See below for instructions on how to do DQs.

LIST OF CHAPTERS, THE MAIN TOPICS OF EACH    
   volunteers names will be added for each chapter

This is only a list of the main topics of each chapter.  Each person is free to create a DQ [Discussion Question] on any subtopic or closely related topic the person chooses. When there is a significant reading attached to a chapter the DQ  may be on this reading rather than material in the chapter.  See below for further instructions

Intro:  Initial ideas on the nature and origin of religion.
Ch.  1.  The earliest forms of religion?
Ch.  2.  Major theories about why people are religious.
Ch.  3.  Religious beliefs about Ultimate Reality.
Zachary Heck
Ch.  4.  The religious adequacy of belief in an Ultimate.
Elizabeth Marsh and Claire Ellerhorst
Ch.  5.  Religious solutions to basic problems of life.
Josh Cain and Brittany Demmitt
Ch.  6.  How religions affect human social relations.
Tierney Stinson and Emily Untener
Ch.  7.  How religions affect people's sense of identity and value.
Michelle Tomczyk and Nolan Nicaise
Ch.  8.  Basic differences among human moral motives.
Joel Schmidt
Ch.  8.  What religions say on what is good or not
Leah Schumacher and Brian McMasters
Ch.  9.  Major aspects of tradition as a guide to human life?
Aaron Crandall and Ellen Vanderburgh
Ch. 10. The role of ritual and symbol in human life.
Chris Lemon and Paul Thomas
Ch. 11. When religions reflect rationally on their traditions.
Abby Conner and Henry Aldridge
Ch. 11. Possible relations between faith and reason.
Emily Claricoates and Heather Petrie
Ch. 12. Scientific rationality and religious traditions.
Maura Shanahan, Jim Saywell, and Nathaniel Hogrebe
Ch. 13. The roots of skepticism about religion in the West?
Mitchell Chung and Jane Neiheisel
Ch. 13. Autonomy and responsibility in religion.
Dan Prindle
Ch. 14. Religion responds to challenges from science.
Jimmy Hankenhof and Eric Harper
Ch. 14. Religion and modern times
Carly Monfort and Matt Puccetti
Ch. 15. The current status of religion and its future.
Tess Finnegan and Jaison Nainaparampil
Epilogue:  Evaluating religions.
 

One person will be assigned to create a question to address for a brief part of the class that day.  (On Fri., Aug. 24, you will have a chance to choose your chapter or part of a chapter.  See above for a list of the chapters by number and the topics.)

That one person will probably profit from talking things over with two others who are willing also to read the chapter in question early and help devise a question to fit the format below.  But only the one person assigned/volunteering gets the 10 point maximum credit.  If the question does not seem to be the result of careful thought and preparation, it will get fewer points.]

A Model of how to formulate questions:

The three questions given here, on the Introduction and Chapters 1 & 2, are examples.  The format is borrowed from Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) and late medieval disputations.
     First the topic is phrased as a question.
     The question is followed by a “it seems not.”
     This in turn is followed by an “on the other hand.”
This combination is an effective way to set up a topic for analysis.
     The analysis in Aquinas would begin with "I answer that . . . ."

1. Is primitive religion really religion? It seems not, because primitive people do not worship the spirits. It is really just a bunch of beliefs in magic and ghosts. On the other hand, it is commonplace to refer to this as “primitive religion” anyway.  How do you answer?

2. Is it all right to categorize cultures as primitive or archaic or classical or modern? It seems not because it denigrates earlier religions as less developed and therefore somehow inferior. On the other hand, it seems factually accurate.  How do you answer?

3. Is it fair to try to undercut religious belief by “reducing” them to manifestations of some sort of intellectual or psychological or sociological need. It seems not, because even if humans have underlying needs for a relation with the sacred, Eliade argues the sacred is still distinct from those needs and is very important. On the other hand, we may understand humans better by listening to people like Marx and Durkheim and Guthrie.  How do you answer?

For chapters 11, 13, & 14 two questions are possible.  there are more possible questions than students in the class, so some of the topics will be introduced by another means.

Your question does not have to cover the entire chapter you pick.  You can restrict the question to any point of interest to you that is substantive enough to merit class discussion.  You may consult the discussion questions at the end of each chapter for inspiration.  

This page was last modified August 27, 2007