REL205
Religion and the Modern World (INTERNET
all sections)
Blair A. Gadsby, M.A. (1992,
Welcome to the class!
Objective of the course:. Introduction to the
nature and role of religious beliefs and practices in shaping the lives of
individuals and societies, with particular attention to the modern world. Prerequisites: ENG101 or ENG107 or equivalent.
Here is the link to the official course description by the Maricopa County
Community College District: Maricopa
Community Colleges REL205 19986-99999 .
A further Statement about Religious Studies at
MCC:
The
Philosophy & Religious Studies department at MCC offers courses in
religious studies, as distinguished from religious education. Whereas religious
education seeks to strengthen a person in his/her particular tradition, religious
studies seeks a perspective from outside all traditions in pursuit of an
understanding of the historical, cultural, political and economic dimensions of
various traditions. While the beliefs of religions are taught in our classes,
our instructors do not evaluate the truth claims of these traditions, nor do we
privilege or denigrate any particular religion.
Course requirements:
Grading5%
1st Quiz
5%
2nd Quiz
20% PHEs—Points Here Essays, total of 5 for the semester.
40% Assignments :
newspaper articles 10%; book review 10%; movie critique 10%; research paper
10%: total 4 assignments
15%
Exam #1
15%
Exam #2*--material since Exam #1
Total 100%
Calculating and
tracking your final grade. Circle the value of your grade as follows:
Q1 Q2 E1 E2
PHEs A1 A2 A3 A4
A .2 .2 .6 .6 .8 .4 .4 .4 .4 = 4.0
A- .18 .18 .55 .55 .75 .37 .37 .37 .37 = 3.7
B+ .16 .16 .5 .5 .65 .33 .33 .33 .33 = 3.3
B .15 .15 .45 .45 .6 .3 .3 .3 .3 = 3.0
B- .13 .13 .4 .4 .55 .27 .27 .27 .27 = 2.7
C+ .11 .11 .35 .35 .45 .23 .23 .23 .23 = 2.3
C .1 .1 .3 .3 .4 .2 .2 .2 .2 = 2.0
C- .08 .08 .25 .25 .35 .17 .17 .17 .17 = 1.7
D .05 .05 .15 .15 .2 .1 .1 .1 .1 = 1.0
F 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 = 0.0
Total
your point value:________________
The college requires
instructors to give whole grades for
the final grade:
A=3.5-4.0 B=2.5-3.4 C=1.5-2.4 D=0.5-1.4 F=0.0-0.4
Textbooks: REL205
textbooks, three.doc.
Religion and the Modern World: From
Cathedrals to Cults
(it’s a bit hard to read the
cover here)
Quizzes and Exams:
There are 2
Quizzes and 2 Exams. The method for testing is at the designated time click the
Instruction link below. I will leave the test link active for only a specified
time and then remove it. You must have your completed quiz or exam returned to
me as an email attachment within the stated time. Of course there is
flexibility with the times and at least four timeslots are used. We will be in
communication as the semester progresses regarding specific times for each
test, but generally the times at the links below stand.
When
seeking to take a quiz, either #1 or #2, go here: Quiz-Taking Instructions.doc
When
seeking to take an exam, either midterm or final, go here: Exam-Taking Instructions.doc
Assignments: There
are four “major” assignments in this course: These written assignments can be
sent to me as file attachments. I can read and correct them and send them back
to you online.
4 written assignments:
follow the links to each:
Assignment
#1: REL205Assignment#1.doc
Assignment
#2: REL205Assignment#2.doc
Assignment
#3: REL205Assignment#3.doc
Assignment
#4: REL205Assignment#4.doc
In addition
to the four (4)
Assignments you must write five (5) Points Here Essays:
When
you see *PHE* these are the Points Here Essays which are brief essays (one-page,
double-spaced, roughly 350-400 words in a 12pt script, do a Word Count under the Tools menu at the top of your screen if
you have any question) commenting upon the content of that week’s
material. They can be written based upon the posted material and textbook
readings or with additional web research. There are fifteen (15) weeks of
material and you need to write only five (5) PHEs in the course so you don’t
have to write one each week, but I recommend you pace yourself and don’t let
them slide to the end. These essays are separate from your four (4) other
written assignments which are longer research-type papers.
Note: when
calculating your final grade for your five PHEs, simply total up your five
letter grades of the PHEs (the numerical value of your letter grades is in the
right hand column of the above chart: A=4.0, B+= 3.3, for example) and divide
by 5 and multiply by .3
Extra
Points: when you see these words follow the
instructions if you want to make extra points that can be applied to
Exams.
Extra
Credit Movie assignment: you also
have the possibility of making extra points if you watch a movie that has a
religious theme and write a paper on it. Follow the link to the instructions.
One note however, you must be in good-standing in the course, you cannot
use this to replace a quiz or exam or other mandatory assignment such as Points
Here Essays or Assignment 1 or 2. REL205Assignment Extra
Credit Movie.doc.
Weekly
In the
lecture pages the color codes mean the following:
RED:
key terms/ideas; sub-headings
within lecture notes; pay special attention
BLUE:
book titles, other bibliographic
information, external links.
GREEN:
“Points Here Essays”, extra credit
opportunities, or miscellaneous significant information
COURSE SCHEDULE:
|
Week |
Weekly
|
|
1 |
Topic: Introduction; Topic: Background
to the study of religion/theories of religion; |
|
2 |
Topic: Religion, Modernity, and
Christianity; |
|
3 |
Topic: Modern Christianity; |
|
4 |
Topic: East and West I:
Buddhism; |
|
5 |
Topic: East and |
|
6 |
Topic: East and |
|
7 |
Topic: Judaism; |
|
8 |
Midterm Exam; go to link above
“Exam-Taking Instructions” |
|
9 |
Topic: Judaism and Islam: Religion
and Politics; READING: at webpage |
|
10 |
Topic: Islam: Religious Life; |
|
11 |
Topic: Religion and the Media I; READING: at webpage |
|
12 |
Topic: Religion and the Media II: Movie
Viewing; Quiz#2 |
|
13 |
Topic: Apocalyptism in Today’s
Religions; READING: at webpage |
|
14 |
Topic: New Religious Movements; |
|
15 |
Topic: Religion in |
|
16 |
Final Exam = go to link above
“Exam-Taking Instructions” |
If you
have been approved for or are interested in taking this course for Honors credit, go to this link: HonorsStudentsContract.doc.
If you’ve
enjoyed this class and would like to know more about the courses I teach at
In
addition to REL205 Religion and the Modern World, I teach on the INTERNET:
REL243
World Religions,
link to the MCCCD
course description: Maricopa
Community Colleges REL243 19972-99999 ; and a link to the
main page: World religions with
Bgadsby
&
NOT YET ON
INTERNET:
REL212
Introduction to Islam, link to the MCCCD course description:
Maricopa
Community Colleges REL212 20064-99999 and a link to the
syllabus: REL212 Syllabus.doc.
Hope to
see you in one of my classes. Blair
If you are
looking for the Power Point presentation for
If you are
in one of my face-to-face classes at MCC and I’ve asked you to check out links
at my webpage, here’s where to start Links to external websites.doc.
Have a terrific holiday!