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Religious Studies Dept.
| August |
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| 21 Mon | INTRO class. For next class [FNC] read the Intro in the text, pp., 1-8, and the selections from Chagnon and Werner found through the Readings Link page (get the password from Barnes) Be ready to discuss [BRTD] the Discussion Question ["DQ"] whether primitive beliefs and practices constitute real religion. [Begin thinking about your paper topic.] |
| 23 Wed | Preliminary
discussion about primitive religion and the nature of religion.
For next class [FNC] read Ch. 1, pp. 10-28. BRTD DQ whether classifying cultures by stages is bad. Also read Genesis 1-3. Next class turn in typed response to the Reading Guide (RG) #1. |
| 25 Fri | Review Genesis 1-3. Discuss DQ (whether classifying cultures is bad) FNC read Ch. 2. & the brief selections from Freud and from Eliade [Readings] Be ready to discuss [BRTD] DQ whether reductionism is correct and/or valid. |
| 28 Mon | Discuss Ch. 2. Do the skeptics undermine religion successfully? FNC read Ch. 3, pp 45-57. BRTD DQ, as well as [including?] the "Theodicy" reading. |
| 30 Wed | Discuss DQ and Ch. 3 in general: The History of God in the West; FNC finish Ch. 3 & read selections from the Hindu Tradition AND the Tao Te Ching. BRTD these. |
| SEPT. | |
| 1 Fri | Finish Chapter 3. FNC read Ch. 4 BRTD DQ [Thinking about your paper topic yet?] |
| 4 Mon | [Labor Day, no classes] |
| 6 Wed | Discuss Ch. 4 DQ. FNC read the Sermon at Benares and hand in RG #2. |
| 8 Fri | Discuss the Sermon at Benares and Buddhism in general. |
| 11 Mon | Review for exam DECIDE ON PAPER AND PRESENTATION TOPICS AND DATES |
| 13 Wed | EXAM #1. (See the web page on exams and assignments.) FNC read intro to Part II in the text, plus the readings "After Death" -- 4 Bible excepts + background. BRTD views on life after death |
| 15 Fri | .Discuss intro to Part II and readings. FNC read Ch.5. FNC (Wed) read the C. S. Lewis and Huxley page. BRTD DQ and on whether this earth is your true home |
| 18 Mon | Discuss Ch. 5 DQ & reading. Theme: from worldliness to world-rejection. FNC Ch. 6. BRTD DQ |
| 20 Wed | Discuss Ch. 6. FNC read Ch. 7; Read notes on Berger BRTD DQ, and issues of identity and belonging as part of what it means to be human. |
| 22 Fri | Discuss Berger, and DQ on Ch. 7, FNC read 1 page on Kohlberg and the page "On Different Types of Morality" Begin Ch. 8, pp. 153-164. |
| 25 Mon |
Discuss Kohlberg
page and Heinz+ stories. Discuss Ch. 8 DQ. Review 1st 1/2 of Ch. 8.
FNC finish Ch. 8. BPTD DQ, perhaps on how you know what is good. |
| 27 Wed | Discuss DQ on Ch. 8 and current moralities. |
| 29 Fri | For Mon. read Mark's Gospel -- all of it -- and do RG#3 to hand in Monday. |
| OCT. |
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| 2 Mon | Vincent Branick, PH.D, STD, guest lecture. Synoptic detective work. FNC read end of Ch. 9, pp. 192-200, and the reading "Islam-Bida." BRTD DQ |
| 4 Wed | Discuss RG on Mark's Gospel. Discuss DQ on Ch. 9, pp. 192-200 in ch. 9, and Islam-Bida reading. Connect problem of bida in Islam to Berger's ideas. FNC read the rest of Ch. 9 as well as Ch. 10. BRTD DQ on it. Find examples of ritual & symbol that define reality for people. |
| 6 Fri | Finish Ch. 10, including DQ on it. FNC begin Ch. 11, pp. 221-229. |
| 9 Mon | Semester Break today and tomorrow. |
| 11 Wed | Discuss beginning of Ch. 11 and relevant DQ, FNC read the section of Ch. 11 which fits with the Ppt, Part II, pp. 229-37. Read selections from Anselm and Aquinas on readings page. |
| 13 Fri | Discuss mid-section of Ch. 11, as well as readings from Anselm and Aquinas. FNC read William James. BRTD DQ, possibly on 1) the hidden logic of blind faith, faith as commitment and 2) whether James makes sense. Read this in relation to Ch. 11, pp. 237-243. We will discuss William James' argument, as well as Faith and Reason in general. |
| 16 Mon | Discuss middle Ch. 11 For Friday
the last part of Ch. 11 and William James excerpt. Group #1 papers due! |
| 18 Wed | Discuss William James and last part of Ch. 11. Review for exam #2. FNC--after the exam--read Intro to Part IV and Ch. 12, pp. 245-261 Also read Boyle and Paley (Deists) |
| 20 Fri | EXAM #2. Chs. 5-11 plus related readings. Big Exam!! |
| 23 Mon | Discuss "modernity" and selections from Boyle and Paley. Background lecture on theory of evolution. For Friday read the selections from Darwin and from Marx. Be ready to discuss Darwin's reasons for his agnosticism. Group #2 papers due! [Presentation Group #1 previews for Barnes] [Mid-term grades due today by 4:00] |
| 25 Wed | PRESENTATION #1 |
| 27 Fri | Discuss selections from Darwin and Marx. Finish ch. 12. Be prepared to discuss secular evolutionary humanism as a quasi-religion, as well as the general status of religion today. FNC read 269-79 in Ch. 13, on method of science. BRTD DQ, and whether science is based on faith. [Presentation Group #2 previews for Barnes] |
| 30 Mon | Discuss DQ on first part of Ch. 13. For next class finish ch.13 plus Sartre. BRTD DQ, and human autonomy and responsibility. For Fri: 288-303 in Ch. 14. Group #3 papers due! |
| NOV . | |
| 1 Wed | PRESENTATION #2 |
| 3 Fri | Discuss DQ on Sartre and autonomy and morality: who sets the moral rules? For Mon. begin Ch. 14. Be ready to discuss: current religious options, and relations between religion and science. [Presentation Group #4 previews for Barnes] |
| 6 Mon | Group #4 papers due! For Friday: bring a brief written paragraph with you to class which identifies your favorite theologian or theory on pp. 295-303 and explains why. BRTD DQ |
| 8 Wed | PRESENTATION #3 |
| 10 Fri | Compare
paragraphs on theologians. Discuss DQ, on relations
between religion & science. FNC BRTD DQ on religions and modernity.
FNC Ch. 14, pp. 303-310.
[Presentation Group #5 previews for Barnes] |
| 13 Mon | Finish Ch. 14. Discuss DQ on religion and modernity -- secularity, autonomous selfhood, tentativeness of knowledge.. |
| 15 Wed | PRESENTATION #4 |
| 17 Fri |
Today or over this weekend watch the film, The Color of Paradise. Be sure to read the notes inside the cardboard jacket the VHS tape is in. For next class do RG #4 on Trible. |
| 20 Mon | Discuss Tribble. as well as the
film, The Color of Paradise. For the first class after Thanksgiving read Gutierrez |
| 22-24 W-F | Thanksgiving VACATION |
| 27 Mon | Discuss Gutierrez and his claim that the gospels demand that Christians try to change the social order to create a new kind of person. Finish Ch. 14. For Wed read Ch. 15, pp 311-322. Be ready to discuss Fowler's types or stages of religion, and to give concrete examples of people at each stage or type. BRTD DQ on current and future status of religion. |
| 29 Wed | Discuss the continuing vitality of religion (ch. 15). Also discuss Fowler's stages. FNC read the rest of Ch. 15. Be ready to explain to what extent you might be a post-modernist. Be ready to explain what is meant by: the social construction of knowledge; cultural relativism; anti-accommodationism and anti-secularism; limits to science; and how all this might relate to Fowler's stages. |
| DEC. |
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| 1 Fri | Discuss your responses to post-modernism. FNC read Epilogue to p. 341. BPTD the legitimacy of evaluating religions and the question of which criteria should count, |
| 4 Mon | Discuss the first half of the Epilogue. FNC finish the Epilogue. BPTD which of the four defenses against rationalist skepticism make sense to you. |
| 6 Wed | Discuss
3 types of religious truth-claims, & the 4 defenses. Discuss final exam Last day of classes. |
| 8 Fri | Study Day and Christmas on Campus |
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| 12-16 | FINAL EXAMS
10:00 a.m. class, Mon. Dec. 11. 2:30-4:20 11:00 a.m. class Thur. Dec. 14. 2:30-4:20 |
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