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Religious Studies.
A lotus flower
| August |
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| 22 Wed | 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.] |
| 24 Fri | 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. |
| 27 Mon | 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. |
| 29 Wed | Discuss Ch. 2. Do the skeptics undermine religion successfully? FNC read Ch. 3, pp 45-57. BRTD DQ |
| 31 Fri | 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. |
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| 3 Mon | LABOR DAY. NO CLASSES |
| 5 Wed | Finish Chapter 3. FNC read Ch. 4 BRTD DQ [Thinking about your paper topic yet?] |
| 7 Fri | Discuss Ch. 4 DQ. FNC read the Sermon at Benares and hand in RG #2. |
| 10 Mon | Discuss the Sermon at Benares and Buddhism in general. |
| 12 Wed | Review for exam DECIDE ON PAPER AND PRESENTATION TOPICS AND DATES |
| 14 Fri | EXAM #1 postponed one class, until Monday. FNC -- WEDNESDAY read intro to Part II in the text, plus the readings "After Death" -- 4 Bible excepts + background. |
| 17 Mon | Exam #1 moved to this date. FNC read Intro to Part II and Ch.5, as well as "After Death" |
| 19 Wed | Discuss Ch. 5 DQ & reading. Theme: from worldliness to world-rejection. FNC Ch. 6. BRTD DQ |
| 21Fri | 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. |
| 24 Mon | 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. |
| 26 Wed |
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. |
| 28 Fri | Finish Ch. 8. [RG#3 on Mark's gospel will NOT be due WED] |
| OCT. |
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| 1 Mon | Begin Ch. 9. 181-194. FNC read end of Ch. 9, pp. 194-200, and the reading "Islam-Bida." |
| 3 Wed | Finish Ch. 9. FNC hand in RG #3, on Mark's Gospel. (FNC connect problem of bida in Islam to Berger's ideas.) Then read Ch. 10 for Friday also |
| 5 Fri | Discuss Ch. 10. Come with your favorite ceremony or symbol story. On Monday we will discuss the RGs you hand in today. For Monday, begin Ch. 11, pp. 221-229. |
| 8 Mon | Discuss RG on Mark's Gospel Finish Ch. 10 For next Monday (Friday is midterm break) read Ch. 11, pp.229-37.. |
| 10 Wed |
Vincent Branick, PH.D, STD, guest lecture. Synoptic detective work
on Mark's Gospel. 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. |
| 12 Fri | Midterm break yesterday and today |
| 15 Mon | Group #1 papers due! Discuss Ch. 11, pp. 229-237, 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. |
| 17 Wed | Discuss William James and last part of Ch. 11. . FNC--after the exam--read Intro to Part IV and Ch. 12, pp. 245-261 Also read Boyle and Paley (Deists) [mid-term grades due by today] |
| 19 Fri | EXAM #2. Chs. 5-11 plus related readings. Big Exam!! |
| 22 Mon | Discuss middle Ch. 11 For Friday
the last part of Ch. 11 and William James excerpt. Group #2 papers due! [Presentation Group #1 previews for Barnes] |
| 24 Wed | PRESENTATION # 1 |
| 26 Fri | 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. [then Parents' weekend] |
| 29 Mon | Group #3 papers due! [Presentation Group #2 previews for Barnes] 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. [Mid-term grades due today by 4:00] FNC read 269-79 in Ch. 13, on method of science. BRTD DQ, and whether science is based on faith. |
| 31 Wed | PRESENTATION #2 |
| NOV . |
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| 2 Fri | 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. [Presentation Group #3 previews for Barnes today or Monday] |
| 5 Mon | Group #4 papers due! |
| 7 Wed | PRESENTATION #3 |
| 9 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. For next Friday: bring a brief written paragraph to class identifying your favorite theologian or theory on pp. 295-303, & saying why.[Presentation Group #4 previews for Barnes today or Monday] |
| 12 Mon | Finish Ch. 13. For Friday, Ch. 14, pp. 295-303. Bring a brief written paragraph to class identifying your favorite theologian or theory on pp. 295-303, & saying why. |
| 14 Wed | PRESENTATION #4 |
| 16 Fri | Discuss paragraphs on theologians. Progress through Ch. 14. Discuss DQ on religion and modernity -- secularity, autonomous selfhood, tentativeness of knowledge. FNC hand in RG #4 on Tribble. Also read the selection from Gutierrez |
| 19 Mon | Discuss Tribble. Also 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 Mon 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. |
| 21-23 | Today and Fri = Thanksgiving holidays |
| 26 Mon | 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. |
| 28 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. |
| 30 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, |
| DEC. |
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| 3 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. |
| 5 Wed | Discuss 3 types of religious truth-claims, & the 4 defenses. Last Day of classes |
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| 12-16 | FINAL EXAMS
11:00 a.m. class, Tues. Dec. 11. 10:10-12:00 12:00 a.m. class, Fri. . Dec. 14. 12:20 - 2:10 |
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