
Week 10: 10/25-29 Christianity:
The Message of the New Testament
The
Coming of a Messiah and the Birth of a New Religion
Extra Credit Activity: Again using your
tools, visit a church (preferably not one that you attend regularly, if you do
attend one) and describe or comment upon practices, sacred space or architecture,
gender roles, and so forth, that you observe during your visit.
11/1 Second
Exam (will cover Weeks 7 through 10)
African Religions in the Diaspora
Week 12: 11/8-12 Islam:
Following the Five Pillars
The
Life of Mohammed: Returning to the Path
of Abraham
Extra Credit Activity: Watch the
documentary of Malcolm X and discuss
how his exposure to Islam influenced his life and political activism.
Common
Themes of New Religions
• Second Essay
Due: Wednesday November 17, at the
beginning of class.
No class Friday
11/19.
12/3 Third
Exam (Comprehensive, with primary focus on second half of the semester)
Attendance is mandatory during this week
12/13 I will be in my office from 11-12 for
discussion or for you to pick up any essays, exams, or other assignments that
you may not have already retrieved.
Essay Assignments
Essays should be 4-5
pages in length, typed with a normal 12 pt. font, double-spaced, and
spell-checked. Do not include the question that you are answering or waste
words telling me what you are going to do or what you have done. Remember that
the technical aspects of the essay—focus,
organization, syntax, grammar, spelling, etc.—are an important part of the
assignment. Each essay should have a
cover or title page that includes an appropriate title for your subject, your
name, the course, the instructor, and the semester and year.
Essay One: Due
September 22
Use ONLY class materials and the Seven Theories book to address the
questions. During the course of your paper, be sure to address each aspect of
the topic, although you need not follow the particular order of questions.
Include short quotations and page citations from the materials you
have read. This will help you to be sure
that you are reading carefully and are correct in your synopsis of the theorist’s
ideas. It will also show that you have
done the reading.
You have been assigned ONE of the following topics.
1. What is the problem with religion for
Marx? Explain what Marx means when he
refers to religion as alienation. What
is Marx’ definition of the human and how does it relate to economics? How is religion tied to economics? What does Marx mean when he says that
religion is an opiate? How does religion
distract or prevent human beings from attaining true social and economic progress?
How can religion be used as a tool of oppression? Discuss the benefits and limitations of a
Marxist approach. How might Marx be
useful as a tool in understanding religions’ various roles in culture?
2. Freud also thinks that there is a
problem with religion. What is Freud’s
critique of religion? Does he view
religion as a positive or negative influence on human civilization? How does religion figure in his view of the
human? How does religion function as a mechanism of social control? What are
Freud’s two explanations of how religion began? What does it mean to say that
religion is an illusion (wish fulfillment) or a neurosis? How does Freud view
religion as opposed to science? What are
the strengths and weaknesses of a psychological approach to the study of
religion? How might Freud be useful as a tool for understanding religions’
various roles in culture?
3. Durkheim is a founder of the sociology
of religion. How does Durkheim
understand the human? What does it mean
to say that religion is a function of social need? How does this compare with
the idea that religion is about individual experiences or beliefs? Durkheim thought that early or primitive
religions were simple and progressed to more complex systems later on. What do you think of this evolutionary thrust
of Durkheim’s theory of religion? Do
primitive peoples have primitive or simple religions? Give reasons to support your judgment. How might Durkheim be useful as a tool for
understanding religions?
4. Eliade had the utmost respect for
religious experience and tied religion to our very essence. What does it mean to be human for
Eliade? Why does Eliade say that
religion must always be explained “on its own terms?” In other words, what does that mean? How does
Eliade use the concepts of sacred and profane? What is the relation of Eliade’s
hermeneutics of the sacred to symbols as universals? to history (archaic
vs. modern)? to
space? What limitations do you see to the hermeneutics of the sacred as
expressed by Eliade? What are its
strengths? How might Eliade be useful as
tool for comparing different religions?
Essay Two: Due
November 17
Compare and contrast
the relationship between the divine (or god or the sacred) and humanity in one
of the indigenous (tribal, preliterate) sacred traditions, one of the Wisdom
traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism) and one of the Abrahamic traditions (Judaism,
Christianity, or Islam). Be sure to
include references to ritual praxis as well as theological beliefs to
illustrate your observations where appropriate.
What can we learn from undertaking this comparison? How easy or difficult is it to compare
religious traditions cross-culturally?
What are some things that we have to keep in mind in attempting this comparative
effort? Can comparison help us in
understanding religious praxis around the world? (If appropriate, call upon the theorists
we’ve used in the course as resources in addressing this question.)