Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Fall 2023

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the major religious traditions of the world. It includes Eastern, Western, ancient, indigenous, and new religious movements. Its major goal is to inform students about the beliefs, histories, and practices of the world’s religions from pre-historic times to the present. Amongst other things, the expectation is that students will appreciate the significance of religions and beliefs systems in the birth and development of civilizations, their influence in the everyday life of practitioners, history, and the contemporary world, and the need to acquire knowledge and understanding of religions and religious practices.

Student Outcomes

With respect to Learning Goal 1: Religious Literacy I. To develop a solid foundation of credible knowledge about diverse religions and the concept of “religion.” II. To understand how religious traditions have shaped—and are shaped in turn by— historical-cultural contexts. III. To recognize the global diversity of religious traditions and the diversity within each tradition. IV. To acknowledge the importance of religion in the human search for meaning and purpose, and for the force of this meaning to shape individuals, communities, societies, and nations. V. To appreciate the relationship between religion, the human imagination, and artistic creations. With respect to Learning Goal 2: Global/Intercultural Competence I. Cultivation of a greater global and cultural awareness of self and other by engaging with peoples and cultures from around the globe. II. To develop robust and responsible ways to think comparatively about religious similarities and differences. • Students will be able to identify definitions of religion and their limitations. • Students will be able to describe characteristic patterns/dimensions shared by religious traditions. • Students will be able to identify geo-cultural regions and their respective majority religious traditions. • Students will be able to evaluate the importance of “pluralism” and “tolerance” when assessing global religions and diversity within religious traditions. • Students will be able to identify the intersections of human creative expression/religious arts.Students will be able to demonstrate a capacity to work open-mindedly with students from all backgrounds, cultures, and religions. • Students will be able to write essays and theses using cross-culturally framed and informed research questions. III. To gain familiarity with non-western religious traditions and cultures through a comparative approach and deepening knowledge of non-western religions and socio- historical contexts. IV. Strengthen empathetic (non-judgmental, open and curious) engagement with the diversity of religious worldviews and the cultures from which they emerge. With respect to Learning Goal 3: Reading, Speaking, and Writing I. To read, understand, and critically analyze religious texts (both oral and written) and artifacts from a number of different genres, registers, regions, epochs, languages, and cultural traditions II. To distinguish confessional or prescriptive statements about religion from descriptive or analytical statements. III. Write clearly and cogently about religion as a mode of cultural production. IV. To formulate questions and making effective arguments (both orally and in writing), conducting research, evaluating research resources, and organizing projects. • Students will be able to define what religion is and how it functions within the context of a robust consideration of non-Western religious traditions. • Students will be able to identify how the diversity of religious worldviews represents racial, national, socioeconomic, sociocultural, and other kinds of differences. • Students will be able to engage in analytical discussion about religious texts, traditions, or artifacts. • Students will be able to distinguish between (confessional or prescriptive or truth-claiming) statements made (from) within religious texts, traditions, artifacts and scholarly, comparative religious studies statements made (from) outside of religious tradition • Students will be able to perform a written analysis of how cultural (and social, political, and economic) factors are represented in religious texts, traditions, artifacts • Students will be able to develop an original thesis statement about a religious text, tradition, or artifact. • Students will be able to acquire strategies for convincing readers and an audience of the value of an argument about a religious text, tradition, or artifact. • Students will be able to conduct research about religious texts, traditions, or artifacts. V. Modelling academically informed civil discourse in the discussion of sensitive and controversial topics.

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